No Name on the Bullet

1959 "Twenty-four "victims" had died before his lightning draw...until he came to the quiet town that had marked him for death!"
7.2| 1h17m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 01 February 1959 Released
Producted By: Universal International Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.

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Director

Jack Arnold

Production Companies

Universal International Pictures

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No Name on the Bullet Audience Reviews

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
thinker1691 Audie Leon Murphy established himself as a real life icon and role model for his fans throughout his twenty years of movie making. During that long film career Audie was never seen as a Black Hat heavy. Although he did accept a couple of Bad Guy roles which took him awful close. This is one of them, it's called " No name on the bullet. " The unusual movie tells the story of John Gant, (Audie Murphy) a hired professional gunman who rides into a typical western town Cir, 1880 with the expectation of eliminating someone. When he arrives, a score of nervous, conscience driven townspeople immediately suspect that Gant is there to murder them. The original story was written by Howard Amacker and directed by Jack Arnold and is the kind of vehicle which because of it's somber direction added to the legendary mystic of former soldier Lt. Murphy. In addition the superb casting which includes Charles Drake, Luke Canfield, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong and Edgar Stehli as Judge Benson highlights this exceptional movie as a true western Classic. To the delight of his many fans. ****
Scott LeBrun WWII hero Audie Murphy gets a mighty fine showcase here in this tense, intelligent widescreen Western from noted sci-fi director Jack Arnold. Audie's character John Gant (that's a great name) is an interesting, cagey, enigmatic individual, certainly a man with layers to him.Gant has come to the small town of Lordsburg, and most everybody in the town knows Gant by profession: he's a hired killer, and he most likely is in town on business. The thing is, nobody but Gant knows exactly who his target is. As Gant himself says, "everybody's got enemies", and those locals who have done anything worth punishing start getting nervous and creating all sorts of problems.The local sheriff (Willis Bouchey) feels powerless to do anything, so some of the citizens take it upon themselves to stand up to Gant and try to get him to leave. But he won't leave until the job is done, no matter how upset all of them get. Amiable doctor Luke Canfield (Charles Drake) feels Gant out in the attempt to understand what makes him tick.Gorgeously photographed (by Harold Lipstein) and scored (by Herman Stein and Irving Gertz), "No Name on the Bullet" is riveting from moment to moment as we keep our eye on Gant and try to predict just who his victim will be. And even if the viewer guesses correctly, the film is still quite worth sticking with as the dialogue is solid and the performances are excellent.The supporting cast includes Joan Evans, Virginia Grey, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong, Edgar Stehli (a delight as the ailing judge), Karl Swenson, and Whit Bissell, but Murphy, by sheer nature of his mysterious character and soft spoken performance, is truly the one to watch as he keeps his business to himself.Highly recommended to Western fans.Eight out of 10.
Spikeopath John Gant is a hired assassin, whenever he rides into a town the whole townsfolk wonder who it is who is on his list. John Gant is a very shrewed assassin for he never gets arrested because he never draws first, he psychologically gets under his targets skins forcing them to shoot first, and John Gant always has witnesses. Today, John Gant has rode into Lordsburg, and from today things will never be the same again...In CinemaScope and Eastman ColorDirected by Jack Arnold, we open with a vision of sprawling hills and a vast landscape (DOP: Harold Lipstein), a man handsomely attired in pristine black clothing trots past on his shiny black horse, he gathers pace and gallops off over the hills, we next see him trotting into Lordsburg, elegance and grace oozing from his pores. This is John Gant, also known as Audie Murphy, and for me we are introduced to one of the greatest Western characters outside of the critics favoured lists of usual suspects.Audie Murphy had his critics, he himself hardly went out of his way to embrace stardom and pander to the ink scribblers, but here as Gant is a performance of icy cold wonderment that in my opinion proves any doubters wrong. Gant rides into Lordsburg and his mere presence sends the town into panic, friends and associates implode with suspicion whilst Gant just calmly floats amongst them with little leers and low speaking pearls of wisdom. As Gant forms a weird sort of friendship with Charles Drake's Dr. Luke Canfield, the picture gains some much needed heart, and once the finale arrives it helps to close the picture on a hugely rewarding note.The film reminded me very much of a Twilight Zone episode called The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, it's a great story to work from {courtesy of Howard Amacker}, because it's morally suspicious and it has characters always on the brink of breaking the law through the sheer worry of their sins and dubious intentions coming back to get them. My only real complaints are that the film is far to short, not sure if it was down to budget or acting restrictions? But clocking in at just 77 minutes I personally feel that another 15 minutes was a must to fully flesh out the finale, and sadly the exterior filming of the gorgeous locale is sparse, which is most galling after the attention grabbing opening shots. However, the film still works a treat and comes highly recommended to even those who don't like Westerns. 8/10
TxMike When you know Audie Murphy's story, decorated war hero, small man, his character here as hired gun John Gant shows how versatile he was, playing the hero or the villain equally well. This is a short movie, listed at 77 minutes but actually running a bit under that, and is the proper length to tell the story. His reputation is well known, and when he comes to this small town a number of the men have to worry. Gant takes his time, to see what will develop. As it turns out, his target is Judge Benson, who is now elderly and sick, confined to a wheelchair. But Gant is a professional, he has a job to do, but can even he shoot a man in a wheelchair?MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. The pretty Joan Evans plays Anne Benson, the daughter to Judge Benson. Gant gets her in his hotel room, and all we see is him ripping her dress, exposing her in undergarments. We don't see what happens next. But, when Gant visits Judge Benson a few minutes later, he pulls a part of Anne's dress out of his pocket, showing it to the Judge, implying he had harmed her. The old man gets up, grabs a gun as Gant walks outside, prepared to "defend" himself. But the old man dies on his own, Gant has him cleaned without firing a shot.The irony is, the town doctor shows up a minute later, not knowing what transpired, as Gant turns hits Gant on the shoulder with a large hammer, wounding him and partially crippling his shooting arm. The Doc offered to look at it, but Gant took his fate in stride and rode off, to the END of the movie, knowing that his time had come too.