The Quick and the Dead
1995
D: Sam Raimi
**********
Pros: Camp Style, Great Cast, Some Good Lines
Cons: Some Writing Flaws, No Bruce Campbell
This is the 25th anniversary of Sam Raimi’s most criminally overlooked movie. While it has some story flaws, all you need to know about this movie to want go see The Quick and the Dead is that it’s a camp spaghetti Wester directed by Sam Raimi. I repeat: a camp Spaghetti Western directed by Sam Raimi. Mid-90’s Sam Raimi. I’ve heard assertions that Raimi was an inappropriate director such a movie, but that’s like saying that Don Bluth wouldn’t be the right choice to adapt Jack. This film also features a smorgasborg of recognizable character actors that include Goliath, Bishop, Commissioner Gordon, and the Snow Shoveler from Home Alone.
It's 1881 and The Lady (Sharon Stone) comes to a town and participates in a pistol dueling tournament set up by dictatorial mayor John Herod (Gene Hackman). Other competitors include the flamboyant sharpshooter Ace Hanlon (Lance Henrikson), Sgt. Cantrell (Keith Davd), the Swede Gutzon (Sven Ole-Thorsen), Dog Kelly (Tobin Bell), Eugene Dred (Kevin Conway), and Spotted Horse (Jonothon Gill), a Native American who boasts that he “cannot be killed by a bullet” (he almost lives up to it). Two more significant participants are Cort (Russell Crowe) and The Kid (Leonardo DiCaprio). Cort is a former member of Herod’s gang turned preacher who is being forced to join the match; he eventually kills despite his protests that he is now a pacifist. The Kid runs the local gun store, and is determined to prove that he is Herod’s son by matching his marksmanship. Various confrontations occur during this game, including a few villains and the revelation that Hanlon is nothing more than a stylish charlatan. Other cast members include Raynor Scheine, Olivia Burnette, Scott Spiegel, Woody Strode, Mark, Boone Junior, and Pat Hingle as Horace the saloon owner, and Roberts Blossom as Doc Wallace.
The Lady, in spite of her posturing as a tough character, turns out to be rather ambivalent about killing and demonstrates weakness at times in the plot. This vulnerability could be easily forgiven, but her reluctance to kill contradicts one moment when she physically assaults Horace for a casually misogynistic comment in a classic example of writers' being able to tell the difference between a strong female character and a dangerously unstable crazy woman. Also, this twist is subtly foreshadowed in the first scene, in which a bum tries to shoot her. It initially appears as though he hit her but it turns out he only shot her through her hat. The gunshot was enough to startle off her horse (which didn’t rear). It’s ultimately revealed that she is the daughter of the town’s former sheriff (Gary Senise), whom Herod murdered when he took over. She eventually alies with Cort to come up with a clever plan to defeat the villain.
One nagging flaw in this movie is the stupidity often displayed by Herod. First, despite ruling the town with an iron fist, he apparently has a gun shop and dares people to participate in a dueling competition. This is an odd choice when everyone in town hates you and wants you dead. Most dictators, including Hackman’s character from Unforgiven, realize this. Of course, this could be excused as villainous arrogance, but it’s still a stretch.
Less logical is his relationship with The Kid, which is his only human trait. While he emphatically denies that he’s the father, he cares enough about The Kid's safety to discourage him from joining the tournament. Then again, he could just simply ban him and get away with it. One could say that that robs him of plausible deniability, but he’s still openly telling the Kid to walk away, and it’s not like people in authority have an unlimited ability to gaslight. Worse still, he changes the rules of the tournament to mandate duels to the death in order to spite a participant who was hired by the townspeople to kill him. Not only is this redundant since the lack of required homicide didn’t stop him, he has now put himself in a position where he might have to obliged to kill the only person in town he doesn’t want to. Eventually, he ends up doing just that. Admittedly the scene is very well directed, which a palpable sense of doom that contrasts with the Kid’s oblivious optimism.
There’s a difference in tone between the earnest script and the playful direction, as Raimi was hired late in the game at the behest of Sharon Stone. This isn’t usually an issue since I actually love the juxtaposition of serious narrative and over-the-top style. However, that usually works best when the serious narrative is good. Actual flaws are not justified in a story that takes itself seriously, and the script is serious with the exception of Spotted Horse, whose politically incorrect nature can only be justified as camp. Quick and the Dead has some flaws which bring it down, but it’s an effective enough story and the director made elevated it with a unique, fun style.
And the style is Sam Raimi at his best in a genre that lends itself to his strengths. The cinematography by Dante Spinotti is exceptional, especially with all the Raimi camerawork that adds to the movie’s distinctiveness. Patrizia von Brandenstein (production design), Pietro Scalia (editing), Steve Skalad (art direction), Hilton Rosemarin (set decoration), Judianna Makovsky (costume design) all help make this movie a feast for the eyes. It's amazing this movie didn't get nominated for any visual Oscars, because it's as stylish as Fury Road. The Spaghetti Western element is also enhanced by the hiring of Italian talent. Alan Silvestri’s score is decent. The guns are detailed and period specific thanks to the help of Thell Reed, and are lovingly filmed. The gunplay is hilariously over-the-top, with backflips from gun impacts and inventively cartoonish stylizations that only Raimi could work in real life. Yes, this movie is a live-action cartoon and it is glorious. Other elements of camp include a blind kid (Jerry Swindall) who manages the ammunition, and rumor has it The Classic is hidden somewhere in the movie. One glaring omission is Bruce Campbell, which is particularly absurd. It seems Raimi continued his tradition of tormenting the actor by having Pat Hingle beat the shit out of him and adding insult by not even including the scene in the movie. One hopes this scene comes to light eventually.
Unfortunately, the movie's lack of success might have been what killed Sam Raimi’s visual style. The director blamed his creativity for the failure, and that probably explains why most of his subsequent films have lacked his campy edge, and those that didn’t have been adulterated with CGI. While imperfect, Quick and the Dead is a fun movie whose style makes it mandatory viewing for Sam Raimi fans. It’s certainly more worth their time than Drag Me to Hell.
QUOTES
HEROD: [to The Lady] Do you have some particular problem with me?
HEROD: [having just defeated Cantrell] I'm confused. All I hear from you, you spineless cowards, is how poor you are; how you can't afford my taxes. Yet somehow you managed to find the money to hire a gunfighter to kill me. If you got so much money, I'm just gonna have to take some more, because clearly some of you haven't got the message. THIS IS MY. TOWN. I RUN EVERYTHING. IF YOU LIVE TO SEE THE DAWN IT'S BECAUSE I ALLOW IT. I decide who lives and dies. [Cantrell attempts to make a move, but Herod delivers put a Looney Tunes-sized hole in his head] Your gunfighter is dead. Old news.
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