Day of the Evil Gun (Jerry Thorpe, 1968)

[Ming]

A film worth mentioning is ‘Day of the Evil Gun’ (1968), starring Glenn Ford.
A mean & moody American western that appears to have been influenced by Italian westerns.
A great film that deserves a DVD release.

[stanton]

Hmmm, I don’t see any SW influences in this film.

Story and action are typical for the american westerns of this year.

A small but interesting film.

[Ming]

Maybe I’m wrong… I’ve only seen it once & It’s been about a year since I saw it, I’ll have to dig it out & watch it again…

Good movie anyway.

[stanton]

Maybe not, the influence of SWs on the american ones is also a matter of views, you see what you want to see.

I belong to the guys who think that, apart from a few westerns (mainly the Eastwood ones) there was only a small or even none influence.

I think that most of the american westerns of the 70s are made out of their own traditions and models.

[ION_BRITTON]

I’ve been meaning to watch this a couple of years now, but I finally saw it this morning… It’s a watchable one with a slight SW feel, not saying that it’s definitely influenced by any earlier particular italian production, but it’s certainly gritty enough to distinguish it from the majority of US westerns, especially the ones of the previous decade. Also, a few points lost for not-so-fitting ending. 7/10

[scherpschutter]

I didn’t see any distinct Italian aspect either. The story is a (nice) variation on The Searchers and to me the film seems closer to early Peckinpah than to Leone:

[size=12pt]http://westernsontheblog.blogspot.be/2013/04/day-of-evil-gun-1968.html[/size]

[ION_BRITTON]

Well said, scherp. Just wanted to add regarding the finale, it’s the hostility between the two that should have been developed more during the film, the way the story goes it doesn’t give the impression that they might end it with a deadly confrontation.

[The_Man_With_a_Name]

An excellent western film. Definitely in my top 30!