Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964)
An intriguing western starring the great Yul Brynner as a Creole gunfighter hired by a New Mexico town banker (Pat Hingle) to kill Confederate veteran George Segal whom he basically stole his ranch from when he was fighting in the Civil War.
A film that has a lot to say about race relations. Both Brynner is deeply troubled by his own dealings with racism being Creole and his assignment to kill Segal becomes rather hazy indeed as the towns folk are as hypocritical and racist as they come towards the local Mexicans.
Brynner quickly takes advantage of the Hingle and his cronies desperation to get rid of Segal by doing exactly as he wants, targeting the saloons, stores and gambling joints of the town bigots whilst winning over those that aren't , so much so that i feel this probably had a direct influence on the classic Clint Eastwood morality western High Plains Drifter (1973).
This isn't an action packed romp by any means, despite it's title there aren't any actual gunfights and is quite talky, but it's a well written and socially relevant script and the smooth talking and elegant Brynner is always a delight to watch.
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