Directed by Richard Wilson (his directorial debut, no less), who co-wrote with N.B. Stone Jr., in 1955, Man With The Gun may not be the most original or subversive film ever made about the old west but it sure is efficient and entertaining.

The film introduces us to Clint Tollinger (Robert Mitchum in the first film he'd make after splitting from RKO Pictures), a cowboy who rides on into Sheridan City where he hopes to reconnect with his wife, Nelly Bain (Jan Sterling). Their relationship fell apart some time ago and they haven't talked in a good long while but Clint is hoping if he finds her he can reconnect with their daughter. He finds her running the dance hall portion of The Palace Hotel, her ambitious and business-minded nature apparently make her the right choice to be in charge of the female entertainers employed by the house for an almost entirely male clientele. When Clint shows up, Nelly wants nothing to do with him. She was married to a gunfighter once and that was enough. She won't go back to that life.

Clint finds a reason to stick around, however, when he learns that a lot of folks in Sheridan City have had it up to here with Dade Holman. He's a rich guy who lives out on a ranch way outside of town. He's got the money and the means to snatch up the land he wants and he has no qualms about taking advantage of anyone who he can to make that happen. Blacksmith Saul Atkins (Emile Meyer) convinces the townsfolk at a meeting to hire Clint to help out with this. Given that his daughter Stella (Karen Sharpe) is soon to wed a young man named Jeff Castle (John Lupton) and that Castle is currently being harassed by Dade's thugs, the timing certainly seems right.

It doesn't take long before Clint starts throwing his weight around, however, and this doesn't sit well with some of the people paying for his services, especially when the bodies start piling up and the Palace Hotel burns down. While Clint has to wrestle with his own demons and try to reconcile with Nancy, Dade's men start doing their damnedest to figure out a way to get this man out of the picture for good. And then there's the town Marshal (Henry Hull)…

The story here will seem pretty familiar to anyone who has watched their share of westerns over the years but it works and it works well. If the actual plot isn't all that unique, the writing makes up for that by crafting in Clint Tollinger a genuinely interesting character. We get a decent backstory here, one that lets us understand why he acts the way that he does as the events play out and why he's as obsessed with firearms as he is. Mitchum's character has his share of issues to contend without outside of the conflict with Dade that he's pulled into and Mitchum does a very fine job of bringing this to light with her performance. He does a bit of strutting, as he was known to do, and he's got that cockiness to him that makes him so fun to watch, but underneath the macho posturing there are subtleties to his work at play. Sometimes it's just a look, a facial expression, other times it is the way that he utters a line of dialogue but it all adds up to a great role for him, and me makes the most of it.

In addition to Mitchum, we get some fun supporting players too. Henry Hull is in fine form here as the lawman in charge of a troubled town. He plays the part well and he and Mitchum share some fun scenes here. Jan Sterling as great as the kinda-sorta love interest, she and Mitchum also share some interesting screen time here and she not only looks the part but brings some genuine depth to her performance. Throw in Karen Sharpe and a young Angie Dickinson in a small role and the female cast members stack up well. John Lupton is also fun as the hot-headed groom intent on defending his land no matter the cost. Claude Akins shows up here in a bit part too.

Nicely shot with some great sets and locations and set to a really strong score from Alex North and this one is top tier entertainment, a classic western well worth revisiting.

Video:

Man With The Gun arrives on Blu-ray from Kino Studio Classics framed in a 1.85.1 widescreen aspect ratio in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. The source used for this transfer was evidently in very good shape as there is only very minor and sporadic print damage visible during playback. There's noticeably stronger detail and texture here when compared to the previous DVD edition (which was fullframe and did have more room on top and bottom of the frame) while contrast and black levels look to be properly set. Film grain is present, as it should be, and the image appears free of any noise reduction, edge enhancement or compression artifact problems. All in all, this is a pretty solid presentation.