Starring Hollywood legends Richard Widmark (Madigan) and Lena Horne (Stormy Weather) – the latter in her first dramatic role – Death of a Gunfighter is an elegiac tale of the last days of the Old West.
In Cottonwood Springs, Marshal Frank Patch kills a man in self defence. The town council, wishing to move away from frontier justice and into the modern world, decide that it's time for Patch to retire. Patch refuses, but with the dead man’s son swearing revenge, and the council refusing to take no for an answer, he senses his time might be up.
Based on a novel by Lewis B Patten, the film made history when, due to director Robert Totten’s late replacement with Don Siegel (The Lineup, Charley Varrick), the pseudonym ‘Allen Smithee’ was born, prompting critics to praise Smithee’s debut!
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Supplements
- Audio commentary with screenwriter and novelist C. Courtney Joyner and film historian Henry Parke (2023)
- Man Out of Time (2023, 22 mins): film historian Neil Sinyard discusses the film’s complex production history
- Siren Song (2023, 24 mins): Richard Dyer, author of Stars, considers the career of the actor, singer and activist Lena Horne
- Exercise No. One (1962, 10 mins): rare short film based on the Ira Wolfert short story ‘Off the Highway’ and starring Richard Widmark, made by students of USC’s Cinema Department under the supervision of Fred Zinnemann
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
- Limited edition 40-page booklet featuring a new essay by Paul Duane, an archival interview with Lena Horne, an extract from Don Siegel’s autobiography, an overview of contemporary critical responses, Michael Neyman on Exercise No. One, and full film credits