You gotta doctor in this town? Go get him! Heaven with a Gun is directed by Lee Katzin and written by Richard Carr. it stars Glenn Ford, Carolyn Jones, Barbara Hershey, John Anderson, David Carradine, J.D. Cannon and Noah Beery Jr. Music is by Johnny Mandel and the Metrocolor/Panavision cinematography is by Fred Koenekamp. This is a good ole late 1960s Oater, not one to rush out and see immediately, or quickly part with your cash to buy or rent - or go out and steal. But it has Glenn Ford, who maybe in the twilight of his career, but still a bad mutha with gun, shovel and a pulpit! Yep, the punching preacher indeed. Lambs to the slaughter. It's the town of Vinegarroon and a war is raging between cattle and sheep breeders. Into this walks Jim Killian (Ford), a famed gunfighter who has come to build a church and preach the bible. However, Pastor Jim is not afraid to use his guns in the name of the Lord! The God Squad. It is what it is in that respect, the cheeky kicker here is that Killian is unorthodox in his methods, anyone wanting to come to church will be guaranteed safety, important since Killian is trying to convince the cattle and sheep barons that they can co-exist, that the animals (all God's creatures of course) can do it, and thus so can the humans. Naturally some are more keen to give it a try than others - cue intimidation and bloodshed, Killian clearly ha…

**_Life in the Wild West between Christianity, saloon-life and gun-violence_** A seasoned gunslinger comes to a town in the Southwest (Glenn Ford) where he finds himself aiding sheepherders against proud cattlemen (John Anderson, David Carradine, Noah Beery Jr., etc.). Yet his real intention is to start a church (!). Carolyn Jones is on hand as a saloon operator. "Heaven with a Gun” (1969) was originally announced in the mid-50s as a vehicle starring Gregory Peck. A dozen years later it was finally shot with Ford as the lead and the addition of some fashionable elements inspired by the late 60s, like Barbara Hershey as the hippie-like half-breed, including a scene where she sits naked outside the preacher’s house amazed by the starry panorama. The obvious comparison would be “Pale Rider” (1985), but Ford’s pastor is thoroughly mundane compared to Eastwood’s ‘preacher,’ lacking the vague supernatural angle of that later flick. The script commendably shows a real West of working cattlemen and respectfully fleshes them out in the second half, but the sympathetic commentaries regarding the mogul’s son (Carradine) by his father (Anderson) and the ramrod (Beery Jr.) are wasted since it had been established by that point that Coke is a detestable piece of you-know-what. Then again, what happens to him is fitting. Angelique Pettyjohn is a highlight on the feminine front as prosti…

Browse discussions about “Heaven with a Gun”

Jump to Reddit for live threads on this title.