I do feel that “Forty Guns” is a wonderful film made by the legendary filmmaker Samuel Fuller. One that will captivate you but also appreciate how this film was ahead of its time, back in 1957. Recommended!
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TITLE: Forty Guns – The Criterion Collection #954
YEAR OF FILM: 1957
DURATION: 80 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 2:35:1 Aspect Ratio, Dolby Digital 5.1, with English subtitles
COMPANY: The Criterion Collection
RELEASED: December 11, 2018
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller
Producer: Samuel Fuller
Music by QHarry Sukman
Cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc
Edited by Gene Fowler Jr.
Art Direction by John B. Mansbridge
Set Decoration by Chester Bayhi, Walter M. Scott
Costume Design by Charles Le Maire, Leah Rhodes
Starring:
Barbara Stanwyck as Jessica Drummond
Barry Sullivan as Griff Bonell
Dean Jagger as Sheriff Ned Logan
John Ericson as Brockie Drummond
Gene Barry as Wes Bonell
Robert Dix as Chico Bonell
Jidge Carroll as Barney Cashman
Paul Dubov as Judge Macy
Gerald Milton as Shotgun Spanger
Ziva Rodann as Rio
Hank Worden as Marshal John Chisum
Hollywood legend Barbara Stanwyck saddled up with writer-director Samuel Fuller for the pulp maestro’s most audacious western, a boldly feminist spin on the genre that pivots effortlessly between ribald humor, visceral action, and disarming tenderness. High-riding rancher Jessica Drummond (Stanwyck) commands a forty-strong posse of cowboys, ruling Cochise County, Arizona, without challenge. When U.S. Marshal Griff Bonell (Barry Sullivan) and his brothers arrive in town with a warrant for one of her hired guns, Jessica begins to fall for the lawman even as he chips away at her authority. With astonishing black-and-white CinemaScope photography, hard-boiled dialogue laced with double entendres, and a fiery performance by Stanwyck at her most imperious, Forty Guns is a virtuoso display of Fuller’s sharpshooting talents.
Filmmaker Samuel Fuller is known for low-budget films with controversial themes.
Known for film such as “Shock Corridor”, “The Naked Kiss”, “The Big Red One”, “White Dog” and many films in his long oeuvre but Samuel Fuller felt “Forty Guns” to be one of his best films and it was a rare opportunity for Fuller to produce, direct and write a studio film, despite the ending changed from what Fuller originally had wanted.
And while the film was not a big blockbuster film, it was a film which would receive appreciation by cineastes decades later.
And the film became the latest Samuel Fuller film to be released by The Criterion Collection.
“Forty Guns” is set in the 1880s and begins with an introduction to Jessica Drummond (portrayed by Barbara Stanwyck), the leader of her forty hired guns. She runs the area, many fear her and her gang of thugs, which her brother Brockie (portrayed by John Ericson), is responsible in terrorizing many towns.
Reformed gunslinger Grif Bonnell (portrayed by Bary Sullivan) and his brothers Wes (portrayed by Gene Barry) and Chico (portrayed by Robert Dix) arrive in the town of Tombstone in Arizona.
Grif who is now working for the Attorney General’s office is tasked to arrest Howard Swain (portrayed by Chuck Roberson) for mail robbery. He also happens to be one of Drummond’s forty hired guns.
While Grif and his brothers are in town, Brockie who is drunk along with his buddies start trashing the town and even shoots the town Marshal, John Chisolm in the leg.
Everyone looks towards Grif of stopping the rampage and while Grif bravely walks towards Brockie and Wes covers him with a rifle from the gunsmith shop, Grif pistol whips Brockie and leads him to being jailed.
But it doesn’t take long for Brockie to be released as his sister, Jessica comes to have him released.
But what happens when Grif and Jessica confront each other? What happens when Brockie tries to get his revenge on the Bonnell’s?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Forty Guns” is presented in black and white (2:35:1 Aspect Ratio). According to the Criterion Collection, the new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Golden Eye film scanner from the 35 mm original camera negative and restored by Twentieth Century Fox.
The film looks absolutely great on DVD, but I can only imagine how this film would look even more amazing in HD via Blu-ray.
As for audio, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35 mm optical soundtrack positive by Audio Mechanics in Burbank, California.
Dialogue and music is clear with no sign of any hiss, crackling or pops throughout the film.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Forty Guns” comes with the following special features:
- New interview with director Samuel Fuller’s widow, Christa Lang Fuller, and daughter, Samantha Fuller
- A Fuller Life (2013), a feature-length documentary by Samantha Fuller about her father, featuring filmmakers Wim Wenders, William Friedkin, and Monte Hellman; actors Mark Hamill, James Franco, Jennifer Beals, Bill Duke, and Constance Towers; and others
- Audio interview with Samuel Fuller at London’s National Film Theatre from 1969
- New interview with critic Imogen Sara Smith, author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City
- Stills gallery
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
EXTRAS:
- An essay by film scholar Lisa Dombrowski and a chapter from Fuller’s posthumously published 2002 autobiography, A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking (32-page booklet).
“Forty Guns” is a Samuel Fuller film that I have been wanting to watch. For one, I have heard about this film of how Barbara Stanwyck loved doing this movie, she even insisted doing the risky stunts (in which she falls off a horse and could have resulted in major injuries).
But I was also wanting to watch this film after reading Samuel Fuller’s autobiography, “A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting and Filmmaking”. Fuller called the film as one of his works that he is quite proud of.
From the director, writer and producer himself who said the Forty Guns (with the exception of her Jessica Drummond’s brother) of men she had slept with and have helped elevate her to become one of the most feared people in the area but now, her life changes when she meets Griff Bonnell.
The film shows us how these men are entranced by Jessica, weak around her with the exception of Grif.
This western was no doubt a Samuel Fuller-style film, going against traditional western stories and focusing on two older talents, an antagonist with John Ericson as Brockie Drummond, who looked like a fashion model.
According to Fuller, the film highlighted juvenile delinquency, no doubt inspired by films of the time, such as James Dean’s “Rebel Without a Cause”.
Showcasing a strong female lead, and not a woman often in distress and is needing saving which Barbara Stanwyck has done an amazing job in the role and even doing her own stunts. And surprising is that Marilyn Monroe wondered why Samuel Fuller didn’t have her read for the par tof Jessica Drummond and Fuller told her straight out, she would make the film funny.
But while this may be one of the final Stanwyck’s films in a major starring role, she did an amazing job especially working with Barry Sullivan.
But it’s not just Stanwyck and Sullivan, it’s almost everyone who did a great job playing their part. Gene Barry (known for his role in the popular sci- fi film “War of the Worlds”) as middle brother Bonell who falls for Louvenia Spanger (portrayed by Eve Brent, best known for her role as Jane in “Tarzan’s Fight For Life”), the town’s gunsmith. Both play a pivotal role in this film.
And Robert Dix as younger brother Chico Bonnell, which Griff tries to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. A character who grows throughout the film.
But one thing that continues to stick in my mind is the final scene which was inspired by events from Fuller’s military life.
The Criterion Collection release is magnificent with awesome special features and an informative essay booklet.
While I don’t want to spoil anything more for the film, I do feel that “Forty Guns” is a wonderful film made by the legendary filmmaker Samuel Fuller. One that will captivate you but also appreciate how this film was ahead of its time, back in 1957.
Recommended!