Archetypal Western tragedy based on the Earp/Holliday/Tombstone legends
A professional town-tamer named Blaisdell (Henry Fonda) is hired as an independent marshal by the citizens of Warlock to rid them of an unruly gang; meanwhile a repentant member of the bunch becomes deputy sheriff (Richard Widmark), which creates friction. Anthony Quinn plays the former’s faithful sidekick.
“Warlock” (1959) is an adult Western cut from the same dramatic cloth as similar late 50s/early 60’s Westerns like “Man of the West” (1958). The mature and psychological script was based on Oakley Hall’s novel, which was a fictionalization of the OK Corral legends, which is why it’s not too difficult to read Earp/Holliday into the Fonda/Quinn characters and Abe McQuown’s gang as the Clanton/McLaury gang.
The fact that Quinn’s Morgan character is loosely based on Doc Holliday is a good reason to reject the supposed ‘homosexual subtext’ of Morgan. There’s not enough evidence to draw such a radical conclusion. Morgan was simply Blaisedell’s loyal and ruthless partner; he loved Blaisedell like close members of a military squad or like a brother.
On the female front we have two very striking women: Dolores Michaels plays Blaisedell’s potential babe, Jessie Marlow, while Dorothy Malone is on hand as Lily Dollar, a mysterious woman from Blaisedell’s past who takes interest in the new deputy sheriff (Widmark).
The town scenes were filmed at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, CA, whereas the scenic sequences were all shot in Moab, Utah, near Arches National Park. Needless to say, the latter locations are magnificent.
The movie runs 2 hours, 2 minutes.
GRADE: B+