Warlock is a 1959 film, released by Twentieth Century Fox and shot in colour and CinemaScope. It is a Western adapted from the novel by Oakley Hall (screenplay written by Robert Alan Aurthur). Directed by Edward Dmytryk, it stars Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn.
The supporting cast includes DeForest Kelley who was a regular in Western films before becoming best known for Star Trek.
Reputation
It is not often mentioned as a classic of the genre, perhaps because the dark psychological moorings in the plot uncomfortably recall the witch-hunt hysteria of the Cold War era that had left a bitter imprint on Hollywood (as shown in the similar High Noon). It has a multi-layered storyline of twisting loyalties; the film is almost forgotten today, but it has had some high-powered admirers. It is one of the films quoted by Sergio Leone in Once Upon a Time in the West. Some consider it one of Dmytryk’s best efforts and lament its lack of classic status. It is occasionally shown on TV.
Inspiration
The relationship between Blaisedell and Morgan is described in the The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: The Western as “perhaps the most open depiction of homosexual love in the classic Western”. Other critics agree with this view, pointing out the preference the two men have for silk sheets. However, the inspiration for Blaisedell, Morgan and Lily Dollar probably comes from one of the West’s most (in)famous trios: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Kate Fisher.
- Like Blaisedell, Earp had a reputation as a wanderer (Ellsworth, Dodge City, Tombstone) who took up law enforcement for short periods of time. He would clean the place up in an often dubious way and earned far more than the average lawman’s pay. Some critics have likened his methods to “protection”.
- While Morgan walks with a limp, Doc Holliday suffered from tuberculosis, but that did not make him any less a gunman or a killer. He was also a heavy drinker and notorious gambler. He was very close to Earp, and Bat Masterson, who knew them well, is quoted as saying that “Doc idolized him”.
- The name Lily Dollar implies that it is a pseudonym with obvious implications, and indeed it is revealed that she “worked” whenever Morgan was short of money. “Kate Fisher” was also an assumed name, and she was also allegedly a prostitute. Blaisedell tells how Lily once set fire to a house to help him and Morgan escape some enemies; Fisher is said to have done the same thing for Earp and Holliday. On the other hand, there does not seem to be a record of Fisher eventually turning against her two friends.
