Warlock (1959 film)
| Warlock | |
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1959 movie poster
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| Directed by | Edward Dmytryk |
| Produced by | Edward Dmytryk |
| Written by |
Robert Alan Aurthur based on the novel by Oakley Hall |
| Starring |
Richard Widmark Henry Fonda Anthony Quinn Dorothy Malone Dolores Michaels |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | Joseph MacDonald |
| Edited by | Jack W. Holmes |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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122 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.4 million |
| Box office | $1.7 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) |
Warlock is a 1959 western film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Richard Widmark, and Dorothy Malone. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by American author Oakley Hall.
Fonda portrays Clay Blaisedell, a freelance marshal in the fictional town of Warlock with implacable methods of dealing with troublemakers. The film has a subplot centering around Blaisedell's club-footed assistant, Tom Morgan. Content to stay in the background, Morgan has sublimated his relationships and ambition into a warped devotion to Blaisedell, the only person Morgan thinks does not look down on him for his disability. A woman Morgan rejected in favor of his life as a sidekick soon arrives and seeks vengeance by setting the townsfolk against Blaisedell. Far from asserting himself, the marshal plans to quit and get married, much to Morgan's disgust. Morgan remonstrates that his skill as a gunman is far superior to his conventionally heroic friend's, and is the only thing that has been keeping the honorable Blaisedell alive. Blaisedell attempts to stop a spurned Morgan running amok, and with ulterior motives Morgan challenges Blaisedell to a duel in front of the watching town.
As in the earlier film Wichita (1955), the conflict of the law with the outlaw runs parallel to the resentment of the town's own leadership.
Warlock is a small Utah mining town of the early 1880s. Local cowboys working for Abe McQuown (Tom Drake) often come into town to shoot the place up, kill on just a whim, and beat up and humiliate any deputy sheriff who tries to stand up to them. The Citizens' Committee decides to hire Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda), a renowned gunfighter, as town marshal in spite of the misgivings of some, such as old Judge Holloway (Wallace Ford) who insists that the situation should be handled within the law (though he admits that a loophole prevents it from being done effectively). Blaisedell is famous for his golden-handled guns.
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