This movie should prove to anyone that he was a great actor. He does it not so much with line delivery,although that's great too, but with his eyes, body language, and facial expressions. I just saw this recently for the first time since seeing it in the theatre back in the sixties, and was amazed at how good it was.
shareHe was okay in it - the movie itself was dreadfully slow, which I don't always mind that, but the plot & the finale seemed obvious. As far as Gregory Peck's westerns, I love MacKenna's Gold the best which I think was around the same time he made this. Also just watched Duel in the Sun which was fun to see a young Greg Peck as a bad guy!
Sometimes I think the reason I don't get much from him on screen is just b/c the role he's playing doesn't call for much.....maybe that's why his character here had no effect on me & is one I'm likely to forget. Same for On the Beach, for me. As far as one of his greatest roles, I really gotta say he was really really good in I Walk the Line - the character he plays there made me think about him long after the movie ended.
"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl
Yep I agree he was okay in it but the movie was just so-so. Check out a young Peck in Yellow Sky (1948) directed by the great William Wellman. Far superior western and film. He's a bad guy in that one too, but kinda miscast as a tough leader of outlaws. Still, he does a good job overall. Or the terrific The Gunfighter (1950).
shareI'm glad to read your post, because I just bought the DVD today and am planning to watch it tonight! :)
shareI, personally, prefer this film to Peck and director Robert Mulligan's previous (and more popular) title, To Kill A Mockingbird.
"What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter."
Peck is indeed great in this movie!
And I don't understand people saying it's slow.
It's not, every second is well used to build up an incredible amount of suspense. It's almost a horror film, it thrives on atmosphere.
And in my humble opinion THE STALKING MOON is better than MACKENNA'S GOLD.
"I don't discriminate between entertainment
and arthouse. A film is a goddam film."
SPOILERS
The climax was predictable, because the entire movie was headed toward that one inevitable clash. Having said that, the desperation of the final struggle was impressively intense.
Agreed; in ways my favorite Peck film. The sheer menace overhanging their trek and cabin scenes. At the same time there's the inner tension with Peck's various attempts to get the woman and her son to warm up and trust him. Always liked the scene when they're eating and he keeps talking about how they might get along (i.e. the peas)and they both just stare at the poor guy.
But I have a weakness for westerns with well-paced "siege" situations built into the plot. Like John Huston's The Unforgiven and countless others.
I’ll have to watch this sometime!
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