Not Much Good Warning The Kid To Look Out When He Can't See

What is it with me and sight-related titles lately? I was thinking about Unforgiven recently, as I often do, and it struck me that Will Munny's advice to the Schofield Kid right before the climactic gunfight may not have been much use. Will tells the Kid 'You steer clear of folks you see. Be a lot of them out to hang you.' Except the Kid's eyesight is pretty lousy. That's why he plans to spend the money they made killing them two cowboys on fancy spectacles. Then I reminded myself of the time he opened fire on Will and Ned, which means he can distinguish the shape of a man on horseback at least, so if he assumes everyone is a likely foe, he might be OK. except it's likely they'll spot him before he sees them, and if he immediately takes off, that's bound to arouse suspicion. He must have made it safely though, since I assume Munny's part of the bounty is what facilitated his rumored move to San Francisco and subsequent prosperous dry goods business.

While we're talking about Unforgiven, I do love that final battle inside Greeley's. Not just because the whole movie had been building to the point where Will Munny takes up his old personality, there's a lot of little pieces to it. As much as I disapprove of Little Bill's strategy of beating up unarmed men while his deputies keep the person being beaten at gunpoint, I have to give him credit for how calmly he walked up to Munny and accepted he was gonna catch a shotgun blast in the chest.

I like how after Bill's been shot, he's laying on the ground, he raises his pistol again, but Munny whirls and steps on his wrist, wasting the shot. Earlier in the movie, Little Bill's found Munny in possession of a firearm inside city limits, and with his deputies keeping Munny at gunpoint, proceeds to beat the whey out of him. Unarmed, Munny drags himself up to the bar and reaches for a bottle sitting there. That's interesting enough, since Munny's resisted drinking alcohol thus far, but apparently sees no problem with using a bottle of it as a weapon. Little Bill pins his wrist against the bar with his foot before Munny can do anything with it. So a bit of symmetry there.

The one shot that always amuses me, even more than the casual way Munny shoots Ray with the Spencer rifle as he's leaving (doesn't even bother to look at him), comes right after the shotgun misfire that grants Little Bill a reprieve. As Bill snarls, 'Misfire. Kill the son of a. . .', he and his deputies draw their guns, as does Munny. There's a brief shot amongst that of two old-timers near the bar simultaneously ducking. Only lasts a heartbeat and then the killing starts. I always chuckle at that. They know what's coming, and a low profile is the way to go. And something about their movement suggests a resignation, like someone who has been through so many bombardments they only notice enough to take proper precautions, but not so much that it frightens them. They've seen it all before, and best to stay out of it.

That's one interesting things about a lot of Westerns. Even when a gunfight breaks out in a crowded saloon, it rarely seems like innocent bystanders get shot. Like how the Hulk used to be able to destroy an entire town, and nobody died (which has since been changed, which I don't think was a good move, but nobody at Marvel's asking me). It's always someone connected. Maybe they didn't draw a weapon, but they're a friend or relative of someone who is involved. It works out that way here. Everyone who died is connected to Ned's death in some way. Skinny let Little Bill set Ned up on display in front of his store, Little Bill killed Ned, the deputies all helped (plus they drew on Will with intent to kill). None of the other fellows in the store were harmed that we know of, which is pretty impressive. Especially considering how panicked the young deputy and the fat one were (witness their missing Munny repeatedly from only a few feet away). But they weren't guilty parties (though a few of them were probably involved in Ned's capture) so they survived.