No Name on the Bullet

Plot synopsis:
When infamous hired gunman John Gant (Audie Murphy) arrives in the small town of Lordsburg, Arizona, the locals are terrified by his reputation and surprised by how young he is. Although Sheriff Buck Hastings would like to arrest Gant, he points out to the townsmen that Gant always coerces his rivals to draw their gun first, allowing him to kill them legally in "self-defence." While the men in the town speculate anxiously about Gant's target, Luke Canfield (played by Charles Drake, an off-screen friend and frequent co-star of Murphy), the town blacksmith and doctor, greets Gant and is totally unaware of Gant's reputation as a hired gunman. During his first meeting with Gant at the smithy, Luke demonstrates his perfect aim with a maul.
Luke proudly takes Gant on a tour through town and agrees to join him later for a game of chess. At home, Luke's fiancée, Anne Benson, tends to her father, Judge Benson, who suffers from consumption. Luke's father Asa joins them for dinner, during which Buck arrives to warn Luke to stay away from Gant. Asa cautions Buck not to condemn Gant prematurely, but Buck is reluctant to accept his advice and reveals that he feels he will be powerless against Gant's superior gun skills. Later, mine owners Earl Stricker and Thad Pierce assume that their partner, Ben Chaffee, has hired Gant to kill them in order to take sole ownership of the mine. When they find Gant in the saloon and propose a counter-offer, however, Gant observes that no innocent man would be afraid, and turns them away.
Upon hearing that Stricker and Pierce were seen talking with Gant, Chaffee assumes that they want to kill him. He questions Luke about Gant, and after Luke fails to calm him, the physician walks through town, noting that the townsmen are all hiding behind guns and locked doors. While clerk Lou Fraden and his wife Roseanne discuss their certainty that her ex-husband has sent Gant to kill them, Luke confronts Gant, asking him why he has come. Impressed with Luke's bravery and integrity, Gant explains that he believes that Luke, who saves the lives of men "who deserve to die," is less ethical than he. While they talk, a panicked Pierce shoots himself in his office and dies later that night. After this, Luke accuses Gant of murder. When Buck tries to throw Gant out of town, Gant refuses to leave. When the sheriff pulls a gun on Gant, Gant shoots him in the hand and renders him useless. As to why Gant didn't kill him, the gunman explains it was because no one was paying him.
Later, Judge Benson advocates using vigilante law to throw out Gant, but after Luke protests, suggests sacrificing the one man Gant is after in order to save the rest of the town. Meanwhile, Fraden, emboldened by alcohol, confronts Gant, who calmly encourages him to draw his gun. At Luke's urging, Fraden flees, leaving Luke to demand fruitlessly that Gant leave town. Next, Stricker gathers the townsmen to challenge Gant, and although Luke disapproves, he agrees to lead them, hoping to minimize the possible violence. Gant, angered to see Luke backed by a mob, warns the men that if they shoot him he will still live long enough to kill Luke, Reeger, Asa, Stricker and several other town leaders. The men disband silently. Later, Luke confesses to Judge Benson that he likes Gant, and the judge warns him that Gant's viciousness is a progressive disease that he cannot cure.
In the store the next day, Gant approaches Anne and questions her about her home life, but will not reveal his target. At the same time, the judge speculates to Luke that if the hunted man refused to defend himself, Gant could be legally arrested for murder, but Luke declares that no man could die without fighting. Soon after, Chafee and his men begin a shootout with Stricker which results in the death of many men. Sickened by a situation that he can not deal with, Sheriff Hastings takes off his badge and drops it on the street. Anne, who has grown suspicious about her father the judge, reads a letter locked in his drawer that reveals a past crime. Realizing the likelihood that Gant has been hired to kill her father, she goes to Gant's room with a gun. Gant bluffs her that her gun is unloaded and then easily takes it away from her. Anne declares that the judge will not defend himself, prompting Gant to rip off a piece of the upper part of her dress. There is more than one way to make a man pick up a gun.
Gant goes to the judge's home and tells him that his "friends from back East send their respects". The old man admits his past guilt and tells Gant that he knows enough to send himself, the governor, and several other wealthy and powerful men to prison, but all they have to do is wait and nature will do Gant's job for him. Unfortunately, his old associates are impatient. Of course, the Judge refuses to fight. Gant then shows him the piece of Anne's dress and implies that he has raped her. The old judge is angered enough to grab a rifle and follow Gant outside. The old man has severe coughing and fires a wild shot before collapsing on the porch steps. Luke arrives and sees Gant with his gun drawn and assumes that Gant shot the old man. Luke starts to throw a hammer at him, but Gant shoots him in the right shoulder. As Gant is walking away toward his horse, Luke uses his left arm to throw a hammer. Just as Gant turns around, he is struck in the upper part of his gun arm and breaking it so that Gant can no longer shoot. As Gant laboriously mounts his horse, Asa tells Luke that the old man was not shot. Luke offers to tend to his arm, but Gant replies that "Everything comes to a finish" and rides away.

Tags: suspenseful

Review:
Audie Murphy (as John Gant) plays it real smooth here.
He manipulates the whole town 'leading citizens' into thinking which one is the one he's after (that he's been hired to kill), and leaves them all feeling quite guilty over their past misdeeds.
This is one of the few times you'll see Murphy play a bad guy, although quite different from the unhinged character you'd later see him play in John Huston's THE UNFORGIVEN (1960).
The one star of the movie, Audie Murphy, plays the gunman.
Audie Murphy's talent was misspent because, though obvious, it was never developed, either by studios, who, myopically, only wanted to exploit his war hero status as a box office draw, or directors who, in Murphy's career, were usually "line directors," good for getting a movie in the can on time and on budget rather than for getting great performances out their players.Which brings me to director Jack Arnold, who does a journeyman's job, but who I believe is the cause for what another reviewer wrongheadedly calls Murphy's shortcomings.
The main plot ends too abruptly, as if the producers were saying, "That's all we can afford to give you, Folks." That said, I wouldn't call the ending dumb, again as the wrongheaded reviewer cited above asserts, just shortchanged.Returning to my opening thesis, that watching a cast of talented character players carry a movie is a special treat, I highly recommend this little gem of a Western..
As soon as Audie Murphy appears on screen, you know that he's no good as he scares the life out of 2 random strangers, just by asking them for directions.
This is a cracking Western that works in just about every department and is surely one of Audie Murphy's best performances..
Picking up bits from Dan Duryea and Barry Sullivan's affable bad guys in previous films he had made with them, his John Gant is a smooth professional killer, an arbiter of fate, who in this film at least,seems to kill only those who truly deserve it.
This film,along with "The Red Badge of Courage,and the original "The Unforgiven" are the roles that showed that Mr. Murphy could've been a contender as an actual actor..
Possibly Audie Murphy's Best Western.
No Name on the Bullet is possibly Audie Murphy's best western.
These two films demonstrate clearly that Murphy could give a creditable performance on the rare occasions when he was given a good script, cast, and director to work with.
In this film Murphy plays John Gant, an apparently easy going man who, in fact, is a hired killer with a deadly reputation.
When he comes to town many apparently-respectable citizens with concealed guilt become panicked, each thinking that he is the one whom Gant is in town to kill.
If you think you don't like Audie Murphy westerns, give this one a try.
"No Name On the Bullet" marks a role reversal for star Audie Murphy.
John Gant (Murphy) a hired killer, rides into town one day and is soon recognized by the towns people.
G. Armstrong), gambler Reeger (Simon Scott), "respected businessmen" Stricker (Karl Swenson) and Pierce (Whit Bissell), miner Ben Chafee (John Alderson) or Lou Fraden (Warren Stevens), who has run off with another man's wife (Virginia Grey)?
Normally when you watch an Audie Murphy western, you would expect him to abandon his intended victim and ride away.
In No Name on the Bulllet, Audie Murphy got to star in one of the most unusual and best westerns in his career when he was cast in this off beat tale of a hired killer.
As John Gant, Audie reverses type and becomes a coldblooded, yet very philosophical hired killer.His modus operandi is simple.
Some of the townspeople are blacksmith R.G. Armstrong, doctor Charles Drake, banker Whit Bissell, mine owner Karl Swenson, judge Edgar Stehli, bartender Charles Watts, and store clerk Warren Stevens.
When hired killer Audie Murphy rides into town, everyone gets nervous.
This is a wonderfully suspenseful, very low budget western, directed by Jack Arnold, from near the end of Murphy's period as Universal-International's resident cowboy star.
One of Audie Murphy's two best Westerns, along with "Duel at Silver Creek." Audie departs from his usual role as a Good Guy, to play a part that is more bad than good, but has admirable qualities as well (honesty & responsibility chief among them).
Hired killer Audie Murphy follows a pattern of goading his target into taking the first shot, allowing himself to get off Scott free.
At a stop-off in a small town, the well known Murphy arouses the paranoia of several key citizens, with each man believing he may be the next to die.The idea of a lurking gunman and his mystery target exposing the festering guilt and hypocrisy of a seemingly ordinary town is a good one and there's some really good scenes here.However, it's undone a bit by some disappointingly ordinary writing and some problems with the film's pace (even at a short seventy-seven minutes).
Everyone wonders why notorious hired gun John Gant's in town, but he ain't sayin'.
The end comes as a surprise to everyone...including John Gant, Audie 's character.
John Gant is an assassin, whenever he comes to town, somebody dies.
John Gant is a hired assassin, whenever he rides into a town the whole townsfolk wonder who it is who is on his list.
This is John Gant, also known as Audie Murphy, and for me we are introduced to one of the greatest Western characters outside of the critics favoured lists of usual suspects.Audie Murphy had his critics, he himself hardly went out of his way to embrace stardom and pander to the ink scribblers, but here as Gant is a performance of icy cold wonderment that in my opinion proves any doubters wrong.
As Gant forms a weird sort of friendship with Charles Drake's Dr. Luke Canfield, the picture gains some much needed heart, and once the finale arrives it helps to close the picture on a hugely rewarding note.The film reminded me very much of a Twilight Zone episode called The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, it's a great story to work from {courtesy of Howard Amacker}, because it's morally suspicious and it has characters always on the brink of breaking the law through the sheer worry of their sins and dubious intentions coming back to get them.
However, the film still works a treat and comes highly recommended to even those who don't like Westerns.
It's basically a "one- angle" story in which a hired killer enters a town and the whole place goes wildly paranoid wondering who is going to be the man's victim.
Then again, some people like this kind of suspense-but nothing-happens type of story, sort of like the popular "High Noon."Audie Murphy ("John Gant") is interesting to watch as the cool-attitude killer but I couldn't much else to get excited about here.
The director, Jack Arnold, is noted for his making something engrossing out of low-grade horror material ("Creature From the Black Lagoon"); here he has first-rate supporting actors, a good setting and an interesting story to work with.
To his town there comes a man called Gant.
The man who recognizes him, and many others, begin to fear as the quiet, soft-spoken Gant waits and says nothing about his target, that the gunman is after them.
The town's sheriff tells the townsmen he cannot go after Gant, since the man's neither wanted nor doing anything wrong.
The Doctor befriends Gant, underplayed with some skill by Audie Murphy, who calls him "the only other honest man in town"; Gant expresses his admiration to the Doctor's girl, sultry Joan Evans, as well.
Gant accepts his fate, and rides off, leaving the town wondering who is the honest man, and who is the killer.
Audie Murphy is at his best in this western as the quiet gunslinger John Gant.
The movie is about John Gant (Audie Murphy), who aint no ordinary gunman but an assassin, who makes his target draw first n then he kills em in front of witnesses n his pattern is similar to a serial killer but he ain't no wanted man.
The story of the "two men" which Gant tells to the physician at the 37th min is noteworthy.A terrific psychological western with a terrific performance by Murphy n superb direction by J.
WWII hero Audie Murphy gets a mighty fine showcase here in this tense, intelligent widescreen Western from noted sci-fi director Jack Arnold.
Audie's character John Gant (that's a great name) is an interesting, cagey, enigmatic individual, certainly a man with layers to him.Gant has come to the small town of Lordsburg, and most everybody in the town knows Gant by profession: he's a hired killer, and he most likely is in town on business.
As Gant himself says, "everybody's got enemies", and those locals who have done anything worth punishing start getting nervous and creating all sorts of problems.The local sheriff (Willis Bouchey) feels powerless to do anything, so some of the citizens take it upon themselves to stand up to Gant and try to get him to leave.
Amiable doctor Luke Canfield (Charles Drake) feels Gant out in the attempt to understand what makes him tick.Gorgeously photographed (by Harold Lipstein) and scored (by Herman Stein and Irving Gertz), "No Name on the Bullet" is riveting from moment to moment as we keep our eye on Gant and try to predict just who his victim will be.
And even if the viewer guesses correctly, the film is still quite worth sticking with as the dialogue is solid and the performances are excellent.The supporting cast includes Joan Evans, Virginia Grey, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong, Edgar Stehli (a delight as the ailing judge), Karl Swenson, and Whit Bissell, but Murphy, by sheer nature of his mysterious character and soft spoken performance, is truly the one to watch as he keeps his business to himself.Highly recommended to Western fans.Eight out of 10..
Paranoia grips an Old West town when an infamous assassin arrives but refuses to reveal who he has been hired to kill in this nifty mix of western and mystery elements.
Audie Murphy is perfectly cast in the lead role with the film attaining much suspense from the question of whether Murphy really is who he says he is; after all, he is so young and "sounds more like a preacher" with the way he constantly waxes philosophical about life.
Clocking in at less than 80 minutes long, the film never gets to develop of all its supporting characters, and therefore it only partly succeeds in its portrayal of a town full of corrupt individuals, each believing that they will be killed.
An Audie Murphy Western from 1959.
Directed by Jack Arnold (The Creature from the Black Lagoon), this oater has Murphy playing a hired killer who comes to town looking for someone to ply his craft on but his signature M.O., goading his target into drawing first so all his kills appear to be justified, is an inspired turn of events.
". Audie Leon Murphy established himself as a real life icon and role model for his fans throughout his twenty years of movie making.
" The unusual movie tells the story of John Gant, (Audie Murphy) a hired professional gunman who rides into a typical western town Cir, 1880 with the expectation of eliminating someone.
In addition the superb casting which includes Charles Drake, Luke Canfield, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong and Edgar Stehli as Judge Benson highlights this exceptional movie as a true western Classic.
Audie Murphy: In one of his best roles.
This film shows a different side of Audie Murphy's acting talent.
Instead of the easy-going style that was evident in most of his films, here he is really rather psychopathic.And he does it well.The story is that he is a professional gun-man, who has come to town presumably to kill.....someone.
A fascinating, and substantive plot---much more than what one usually sees in what is essentially a B-western (the film is only about 90 minutes, clearly intended for a double feature).It is well acted up and down the line, with a large number of 1950s western character actors in supporting roles.Anybody who is a westerns fan will enjoy it.
Outstanding complex Audie Murphy Western - A real surprise.
I've not seen all of Audie Murphy's films, just most of them, over 30.
After a lifetime of watching him, last night I came across this gem, so I can pose the question, was this Audie Murphy's best acting performance?
I know he had little regard for the parts he played saying they were all the same, but watching this picture, which could have done with a better director with more vision, I couldn't help but think that this could have been a truly great western.
Murphy plays against type as a hired killer, not the hero he usually is, and in spite of his small frame, completely dominates every scene against much larger men.
Audie Murphy, the ex-WWII hero, also the most decorated hero of that same global war, deviates from the norm in this Universal-International western; he is usually a tough straight guy, but here he is a mean, cold, feared bounty hunter, despite the fact that he is his boyish-looking self.
As for the story, just the title would loosely indicate that it is a mystery, since everybody in this small town wants to know who the victim is that this paid killer John Gant (Murphy)is there to kill.
As in most of Murphy's westerns, the action is tense all the way from beginning to end.
Audie Murphy as the killer isn't a great actor, but his baby-faced ordinariness makes the character much more fascinating than an obvious bit of "tough guy" casting like a Jack Palance would have.Along with "The Incredible Shrinking Man", this shows Jack Arnold as one of the more interesting, thoughtful US filmmakers of the late 1950s..
When you know Audie Murphy's story, decorated war hero, small man, his character here as hired gun John Gant shows how versatile he was, playing the hero or the villain equally well.
The Doc offered to look at it, but Gant took his fate in stride and rode off, to the END of the movie, knowing that his time had come too..
A baby face on the lead villain doesn't create the tension needed in a psychological Western.That aside, the film works on it's premise - a hired gunman rides into town on a mission with a reputation that precedes him.
His method is always the same, stay awhile, get the lay of the land, and let the town's nervous citizens take themselves and each other apart until the day of reckoning.Fine performances are turned in by Willis Bouchey as Sheriff Buck Hastings, and Charles Drake as Dr. Luke Canfield who befriends gunslinger John Gant (Murphy) before he realizes who he is.
As his contact with Gant is entirely amiable, including a game of chess, Canfield has a tough time acknowledging Gant's reputation as a cold hearted killer.Gant plays his cards close and observes, as if waiting for the town to take out his intended victim for him.
Gant's another." John Gant (Audie Murphy) is a paid assassin, cool, quick, deadly and smart.
Now John Gant has ridden into the dusty town of Lordsburg, taken a room at the local hotel, and is biding his time.
No Name on the Bullet is an efficient B western, stuffed full with the familiar faces of B movie character actors.
And then there is Audie Murphy, playing a man who finds it easy to justify, for pay, bringing death a little earlier than expected to men who mostly deserve what he deals them.
Audie Murphy as the assassin Jim Gant recognises this, even though he did not kill him as he initially planned, recognises the old man's bravery and defiance when he refuses to accept Dr Charles Drake's offer to treat his arm.
There is not a bad performance in this thoughtful and engrossing western and it shows how well Audie Murphy could act with a first-rate director at the helm.
No Name On The Bullet is a very good psychological western.It stars Audie Murphy in one of his many westerns,here he plays a hired assassin by the name of John Gant,who has been payed to go into a town and kill somebody,but who has he come for?this is the question all the local towns folk are asking and so do you the viewer.
The biggest problem is that although Gant is a known hired killer he always gets his victims to draw first so that it looks as if he has killed in self defence,therefor he can not be arrested,he is cold and calculating and has all his plans worked out.So how can he be stopped?The real intended victim comes to light towards the last fifteen minutes of the film but you may have already guessed before then.The tension in this film is almost claustrophobic as you feel the over bearing pressure on the towns people.Its brilliantly directed and although Murphys performance is good the supporting cast is excellent.
This mature, psychological Western was the first feature film director Jack Arnold made after that exceptional run of Sci-Fi movies (made during the genre's heyday of the 1950s) for which he is deservedly best-known.
Diminutive real-life war hero Audie Murphy atypically stars as a black-clad notorious hired killer whose appearance in a sleepy Western hamlet instills fear in several of its supposedly respectable citizens who each believe that their own past has come back to haunt them.
A terse, offbeat Western that concludes in a unique confrontation between Murphy and Drake (who happens to be engaged to the Judge's daughter) where the former is disarmed and disabled by a gavel thrown at his right arm; incidentally, this unusual object had featured prominently in a scene at the beginning of the movie  at which point, my father (who was watching the film with me) proceeded to reveal the ending he recalled from an almost 50-year old theatrical screening!.