Just watched this western for the very first time. In my opinion it's a very average movie and I could not believe the high rating it gets. I give it no more than a five, some of the dialogue and characterisations are unbelievable and there are so many deliberately contrived scenes. In addition I only counted 39 guns.
shareIn addition I only counted 39 guns.
You guys are crazy. There's nothing average about it. And I'm not even taking quality: any fool can see that, stylistically, it's complete unlike anything being made at the time, save for maybe Johnny Guitar.
shareTotally agree with your comment - especially about the Johnny Guitar comparison. In fact when I opened this thread I was expecting the OP to be complaining that the rating was too low. Admittedly there are some brutal lines but more of the shots are amazing. Like some of the long takes, the first showdown with Brockym the wedding scene & the opening scene is a classic. Great movie and would rate it among Fuller's best. How anyone could give this movie a 4 or 5 is for me to understand. But then again there are those who don't like Johnny Guitar,
shareYou gotta be nuts to compare Forty Guns with Johnny Guitar. Johnny Guitar IS WAY more better at all aspects.
I can't even digest the title of this movie "Forty Guns", because there is not much justice done with the 'posse of forty hired guns' part and also the tough-headed Jessica part.
LOL I too was expecting a complain about the rating being too low. That's such a great movie I agree, so self-assured on all levels. Incidentally I saw it via Scorsese. (I figure he knows a thing or two about great movies.)
http://www.fastcocreate.com/1679472/martin-scorseses-film-school-the-8 5-films-you-need-to-see-to-know-anything-about-film
I am pretty sure he mentions it in his Journey Through American Cinema. I saw that a while ago but didn't put down all the suggestions then.
I too was expecting a complain about the rating being too low
Me too. This film is utterly demented and perverse, not to mention dripping with sex. Astonishing shot after astonishing shot. The guys in the bathtubs, the "Woman with a Whip" song (come ON...), the dinner table tracking shot, the tornado scene, Stanwyck's dialogue with Sullivan, the weird and probably tongue-in-cheek sexual politics of the ending... It's like a John Ford movie on acid, or remade by Almodovar. It doesn't hang together too well as a drama, admittedly, but who cares?
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.
I expect IMDB votes to be inflated, as only fans take the time to vote. I also see that the newer films get more and higher votes, probably because the internet audience is younger. Personally, I find the Leonard Malkin ratings on the TCM website to be more balanced. There, Johnny Guitar gets 3-1/2 out of 4 stars, while this film (Woman with a Whip) scores at only 2-1/2.
shareI wouldn't call it a great movie, but I enjoyed it. Lord knows I've seen plenty of westerns that are worse than this one. Barry Sullivan was excellent as the seemingly unstoppable Angel of Death and the last showdown was impressive in its no-nonsensical decisiveness. Someone above mentioned noir and Sullivan's character certainly brought that element into the movie.
shareWhile I thought the story line was good, the acting and dialogue were great, I could have done without the musical interludes that seem to permeate many/most 1950's Westerns.
share[deleted]
I must agree, this movie was really mediocre and uneven. Some scenes were quite strange, if it had been directed by David Lynch or the Coen brothers, I would have assumed this strangeness was intentional, but in this movie it was probably just amateurish filmmaking.
Did you notice just before the end there was some animal (small horse or something) storming toward the camera. I thought there was something going to happen, but no actor paid any attention to it, so it was probably just some horse getting loose or some wild animal running to the set accidentally.
You assume the strange flourishes are amateurish filmmaking? You would give the Coen brothers or David Lynch the benefit of the doubt... but not Samuel Fuller? You do realize he was one of the more important American directors of his time, right? Pickup on South Street, Fixed Bayonets, House of Bamboo... ever heard of any of these? I think you should bone up on your film history, bud.
shareA young Barry Sullivan...a real MALE actor with Hank Worden and John Ericson!
The studios and even Sam Fuller were determined to "make" a below average actress
with far below average looks a starlet.
Barbara Who?
Good flick.
I wholeheartedly agree with the OP. This is the WORST Stanwyck film I have ever seen, with too many characters, dreadful pacing and the always irritating Dean Jagger given way too much screen time. Unbelievably campy, and my only explanation for the incredible overrating of this turkey being Fuller's admittedly great camera work. Everything else sucks big time. Truly awful.
shareAnd I agree with both of you.
Sam Fuller movies 'all' get high ratings when in fact, they all feel dated and look cheap. If it's got his name on it, you count on a 7+ rating in here.