Who was the fastest draw you've seen in a western movie or TV series?

I think for me, it was Glenn Ford. He seemed really fast on the draw in his westerns.

 

the Waco Kid

 

First one I thought of.

 

Clint Eastwood in any of his westerns.

 

I still remember Clint taking out three bad guys in a saloon (what movie?). I think it was my first Clint Eastwood movie and I went 'whoa!" I was probably 9 or 10.

 

Quick Draw McGraw

 

I'd say Clint Eastwood too...

 

At least in some scenes in Eastwood movies, I'm not sure it is Clint who is doing the fast draw. Sometimes the camera cuts and editing would allow a professional draw to be spliced in. This could also be true in other westerns, esp. when the gunfight is shot in close quarters. Can anybody confirm?

 

Elvin Jones as Job Cain. Really, who had faster hands?

 

How about some Sammy Davis Jr.?

 

Pete Duel - Alias Smith & Jones

 

My favorite shtar of the silver shcreen!

 

I gotta go with:

 

well after all he was the fastest gun alive! one of my favorite childhood actors...

 

Glenn Ford, Audie Murphy, the aforementioned Sammy Davis Jr, and -- believe it or not -- Mel Torme were all part of Hollywood's fast draw craze in the 1950s (you can see Torme in action in the 1960 film Walk Like A Dragon).

I don't know if I'd rank him with these guys, but Arthur Kennedy was surprisingly fast when he shot Rock Hudson in Bend of the River (1952).

It's interesting you mentioned that. I've noticed that Duel is much faster than co-star Ben Murphy, supposedly the gunslinger of the team. Murphy is so slow they must use an editing trick: shot of Murphy, shot of other guy going for his gun, then shot of Murphy with his gun drawn. Duel, although I would not rank him at the top, is fast enough to draw in one shot.

In his Rawhide episode I noticed another technique used for guest star Frankie Avalon. Shot of FA above the waist, then he draws his gun into camera range. Obviously, his gun was not holstered. I found this effective, but curiously I can't recall seeing it used anywhere else.

This short features an appearance by legendary fast draw expert Rodd Redwing:

Trailer Camp »

Here is a very illuminating article on the other Hollywood fast draw king, Arvo Ojala, and the special holster he designed to make James Arness and scores of others into gunslingers:

Rifleman Q&A: Hollywood’s “Fast Guns?” »

 

Jerry Lewis

 

Exactly who I thought of too.

 

Robert Stack was pretty good at skeet shooting although whether that translated into drawing a gun quickly is debatable..

Of course in the old West, there were very few open 'draw-first" duels in the street...ambushing your opponent was done most frequently

 

Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens in the remarkable FX series "Justified".

 

I always thought Eastwood looked very fast also, but do not know if it was a trick or not. Here is an interesting post I found on the Smith & Wesson forum, talking about Eastwood switching holsters on Rawhide, after returning from Fistful:

"And that is a great holster that he wore later in most his westerns. But his buscadero rig in Rawhide was also an Anderson rig. In a book "The fastest Guns Alive" by Arganbright there tons of pics of actors involved in fast draw. In one Clint is at a fast draw competition and is shown outdrawing Robert Fuller and John Smith of Laramie ( using the holster you mentioned). He also beat Peter Brown who is a great gun twirler. I have on tape a scene of James Garner in Maverick doing a gun twirling routine, while doing dialogue, that is top notch. He could throw the gun over his back and catch it then toss it in the air and make it land in the holster.Go on Hula TV and there's Rifleman episodes there. Look for Star in the Dirt or something like that and see Sammy Davis Jr. do a great gun routine for the kid in the show.
My favorite has to be Steve McQueen in the Magnificent Seven. His speed in that film using a 7 1/2" Colt in an Anderson rig was FAST!"

 

I was going to say Peter Brown from Lawman won a Hollywood draw competition at one time, if Clint was faster then he'd be the fastest in that era.

 

Clint Eastwood in A Fistful Of Dollars.

"get three coffins ready..."

"my mistake - four coffins"

 

Jack Kirby, The Incredible Hulk (tv series) sorry