Gun Glory (1957)

Director: Roy rowland

Cast: Stewart Granger, Rhonda Fleming, Chill Wills

Synopsis: A gunfighter defends his town when cattlemen threaten to destroy it by stampeding cattle through the farmlands.

Stewart Granger (Bhowani Junction, The Secret Partner) straps on a gun belt, a holster and a dodgy American accent for Gun Glory, a generically-titled, modestly-budgeted Western from MGM.   He plays Tom Early, a gambler and gunfighter who returns to the homestead after three years of fun to find the wife he abandoned now lying in her grave, and a resentful son who wants nothing to do with him.   The townsfolk aren’t too keen on having him around, either, but Early is all that stands between them and homelessness when a cattleman announces his intention to stampede his cattle through its streets.   Sadly, apart from a terrific stampede scene in the final reel, Gun Glory devotes most of its running time to the dreary domestic issues between Earlys’ Senior and Junior (who is played – with all the versatility you’d expect from a director’s son – by Steve Rowland, the son of Gun Glory’s director, Roy Rowland).   To be honest, it’s difficult to root for a guy who deserted his family to go and play cards, and you can understand why his son is less than thrilled to see him back.   Strangely, though, he’s a whole lot less troubled by Early’s pursuit of the yummy Rhonda Fleming (Pony Express, The Patsy) so soon after learning of his wife’s death.

(Reviewed 8th May 2016)