No guns allowed, y'hear?

May 28, 2008 8:54 AM

Looking for old westerns with a scene where cowboys have to surrender their guns to the sheriff in order to enter the town, or on their way into an event.

e.g., Back to the Future Part III (at the town dance), or Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.

posted by mrmcsurly to media & arts (15 comments total)

I think I recall this happening in High Noon.
posted by meta87 at 9:10 AM on May 28, 2008

Well, if you are willing to bend your definition of 'old' there is a scene in Maverick on the paddle-boat near the end where all gamblers are forced to surrender their arms.

And if your willing to define 'western' to include Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome had one of the best examples of this scene, where Max has to give over all the weapons on him, including several hand guns, sawed off shotguns, grenades, and a full sized cross-bow.
posted by quin at 9:14 AM on May 28, 2008

High Noon doesn't have such a scene.
posted by Cantdosleepy at 9:35 AM on May 28, 2008

Tombstone
posted by wabashbdw at 9:38 AM on May 28, 2008

I'm fairly certain there is a scene like this in Back to the Future III...
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:44 AM on May 28, 2008

Wyatt Earp.

Great movie, btw, but Val Kilmer makes the previously mentioned Tombstone the better interpretation of the OK Corral episode.
posted by dinger at 9:54 AM on May 28, 2008

This happens several times in Rio Bravo.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:57 AM on May 28, 2008

It happens in the saloon scene in Serenity, which is a kind of "space western." The crew surrenders their weapons, which are locked in a big rotating drum full of drawers of weapons. When River goes nuts, they have to figure out how to get their guns back to stop her.
posted by cgc373 at 10:15 AM on May 28, 2008

The classic instance is Winchester '73. At the start, James Stewart's character has to give his gun to Wyatt Earp to enter town in order to compete in a shooting contest.
posted by spasm at 10:27 AM on May 28, 2008

I don't know if it is old enough, but in Unforgiven Sheriff Little Bill (played by Gene Hackman) asks everyone entering his town to give up their guns after he learns the prostitutes have put a price on the head of one of the locals.
posted by TedW at 10:33 AM on May 28, 2008

Oops, missed the more inside where you already have that one.
posted by TedW at 10:34 AM on May 28, 2008

Rio! Bravo!!
posted by ewkpates at 10:55 AM on May 28, 2008

It happens in the saloon scene in Serenity,

They used a similar idea earlier in the Firefly episode "Shindig".
posted by quin at 11:07 AM on May 28, 2008

Thanks everyone! These are great. Just got back from the video store with an armload of DVDs.
posted by mrmcsurly at 7:15 AM on May 29, 2008

This is not a western, but just in case you're looking to branch out -- there's a scene like this in Episode 2 of Season 3 of the Wire. (I just saw it last night and it made me think of this question.)
posted by cider at 7:54 AM on May 29, 2008