The Master Gunfighter
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| The Master Gunfighter | |
|---|---|
 1975 movie poster |
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| Directed by | Tom Laughlin (under the pseudonym 'Frank Laughlin') |
| Produced by | Philip L. Parslow |
| Written by | Tom Laughlin |
| Starring | Tom Laughlin Ron O'Neal Barbara Carrera |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Cinematography | Jack A. Marta |
| Distributed by | Taylor-Laughlin Productions |
| Release date(s) | October 3, 1975 |
| Running time | 121 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,500,000 (estimated) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Master Gunfighter is a film released in 1975, written, directed, and produced by Tom Laughlin, who also played the lead as Finley.
This film is set in southern California near Santa Barbara in the period shortly after California became part of the United States. American settlers and the US government discriminated against the Mexican landowners and frequently took their land by force or legal skullduggery. This film focuses on wealthy Latino ranchers whose land and wealth are at risk. They decide to misdirect a US government ship carrying gold so that it will be wrecked and they can take the gold. To prevent themselves from being caught, they plan to massacre the local Chumash Indians. The hero is the now estranged adoptive son (Finley), a master swordsman and gunfighter, who tries to prevent this while still saving his family. The plot is said to have been based on that of the Japanese film Goyokin.
Reviews of the film were not all positive though the female lead, Barbara Carrera, was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance. Some reviewers considered it to be anti-establishment schlock, but it is unusual in its depiction both of the oppression of the Indians by the Spanish colonists and of the Spanish colonists by the newly arrived Americans.
