It's looks like a deja vu on Ford's way,like in "The Sheepman" he has to handling this matter again,this turn he is a sort of gunfighter and pastor.trying to make peace among them,the old stars like Ford and Jones appears newcomers as David Carradine & Barbara Hershey promissing actors to next generation,meanwhile we has the fine John Anderson as angry rancher and Noah Beery Jr. who seem to be enough mind to realise such killing,apart that the saloon's girls garnish the picture with some rare nude scene in werstern in this period...the time is changing!!Resume:First watch: 1981 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7

I became a movie buff at age 13, (now 63), and would have crawled to the local theater over broken glass, to see any cowboy movie showing, if I had to. By the time I was 16 years of age, I was a devout Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy fan, but when I saw "Heaven With A Gun", Glenn Ford instantly became my number 1 cowboy hero, and me old mates Randolph and Audie had to take a back seat. For me, due to the humble, yet determined character Glenn Ford played so beautifully, this movie offered some great moralistic encouragement, and at the same time, stimulated an enthusiasm to believe in myself against all odds and "stick to my guns", as the expression goes. You will relate to this expression if you watch the movie. If anybody knows where I can buy this difficult-to-purchase movie, please let me know. ([email protected]). I would do absolutely anything to add this movie to my collection. If you want to be truly entertained, this is a "Must-see" movie.

After watching quite a few Westerns with the cattle vs. sheep rancher theme, this is the first time I've ever seen one in which an attempt was made to get the two factions together by demonstrating that both animals could live together side by side. I wonder why no one else ever got that idea, until Glenn Ford came around as preacher/gunman Jim Killian. Pastor Jim plays it fairly straight down the middle for the picture's entire run, cleverly inviting the opposing forces to join his congregation while they try to settle their differences.I have to give some casting credit here to the roles of John Anderson and David Carradine as father and son, positioned as the main heavies to oppose Pastor Killian. The younger Beck had almost as good a resemblance to his movie father as he did to his real dad, John Carradine. It makes me curious now if the Carradines in question ever did portray themselves as father and son.There's also decent support work here with Noah Beery Jr. as a Beck henchman, and Carolyn Jones and Barbara Hershey in somewhat adversarial roles for the affection of the good pastor. It's not played that apparently, and Killian seems to be above it all, but the picture could easily have gone in either direction. I'm always impressed with the expressiveness of Indian names; Hershey's character was a Hopi Indian named Leloopa - 'Life From Faraway Star' - very mysterious and romantic.Hey, how about that scene where Pastor Jim blasts Beck henchman Mace (J.D. Cannon) in that under the table gunfight. It had all the earmarks of Greedo vs Han Solo, but done eight years earlier. Can you imagine that?

Slightly better than formulaic script never really explores the moral tension inherent in the central character: a gunslingin' preacher played by Glen Ford with his usual professionalism. The moral/spiritual dilemma is pretty well ignored until Carolyn Jones directly confronts Ford and compels him to make a choice: gunslinger or preacher.The acting is always good. I like Glen Ford and Carolyn Jones. This is actually one of David Carradine's better performances. He is a very good sadistic old-west punk. Barbara Hershey is easy to look at. I guess she turns in a fair performance as a half-breed speaking stereotypical pidgin English.The most interesting scene is the gunfight in the saloon between a nasty hired gun and Ford while they are SEATED opposite one another at a poker table. The movie earned more originality points for that twist than for the paradoxical plot revolving around the gunslingin' preacher character.