5/10
Enforced retirement
24 December 2016
Jack Palance looks kind of odd with that mustache he wore for The Lonely Man. Still he's not the psychotic Palance we've seen in many of his films. He's the world weary gunfighter who's looking to get out of the business. But the notorious King Fisher played by Neville Brand who nearly died from a gunfight with Palance is looking to settle old accounts with Palance.

Of course King Fisher in fact was a real notorious gunman who operated in Texas. Brand gives a nice performance, but this is most definitely not King Fisher's story.

Anthony Perkins who specialized in playing callow youths in the Fifties is Palance's son along for the ride unwillingly because Palance left his mother way back when who is dead now. Perkins just has no other place to go.

In fact Palance has one very good reason for leaving gunfighting which I will not reveal. His only hope is that he can move as far as he can.

Palance and Perkins do strike a nice balance as the world weary father and his rebellious and a bit stupid son. There's also a nice supporting cast with people like Lee Van Cleef, Elisha Cook,Jr. and Robert Middleton and Claude Akins. All tried and true cinema villains though they're not all villains here.

A downer of a film,still nicely done.
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