Knowing of writer-director Richard Wilson's connection with Orson Welles I was curious to see if any of the maestro's magic had rubbed off but alas ... What Wilson serves up is a rehash of Johnny Concho, a Sinatra vehicle from 1957. In that movie Sinatra, by virtue of his gunman brother, 'ruled' the town until William Conrad showed up having outgunned Sinatra's brother and the town is stuck with another gunman. Wilson's twist is to have citizen Pat Hingle send for gunfighter Yul Brynner to take care of George Segal; Brynner opts to spare Segal and Hingle and the townsfolk live to regret sending for Brynner. There are reasonable performances but definitely no Wellesian touches and in the end it is just another ho hum Western.
Review of Invitation to a Gunfighter
