Perhaps one of the least-known of the 1950s “super Westerns,” Phil Karlson’s Gunman’s Walk is a searing exploration of dark familial burdens, in which the rivalry between a father (an essential Van Heflin) and his hot-tempered son (Tab Hunter) escalates into a murderous confrontation worthy of Greek tragedy. Haden Guest notes that this picture forms a thematic diptych with the director’s earlier Columbia Western Thunderhoof (1948). Both films place Freudian elements—particularly the deadly struggle between fathers and sons—alongside the theme of the “necessity of violence,” depicting ordinary men who take the law into their own hands. In doing so, Karlson bridges modern psychological insight with the uniquely American vigilante ethos shaped by the wartime experience, where violence is seen as a justified means to an end. This brand-new restoration highlights the tensely warm yet unforgiving landscapes that cinematographer Charles Lawton Jr. captured so powerfully in widescreen.