Day of the Evil Gun

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Day of the Evil Gun
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jerry Thorpe
Written by	Charles Marquis Warren
Produced by	Jerry Thorpe
Starring	Glenn Ford Arthur Kennedy
Cinematography	W. Wallace Kelley
Edited by	Alex Beaton
Music by	Jeff Alexander
Color process	Metrocolor
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	March 1, 1968 (1968-03-01)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Day of the Evil Gun is a 1968 American traditional Western starring Glenn Ford,^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Arthur Kennedy,^[1][6][7][8] and Dean Jagger.^{[6][7][9][10][11]} It was directed by Jerry Thorpe^{[6][12][13][14][15]} and written by Charles Marquis Warren.^[16][17]

Supporting actors included John Anderson,^[7] Paul Fix,^{[6][7][18][19]} Nico Minardos,^[6] Harry Dean Stanton,^{[6][7][9][20][21]} Royal Dano,^[6][22][23] and James Griffith.^[24] Mexican actress Pilar Pellicer had a supporting role.^[7]

Angie Warfield and her two children are kidnapped by Apaches. Lorn Warfield (Glenn Ford), who had been away a long time, sets out to rescue his family, with the unwanted help of his neighbor Owen Forbes (Arthur Kennedy). Warfield is a former gunman trying to forget his violent past. Forbes, a decent, humane rancher, is also in love with Warfield's wife and feels guilty that he did not try to prevent the kidnapping.

An Indian trader (Dean Jagger), who feigns insanity (as the Indians will not kill a crazy person), reluctantly provides Warfield with some information. Next, Warfield and Forbes are captured by the Apaches and staked out on the ground to die. However, Mexican bandit DeLeon (who has dealings with the Indians) believes Warfield's story that he hid his money before he was caught and cuts him loose. Warfield manages to convince DeLeon to free Forbes and to lead them to the Apache encampment. Forbes mistakenly kills DeLeon before he can show them where the camp is.

The two men detour to a town where a doctor is being overwhelmed caring for the victims of cholera. They buy supplies, and Forbes learns the location of the Apache camp. On the way, they enter a deserted Mormon settlement, where they encounter a detachment of U.S. Cavalry led by "Captain" Jefferson Addis. However, all is not what it seems. It turns out that Addis, who is actually a corporal, and the rest killed the real captain so that the24y could trade two wagons full of weapons and ammunition to the Apaches in return for an army payroll the latter recently captured. The Apaches, however, have other ideas; they attack. During the battle, Warfield arranges it for them to steal a wagon. The wagon leaves deep tracks allowing him easily to locate the Indian camp. Warfield and Forbes rescue the captives.

Safely back home, Forbes challenges Warfield (who is now unarmed, having traded his gun to a storekeeper for clothing for his family) to a duel for the woman, but Warfield just turns and walks away. Forbes throws him a pistol, Warfield refuses to pick it up. Forbes then shoots Warfield in the leg. Before Forbes can finish him off, he is shot and killed by the storekeeper using Warfield's gun.^[25][26]

Day of the Evil Gun originally was going to be a made-for-TV movie.^[27] The film was made in Durango, Mexico.^[7]

Jeff Alexander's theme from Day of the Evil Gun is in the Library of Congress.^[28][29]

A. H. Weiler of The New York Times wrote, "Glenn Ford again outlasts the competition, of course, but a viewer is left with the uneasy feeling that the cast should rate a mite more than mere saddle sores for their workmanlike effort to add a chapter to Hollywood's winning of the West."^[30]

• Nash, Jay Robert (2019). The Encyclopedia of Best Films: A Century of All the Finest Movies, S-U (eBook). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 2556. ISBN 978-1538134177.
• Library of Congress (2012) [1969]. Catalog of Copyright Entries (Paperback) (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Publishing Office. p. 1267. ISBN 978-1334746550.
• Hoffmann, Henryk (2024). "A" Western Filmmakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, Actors and Actresses (eBook). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 552–553. ISBN 978-1476608648.
• Joyner, C. Courtney (2015). The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers and Producers (eBook). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786455683.
• Aaker, Everett (2017). Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary (Paperback). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476662503.
• Hannan, Brian (2019). The Gunslingers of '69: Western Movies' Greatest Year (Paperback). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476679358.
• Hischak, homas S. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Film Composers (eBook). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 8. ISBN 978-1442245501.
• Lentz, Harris M.; Lentz III, Harris M. (2018). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017 (Paperback). Vol. 1. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 372. ISBN 978-1476670324.
• Lentz III, Harris M. (2019). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2018 (eBook). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 376–377. ISBN 978-1476636559.
• Windrum, Ken (2019). From El Dorado to Lost Horizons: Traditionalist Films in the Hollywood Renaissance, 1967-1972 (eBook). Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1438473987.
• Thomson, David (2010). The New Biographical Dictionary of Film: Completely Updated and Expanded (eBook). New York City: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0307594617.
• Green, Paul (2014). A History of Television's The Virginian, 1962-1971 (eBook). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 191. ISBN 978-0786457991.
• Reyes, Luis I. (2024). Made in Mexico: Hollywood South of the Border (eBook). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 143. ISBN 978-1493082742.
• Monush, Barry (2003). The Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the Silent Era to 1965 (Hardcover). Vol. 1. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1557835512.
• Maltin, Leonard (2017). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide: The Modern Era, Previously Published as Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide (Paperback). London: Penguin Group. p. 327. ISBN 978-0525536192.

• Day of the Evil Gun at IMDb
• Day of the Evil Gun at the TCM Movie Database
• Day of the Evil Gun at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Day of the Evil Gun at Rotten Tomatoes