A Texas town's council fires the town's old-fashioned marshal who refuses to resign, thus leading to violence from both sides.A Texas town's council fires the town's old-fashioned marshal who refuses to resign, thus leading to violence from both sides.A Texas town's council fires the town's old-fashioned marshal who refuses to resign, thus leading to violence from both sides.
- Luke Mills
- (as James Lydon)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStar Richard Widmark and original director Robert Totten had "artistic differences," and Totten was replaced by Don Siegel. When the film was completed, Siegel, saying that Totten directed more of the film than he did, refused to take screen credit for it, but Widmark didn't want Totten's name on it. A compromise was reached whereby the film was credited to the fictitious "Alan Smithee" (originally to be called Al Smith, but the DGA said there had already been a director by that name), thereby setting a precedent for directors who, for one reason or another, did not want their name on a film they made.
- GoofsNear the end of the film you can see the electrical wires running (presumably buried for most of their length under the differently-coloured soil) to a man's body as he is 'shot'; the last yard or so of wire -which is presumably for the gunshot SFX- is clearly visible running towards the man's ankles.
- Quotes
Wil Oxley: Why did my father kill himself?
Marshal Frank Patch: I don't know, son.
Wil Oxley: Tell me! Tell me!
Marshal Frank Patch: A long time ago, a man was killed... shot in the back.
Wil Oxley: My father did it?
Marshal Frank Patch: Nobody knew for sure who did it.
Wil Oxley: You knew. Why didn't he hang?
Marshal Frank Patch: There was nothing to be gained by hanging. The dead man had a child - a son. Your father agreed to raise him as his own.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Who Is Alan Smithee? (2002)
- How long is Death of a Gunfighter?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1