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on himself rather than face the marshal. The man's son vowed revenge, egged on by some of the councilmen, who saw this as a convenient way of ridding themselves of the problematic town marshal. They plot to ambush Patch. Aware that he will probably be killed, Patch marries his long-time girlfriend Claire, the local brothel madame. The marriage is on the same day as Luke Mill's funeral, after which Patch's murder is planned by the councilmen. The dead man's son breaks with the plan and attempts to kill Patch on his own, but is mortally wounded by Patch. Patch explains to the dying youth that his late "father" had shot a man in the back many years ago, killing him. Patch covered it up because the murderer agreed to raise the dead man's young son as his own. Patch then pursued one of the instigators of the plot to kill him, a cynical saloon owner named Locke. He wounds, captures, and jails Locke, but then insists on going back out after the councilmen, probably aware that he may be gunned down. After stopping by the church, he is shot down on the town's main street by several riflemen on the rooftops. Claire is seen leaving town that night on a train.
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citizens that when he took the job, the agreement was he could have it as long as he wanted- and he still wanted the job. Afraid of Patch because of his violent nature and his knowledge of their misdeeds in the town's wilder days, the city fathers then enlist the aid of the county sheriff (a Patch protege and friend) to oust him. Patch rebuffs this attempt and the sheriff backs off, bowing out of the dispute. This leads some of the more outspoken councilmen to consider having Patch murdered.
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Patch had humiliated one of the town's councilmen, a cowardly lawyer, at the ad hoc "firing-notice meeting" by slapping him in disgust. Knowing that the incident had deeply embarrassed his grown son, the man resolved to ambush and kill Patch, but when Patch trapped him in a room, he turned the gun
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style lawman in a community determined to move beyond its rough past into the 20th century. When Patch kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town council decides it is time for the marshal to retire so that a modern police force can be established in the town. Patch refuses, reminding the
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commented that the film was "sharply directed by Allen
Smithee who has an adroit facility for scanning faces and extracting sharp background detail,"
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called the film "an extraordinary western ... director Allen
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Thompson, Howard (May 10, 1969). "Screen: Tough
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176:May 8, 1969
73:Death of a Gunfighter
24:Death of a Gunfighter
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1157:Escape from Alcatraz
981:Crime in the Streets
298:as Edward Rosenbloom
1069:Stranger on the Run
925:No Time for Flowers
414:Alan Smithee credit
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863:Films directed by
805:Related pseudonyms
563:TCM Movie Database
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458:The New York Times
448:for the pseudonym
340:as Hilda Jorgenson
286:as Claire Quintana
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152:Universal Pictures
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1117:Dirty Harry
1053:The Killers
893:The Verdict
812:David Agnew
714:I Love N.Y.
706:Ghost Fever
463:Roger Ebert
356:Jimmy Lydon
320:Larry Gates
235:. It stars
138:Technicolor
86:Produced by
41:Directed by
1196:1969 films
1190:Categories
1005:The Lineup
865:Don Siegel
481:References
436:Don Siegel
350:Royal Dano
332:John Saxon
326:Dub Taylor
302:Kent Smith
284:Lena Horne
241:Lena Horne
233:Don Siegel
196:94 minutes
180:1969-05-08
145:Production
102:Lena Horne
76:1968 novel
49:Don Siegel
1165:Rough Cut
722:Catchfire
116:Edited by
16:1969 film
682:Stitches
574:AllMovie
500:Archived
469:See also
425:Gunsmoke
261:Old West
209:Language
124:Music by
94:Starring
69:Based on
1173:Jinxed!
1149:Telefon
1077:Madigan
642:Fade In
561:at the
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441:Madigan
225:Western
212:English
201:Country
178: (
147:company
1176:(1982)
1168:(1980)
1160:(1979)
1152:(1977)
1144:(1976)
1136:(1974)
1128:(1973)
1120:(1971)
1112:(1971)
1104:(1970)
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920:(1952)
912:(1949)
904:(1949)
896:(1946)
888:(1945)
880:(1945)
797:(2015)
794:Old 37
789:(1999)
781:(1999)
773:(1997)
765:(1997)
757:(1996)
749:(1994)
741:(1990)
733:(1990)
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645:(1969)
634:Films
539:IMDb
272:Cast
255:Plot
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