Warlock (1959) is one of my favorite westerns. Unfortunately it shares a title with a horror/fantasy film made 30 years later. It has a stunning cast that includes Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn and Dorothy Malone. And for fans of 60’s TV shows it also has DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy/Star Trek) and Frank Gorshin (The Riddler/Batman) in supporting roles.
Widmark plays the role of Johnny Gannon. He and his brother (Frank Gorshin, an ideal choice as there is a resemblance) ride with a lawless gang who like to shoot-up the town of Warlock between stints of cattle rustling and other such endeavors.
brothers? 
This leaves the town terrorized and frightened and unable to attract a deputy sheriff. So the citizens of Warlock decide to hire a notorious gunfighter named Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda), at the bargain price of $400 a month. By law, a sheriff’s deputy only earns a tenth of that sum. So technically and according to the sheriff, Blaisedell, the appointed Marshall is a vigilante- gun-for- hire, operating outside of the law on behest of the townsfolk of Warlock. Unfortunately, said sheriff is counties away and of no immediate everyday use. There seems to be no takers at the paltry sum offered to a deputy, so what else can the town of Warlock do?
So Blaisedell comes to town with his good friend Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn), who happens to have a club foot, but is also a pretty quick draw. They are clearly a package deal and settle into town by opening up their gambling saloon and intimidating the unruly gang. The story gets complicated when Widmark’s character, Gannon, decides to break ties with the gang and turn over a new leaf. As soon as he accepts the position as the town’s deputy, he finds himself caught between his former gang buddies and Blaisedell, with little support of the citizens. Further complications arise when Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone) comes to town in search of Blaisedell. She is an old flame of Morgan’s (Quinn) and is back with a vengeance. This adds an interesting subplot the helps flesh out the main characters by adding another dimension to the story. I am not going to give any more plot points away, as I do not want to risk spoiler territory. Suffice it to say, the conflict between Gannon (the law) and Blaisedell (the vigilante), in addition to the resolution of the Morgan, Blaisedell and Lily affair, play out with great tension, action and drama.
I thought all the main roles were well acted. I especially liked Widmark’s low-key performance of a man with a very troubled past who is looking for redemption. It is the kind of role he excels at. There is a great performance by DeForest Kelley as Curly, one of the more likeable members of the outlaw gang. He does a great job providing comic relief and steals many scenes. I like the way the story unfolds with surprises along the way. Henry Fonda is very capable in the thankless role of the stoic gun fighter; it is the least dynamic of any of the male leads.
Anthony Quinn’s villainous portrayal of Morgan suggests more than just a close friendship with Henry Fonda’s Blaisedell by reinforcing homosexual stereotypes (flamboyant clothes, preoccupation with interior decor, hostility toward women who pose a threat to the status quo of their relationship). Some of the final scenes make me wonder if perhaps Blaisedell is just too afraid of society’s wrath to reciprocate feelings that he dared not acknowledge. Of course, this is all subtext; anything explicit about such themes would have been impossible in 1959. Certainly this is all in the eye of the viewer; but I have read online that the director (Edward Dmytryk) was surprised when critics of the time commented on the perceived homosexuality of Morgan (I am not the only one to think so). It was not intentional, in his mind. Or maybe he did not see it but the screenwriter did. Some people get quite hostile at the notion that Morgan’s character might be gay. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, not that there is anything wrong with that. I find it an interesting interpretation of a fictional character.
I really enjoyed this Western. The themes are more complex than average; it has no clear hero, no clear villain and it left me thinking, long after I finished watching it for the countless time. My biggest complaint is the title. I wish the town had a different, less supernatural sounding name. The title seems so incongruous to the story.
What is Ann Watching? 