Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- tense
- melodramatic
- stylized
- classic western night
- barbara stanwyck marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly admire Barbara Stanwyck's commanding performance and Samuel Fuller's audacious, stylized western direction, even when finding the narrative conventional or uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jessica Drummond controls an Arizona county through her ranch, political influence, and private posse.
The film is known for striking widescreen imagery and unusually stylized staging of riders, guns, storms, and confrontations.
Jessica's attraction to the non-violent marshal Griff Bonell develops alongside his effort to impose lawful authority on her territory.
Jessica rules through hired guns and a pliable sheriff rather than through impartial public institutions.
Films like Forty Guns, and why
Johnny Guitar
revisionist western atmosphere, authoritarian frontier power, and volatile romantic tension
The Naked Spur
stylized western violence, morally unstable authority, and heightened melodrama
Winchester '73
classic western power struggles, hired guns, and confrontations over territorial control
The Furies
female-centered frontier authority and psychologically charged western romance
Movie Details
- Director
- Samuel Fuller
- Release Date
- 1957-09-10
- Runtime
- 80 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (149)
Cast
- Barbara Stanwyck
- Barry Sullivan
- Dean Jagger
- John Ericson
- Gene Barry
- Robert Dix
- Jidge Carroll
- Paul Dubov
- Gerald Milton
- Ziva Rodann
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- FlixFling
- Rent
- FlixFling
- Buy
- FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Forty Guns about?
- A formidable Arizona cattle queen confronts a principled marshal as romance, family violence, and private power turn the frontier into a pressure cooker.
- What is Forty Guns like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Forty Guns as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Forty Guns violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Forty Guns as graphic.
- What did critics think of Forty Guns?
- Critics broadly admire Barbara Stanwyck's commanding performance and Samuel Fuller's audacious, stylized western direction, even when finding the narrative conventional or uneven.
- Which films are like Forty Guns?
- Films with a similar feel include Johnny Guitar, The Naked Spur, Winchester '73, and The Furies.
- How long is Forty Guns?
- Forty Guns runs 80 minutes.
- Where can I watch Forty Guns?
- In United States, Forty Guns streams on FlixFling.
