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Directed by Howard Bretherton, Gun Smoke leans on a strong ensemble — Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Jennifer Holt — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about western titles of 1945.
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Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.
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