Son of a Gunfighter (DVD), Warner Archives, Western

Young Johnny is a good man to have around if you're facing the business end of a gun or turning back a swarm of banditos overrunning a ranchers spread. But it's not heroics Johnny seeks. He's hell-bent on tracking his mother's killer, a quest that takes an unexpected turn when he finds him. Russ Tamblyn (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story) straps on a notch-handled sidearm for the change-of-pace role of Johnny in this tale of revenge that keeps the ammo flying and the pistolas always reloaded. Applauded for it's action sequences, this offspring of the era's trend-setting Spaghetti Westerns also draws approval for it's genre-evocative score and noteworthy cinematography. In 2012. Quentin Tarantino showed his admiration for this film by casting Tarnblyn and his daughter Amber in the Django Unchained roles of Son of a Gunfighter and Daughter of a Son of a Gunfighter.