The Quick and the Dead (1987)

Why is it that the man who begs for mercy never gives it? The Quick and the Dead is directed by Robert Day and written by Louis L'Amour (novel) and James Lee Barrett (teleplay). It stars Sam Elliott, Tom Conti, Kate Capshaw, Kenny Morrison, Matt Clark and Patrick Kilpatrick. Music is by Steve Dorff and cinematography is by Dick Bush. In 1876 Wyoming, Duncan (Conti) and Suzanna McKaskel (Capshaw) are taking their son and belongings to start a new life out West. But driving through a barely populated tin-pot town, they find themselves beset by a bunch of outlaws run by Doc Shabitt (Clark). Luckily, help may be at hand in the form of tough no nonsense frontiersman Con Vallian (Elliott)?, that is if matters of the heart and secrets of the past do not confuse the issues to hand... How nice it is as a big Western fan to find a television movie that shines bright in genre light. This is wonderfully old fashioned in its setting and telling, simple in plot structure it may be, but pretty much everything falls into place for a pic that for genre fans becomes more than just a time waster. Elliott's calm rugged swagger is in full effect, Capshaw is splendidly tender yet stoic, and much to my surprise Conti proves more than capable as a Western hero in waiting - where his character's back story comes to make sense of the final quarter. The villains are a bit rote, with the usually reliable Kilpatrick barely passable as a rogue Ute Native American, while the child performance of Morrison is hardly a high point. However, pic is set 99.9% outdoors, where we get an absolute ream of glorious Arizona locales to cloak the characters. It has shades of "Shane", which is no bad thing, and thankfully the finale - though not unexpected - is worth waiting for. 7/10