Why so much hype?

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I gave this film the old 30 minute try. After 30 minutes, I didn't feel like watching anymore so I changed the channel.

How could anybody rate this higher than a 5? It's totally unrealistic. My wife wishes she had the unbelievably fancy dresses the women had in this dusty little western town. I swear they never wore the same dress twice. Oh, and she's also like the name of their hair dresser. And I wish I could keep my clothes as clean and ironed as the men. Never a spot of dirt or wrinkle. Give me a break! And some people rating this say it is the best western of the 1950s while Richard Widmark runs around in a blue denim Levi type waist length jacket. Only these were not produced until the 1940s. I know that in "reviewing" movies, I should be all artsie and comment on the acting and character development and such, but I just think movies should have some resemblance to reality. I'll be generous with a "4".

Complex psychological western. I like another reviewer's point about the conflict between law and order in the film. Only Widmark's Gannon appears concerned with enforcing law in addition to order, while the rest of the town is more concerned with simply order. Fonda's Clay Blaisdell stands as the pivotal character, a morally ambiguous gunslinger with a dubious past. The mutual attachment between him and sidekick Morgan (Quinn) is highly unusual for a macho western. As hired gunslingers, they're a formidable team. However, it turns out that Clay is stuck in the risky business as long as he and Morgan remain together. On the other hand, Morgan's definitely unhappy with Clay's budding relationship with blonde Jessie (Michaels). It's likely that Morgan uses their hired status to keep them together, as the ending appears to show. I expect casting the macho Quinn in what amounts to a suggestive role was no accident.The 2-hour runtime is pretty well filled as the various undercurrents and conflicts play out. Viewers who cotton to dramatic showdowns should love this screenplay, which has at least four. Surprisingly, it's hard to predict who will be involved, a tribute to the screenwriter. Overall, it's an unusual oater that doesn't follow genre formulas. On the downside is a lot of talk, plus complexities-- especially the characters' backstories-- that at times are hard to follow. Nonetheless, the three leads are excellent, especially an emotional Quinn, along with a supporting cast of familiar 50's faces. So, for western fans, the movie's well worth snagging despite its relative obscurity.

The film adaptation of John Van Druten's stage success Bell, Book, And Candle was released around the same time as this oddly-named Western and chances are that several moviegoers who had seen Jack Lemmon playing a warlock (male witch) in BB&C thought they were in for more of the same. Far from it; Warlock is simply the name of the town that forms the setting, a town more or less terrorised by a local gang led by Tom Drake of all people - yep, The Boy Next Door himself, who also played Richard Rodgers in Words and Music. When enough finally becomes too much the townsfolk hire a pro, Henry Fonda, to restore law and order. On paper you couldn't find a simpler plot but in reality the film is bristling with sub-text and psychological overtones, not least the complex relationship between Fonda and his side-kick Anthony Quinn, outlaw-turned-lawman Richard Widmark's equally complex relationship with his own brother and this is before Dorothy Malone shows up harbouring all kinds of resentment against both Fonda and Quinn one or both of whom offed a man she was about to marry. In short this is a heady wine, a rich broth with fine performances from the likes of DeForest Kelly, Frank Gorshin, Wallace Ford to say nothing of the principles. Well worth a second look.