# Heaven with a Gun (1969)

### reviewed by
Jerry Saravia

    HEAVEN WITH A GUN

    Gunslinger: 'I am burying a man.'

    Cowpoke:                'That's a sheepherder.'

    Gunslinger: 'I know.'

This small dialogue exchange is the opening sequence of "Heaven With a Gun," a strange western that somehow manages to work even if it shouldn't. The parts of the film do not make a cohesive whole but they do make a watchable film, if nothing else.

"Heaven With a Gun" stars Glenn Ford as the gunslinger in that sequence, a man named Jim Killian who certainly doesn't like to see sheepherders, particularly Hopi Indian sheepherders hanged. Nonetheless, after burying the man and forcing two cattle cowpokes to make wave, Jim arrives in the town Vinegaroon, populated by the usual kinds of characters such as drunk cowboys, genial storekeepers, loose prostitutes who demand prompt payment for their duties, and so on. And, as always, there is a poker game involving high stakes with the former cowpokes Jim had confronted earlier. One of them is Coke (David Carradine), "the wild mustang," who is ready to kill Jim. And we get the obligatory scene of an impending act of violence at a poker table interrupted by the owner of the saloon/bar (known as the "Road to Ruin"). In this case, it is a breath of fresh air named Madge (the fabulous Carolyn Jones), who knows Jim from the past.

Jim's intention is to start a church in town called "The Mission Church of the Good Shepherd." That's right, he is not only a gunslinger, he is a preacher! He is heaven with a gun, similar to the character Eastwood would later play in "Pale Rider." He hopes to bring faith and communion into the town, and also hopes that the sheep herders and the cattle herders will agree that both animals can graze on the same range. Naturally, Jim's plan is met with plenty of disapproval from the cattle herders, including the grizzly Asa Peck (John Anderson). And there are also other obstacles, such as a Hopi woman named Leloopa (an unrecognizable Barbara Hershey), who wants to cook and clean for Jim since he buried her father. And perhaps Madge is a little jealous of this woman, considering that she thinks Jim is the man for her.

"Heaven With a Gun" does have its flaws. The introduction of a man named Mace (J.D. Cannon) who served prison time with Jim simply marks time - the character is evil yet has charisma and yet you wish there was more of him. Also there is a rape scene in the film that also feels extraneous, not to mention a near scalping of another character. The violence is so heavy and the sheep herders are so clearly without redeeming value that you wish there was something more than the ending that is given. It all feels anticlimactic but I will say this - it is a rare kind of ending for a western and must have been placed there because of the pacifist times in which it was made.

On the plus side, Glenn Ford is in fine form, exuding toughness, sweetness and a tinge of humor - he also makes the character of Jim soulful and forgiving. Ford's scenes with the lovely Carolyn Jones are wonderful if short-lived. I also like Barbara Hershey, despite the fact she looks too pristine to be a Hopi Indian (check out those sparkling white teeth!). Scenes of a barn being turned into a church and a nude woman sitting outside a house are rarities in this genre, not to mention the ending. "Heaven With a Gun" is fine, two-fisted entertainment but it does ring a little hollow. Nonetheless, the cast makes it as close to heaven as a western could ever be.

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