HEAVEN WITH A GUN —-terrible 1969 western has gunslinging preacher Glenn Ford coming to town in the midst of a range war, doing God’s work in .45 caliber sermons. Ford’s bored acting reflects contempt for the awful writing, inept direction and needless brutality. Johnny Mandel’s score has as much frontier flavor as DEVO.
Barbara Hershey plays ‘Leloopa’, an Indian maiden, sweet & naive: the moment she flashes her ultra-brites you know she’ll be victimized before the dust settles. David Carradine provides the abuse, the parson provides the vengeance and the whole town (Carolyn Jones, John Anderson, J.D. Cannon, Noah Beery Jr.) rallies for an amazingly dumb finale.
Hershey, 21 in her second movie role, had a much better display of her talent and charms that year in Last Summer.
With William Bryant, Harry Townes, James Griffith, Roger Perry, Barbara Babcock and Angelique Pettyjohn. Directed by Lee H. Katzin, running for 101 minutes, it’s tied with The Long Ride Home as the worst of Glenn Ford’s twenty-five westerns.