No Name On The Bullet

No Name on the Bullet (1959)

Runtime: 77 minutes

Directed by: Jack Arnold

Starring: Audie Murphy, Charles Drake, Joan Evans, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong

From: Universal

Audie Murphy: still a draw for my parents in 2020.

Sunday night both mom and dad were watching television, as they are wont to do. They looked to see what was on next, and they saw that the 1967 Western 40 Guns to Apache Pass was on, and while neither had seen it before, it was mainly viewed because is starred World War II hero turned actor Murphy. It made me realize I should see one of his movies; it was not that but rather something I had heard of before.

No Name on the Bullet is more psychological than you'd likely expect from the genre, and Audie plays against type. Short in stature and boyish in appearance, he naturally was usually the hero or the hero's sidekick. Instead, he was the villain here, John Gant; he rode a black horse and wore a black hat, so even at that time they made it obvious. Gant is an intelligent assassin, someone who always provokes the opposition first, allowing him to claim “self-defense.” He also can talk his way out of trouble along with being a tremendous shot. His reputation is so fearsome, the town of Lordsburg practically collectively soils itself in fright as his target is unknown and people are paranoid that those they slighted in the past are looking for revenge. He also refuses to name who he is after, always delivering vague and evasive comments. How curious then that a sort of friendship forms between Gant and town doctor Luke Canfield (Charles Drake).

It is always a compelling movie as you try to figure out who the target is, along with all the discussion of why Gant is such a ruthless killer, his justification that he “only kills wicked people”, and the town's various attempts to try and drive him away the longer he hangs around. It is fascinating watching someone ride into a sleepy little hamlet and does nothing while it is everyone else who is causing chaos and adding gasoline to the fire of fiery feuds just from his presence. It is great seeing his discussions w/ Canfield and the latter does not seem thrilled that the former has respect for him or especially him invoking comparisons between the two.

The movie does take its time but I was never bored. Audie was the standout, although the rest of the cast was fine overall portraying fools, drunkards, cowards, and all the rest... & Drake's performance is admirable. Personally I was happy to see the great R.G. Armstrong in one of his first film roles. I was happy to watch a Western different from the norm, although eventually I'll see Audie Murphy in a role more traditional for him. His war heroics are tremendous, although his life after that was melancholy; he had what we know now as PTSD and that affected the rest of his too-short life, passing away young due to a plane crash. Yet as my parents demonstrated, he has not been forgotten w/ the passage of time.