"Warlock" appears to be a Saturday Western mainstay for the AMC cable channel, and I managed to catch it on today's lineup. Henry Fonda's gun for hire persona Clay Blaisdell arrives in the town of the title along with trusted friend Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn), summoned to help the town folk rid themselves of the San Pablo cowboy gang led by Abe McQuown (Tom Drake). I got a kick out of the retinue that follows the two gunslingers into town, they come complete with a traveling saloon dubbed The French Palace, a nifty little enterprise designed to supplement a town marshal's pay.
What follows is a multi-layered story that turns this psychological Western into a compelling character study of killers for hire. Fonda's character is particularly interesting, since he doesn't portray the stereotype of a ruthless hired gun. He draws on villains without firing, and manages to stave off a lynch mob in the interest of justice and a fair trial. Perhaps more complex though is Quinn's Tom Morgan. His loyalty to Clay is undeniable, though it amuses me to read some of the reviews on this forum suggesting more to their relationship, making me wonder if the viewers making those comments paid enough attention while watching the film. Morgan was jilted some years earlier by Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone), and spends a good deal of his time attempting to rekindle that affair. He had set up her new romance to be gunned down by Clay, and when she makes her way to Warlock to get her revenge, Morgan himself takes out the man's brother who was coming with her. It seems to me Morgan was more interested in Lily as a romantic partner than Clay; geez, I can't believe I just wrote that.
It's always a treat to see DeForest Kelley in a pre Star Trek role, one almost forgets that a good deal of his screen appearances involved Westerns, both on the big and small screen. Here, he's the first one to challenge marshal Clay, and winds up lucky in not taking a bullet. That perhaps helps explain his later turn in the story when he helps insure a fair gunfight for the 'properly' assigned deputy, Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark).
I'm a little on the fence as to the believability of Johnny switching sides the way he did, there was no single incident to mark his turn against the San Pablo bunch. An earlier scene showed him questioning Abe's initial foray into Warlock, and in a lengthier scene in the second half he described to Lily the unreality of his participation in a murdering raid on Mexican ranchers. Once his brother was killed of course, there was no more reason to sympathize with the McQuown's. By the time he's roughed up by Abe and Cade at the gang's shack, the good guy transition is complete, and then it becomes a test of wills between himself and Clay. But again, it's not really clear to me why Johnny opposes Clay's intention to stay in Warlock until the job he was hired for is over. It never appeared that Clay was operating outside the parameters of the law, other than setting fire to his own saloon.
The finale of course is more believable with Clay leaving town and his fiancée Jessie (Dolores Michaels) after taking out his former friend and 'all time champeen cowboy killer' Morgan. Morgan completely unravels after realizing Lily's gone to him for good, and believing Clay is hanging up his guns to settle down. Oddly, that showdown convinces Clay to do just the opposite, even though the symbolic action of throwing his gold handled Colts away suggest otherwise. I wondered about that too, but only for a minute. It was a gesture that suggested to Deputy Gannon that he was no longer a threat, and heck, he could always get another pair in the next town.
What follows is a multi-layered story that turns this psychological Western into a compelling character study of killers for hire. Fonda's character is particularly interesting, since he doesn't portray the stereotype of a ruthless hired gun. He draws on villains without firing, and manages to stave off a lynch mob in the interest of justice and a fair trial. Perhaps more complex though is Quinn's Tom Morgan. His loyalty to Clay is undeniable, though it amuses me to read some of the reviews on this forum suggesting more to their relationship, making me wonder if the viewers making those comments paid enough attention while watching the film. Morgan was jilted some years earlier by Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone), and spends a good deal of his time attempting to rekindle that affair. He had set up her new romance to be gunned down by Clay, and when she makes her way to Warlock to get her revenge, Morgan himself takes out the man's brother who was coming with her. It seems to me Morgan was more interested in Lily as a romantic partner than Clay; geez, I can't believe I just wrote that.
It's always a treat to see DeForest Kelley in a pre Star Trek role, one almost forgets that a good deal of his screen appearances involved Westerns, both on the big and small screen. Here, he's the first one to challenge marshal Clay, and winds up lucky in not taking a bullet. That perhaps helps explain his later turn in the story when he helps insure a fair gunfight for the 'properly' assigned deputy, Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark).
I'm a little on the fence as to the believability of Johnny switching sides the way he did, there was no single incident to mark his turn against the San Pablo bunch. An earlier scene showed him questioning Abe's initial foray into Warlock, and in a lengthier scene in the second half he described to Lily the unreality of his participation in a murdering raid on Mexican ranchers. Once his brother was killed of course, there was no more reason to sympathize with the McQuown's. By the time he's roughed up by Abe and Cade at the gang's shack, the good guy transition is complete, and then it becomes a test of wills between himself and Clay. But again, it's not really clear to me why Johnny opposes Clay's intention to stay in Warlock until the job he was hired for is over. It never appeared that Clay was operating outside the parameters of the law, other than setting fire to his own saloon.
The finale of course is more believable with Clay leaving town and his fiancée Jessie (Dolores Michaels) after taking out his former friend and 'all time champeen cowboy killer' Morgan. Morgan completely unravels after realizing Lily's gone to him for good, and believing Clay is hanging up his guns to settle down. Oddly, that showdown convinces Clay to do just the opposite, even though the symbolic action of throwing his gold handled Colts away suggest otherwise. I wondered about that too, but only for a minute. It was a gesture that suggested to Deputy Gannon that he was no longer a threat, and heck, he could always get another pair in the next town.