Samuel Fuller’s Forty Guns (1957) is one of the most visually stunning films I’ve ever seen. Long takes. Mile-long tracking shots. Odd angles. Extreme close-ups in CinemaScope (certainly noticed by Sergio Leone). All in very noir-ish black & white, courtesy of cinematographer Joseph Biroc. Every time I see it, I’m blown away by something new.
It’s a picture that has been listed as an influence by all sorts of people.
But there’s a certain shot, as Gene Barry looks through a gun barrel at the gunsmith’s daughter (Eve Brent), that must’ve made an impression on a handful of English guys in the early 60s.
From the second James Bond film, From Russia With Love (1964).
Forty Guns is a fantastic western. Stanwyck opens picture on horseback being followed by her forty ranch hands.