The Bravados

Nine years after the impressive Twelve O'Clock High, eight after the magnificent The Gunfighter, King and Peck teamed up again for this revenge Western. For a while, it looks as though the magic is going to work again, as Peck rides grimly into a small town, announces that his purpose is to watch four outlaws hang, and - when they contrive to escape - outrides the posse to exterminate the outlaws one by one. Ironically, although guilty of similar crimes, the quartet (Boyd, Salmi, Van Cleef and Silva) turn out to be not guilty of the rape/murder of Peck's wife. Cue for a crisis of conscience which is worked out in perfunctory religious terms, with Joan Collins conveniently on hand as an image of salvation. With good performances and excellent 'Scope camerawork from Leon Shamroy, the action sequences are fine, but the religious motifs are as maudlin as The Song of Bernadette.