Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.
James Garner
Wyatt Earp
Bruce Willis
Tom Mix
Malcolm McDowell
Alfie Alperin
Mariel Hemingway
Cheryl King
Kathleen Quinlan
Nancy Shoemaker
Jennifer Edwards
Victoria Alperin
Patricia Hodge
Christina Alperin
Richard Bradford
Captain Blackworth
M. Emmet Walsh
Chief Marvin Dibner
Joe Dallesandro
Dutch Kieffer
Andreas Katsulas
Arthur
Dann Florek
Marty Goldberg
Bill Marcus
Hal Flynn
Michael C. Gwynne
Mooch
Dermot Mulroney
Michael Alperin
Miranda Garrison
Spanish Dancer
Liz Torres
Rosa
Castulo Guerra
Pancho (as Cástulo Guerra)
Dakin Matthews
William Singer
Vernon Wells
Australian Houseman
Dennis Rucker
Paul
John Dennis Johnston
Ed
Kenny Call
Cowboy Fred
Jack Garner
Cowboy Henry
Jerry Tullos
Leo Vogel
Herb Tanney
George the Conductor (as Steem Tanney)
Peter Jason
Frank Coe
Richard Fancy
Academy Speaker
Glenn Shadix
Roscoe Arbuckle
Lisa Alpert
Michael's Secretary
Sonia Zimmer
Dibner's Secretary
Marina Palmier
Candy Store Girl
Tessa Taylor
Candy Store Girl
Jon Van Ness
Director
P. Randall Bowers
Assistant Director (as Randy Bowers)
Maureen Teefy
Stagecoach Lady
Arnold Johnson
George
Eric Harrison
Alperin Butler
Amy Michelson
Alfie's 1st Wife
James O'Connell
Gate Guard
Bing Russell
Studio Guard
James C. Lewis
Jail Guard (as C. James Lewis)
William Applegate Jr.
Jail Inmate (as Bill Applegate)
Luis Contreras
Jail Inmates
Charles Noland
Jail Inmates
Robert Covarrubias
Jail Inmates
Donalin Patton
Girls at Lunch
Kay Perry
Girls at Lunch
Rod McCary
Douglas Fairbanks
John Fountain
John Gilbert
Irene Olga López
Asuncion Maria Romero (as Irene Olga Lopez)
Jeris Poindexter
Cleaning Man
F. William Parker
Mayor Robert Hellman
Grant Heslov
Car Attendant
Don Sparks
Reporters
Melanie Jones
Reporters
Darrah Meeley
Reporters
Tom Tarpey
Reporters
Krista Gray
Reporters
Katie Morgan
Reporters
Bevis Faversham
Oliver Hardy (uncredited)
Paul Higby
Newspaper Reporter (uncredited)
Vincent Jerman-Jerosa
James Cagney (uncredited)
Beverly Leech
Thelma Todd (uncredited)
Marilyn Michaels
Mae West lookalike / Candy Girl (uncredited)
Denney Pierce
Billy Clanton (uncredited)
Barry Vigon
Boat Captain (uncredited)
Director, Screenplay
Blake Edwards
Story
Rod Amateau
February 13, 2021
9
This is one of those cases of a movie that should have worked way better than it did.
Just the very idea of watching Earp and Mix solving some murder mystery in Holywood sounds incredible and fun to watch. However, Edwards' screenplay never truly finds its identity, floating between Neo-Noir, Western and Comedy. Maybe paired in Noir-Western or Comedy-Western it would've worked better: it just didn't know wheter to take itself seriously or not. That is, however, the only real problem with it.
The production and time setting is awesome, with a shoutout to the costume design. Mix's especially.
The colors are a sight to see, creating a warm-hot feel to the movie, reminiscent of the Western, but in a Noir setting.
Mancini's soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard. Perhaps as a consequence of the film's lack of true identity, Mancini went every which way with it. His "Sunday west" bits combined with more somber and serious tracks - reminiscent of his work on Touch of Evil (1958) - just complete each other so well.
Willis is in a point in his career that is intersting to watch. Even before his greatest hit (and masterwork) Die Hard (1988), in which he hadn't found his persona yet. Still, he looks and sounds much like the star he would become months later, with a touch of Mix-cowboy in. He is a very "light" presence on-screen, and in the good way.
McDowell is always a convincing actor, and his "Happy Hobo" Alfie Alperin is quite fun to watch - especially given the parallels to another Happy Hobo, Chaplin's The Tramp - but he isn't given a lot of screen time, and from the very beginning, it's quite clear that he is the villain.
But the highlight of the film is the veteran James Garner. His incarnation of the legendary frontier lawman Wyatt Earp is (albeit anachronistic) one of the best. In my opinion, only second to Kurt Russell's in Tombstone (1993). That "hawk-eyed" archetype that Earp basically defines in pop-culture was very well-captured by Garner - even out of his "natural habitat" of the west.
Sunset is a very fun, lighthearted buddy movie. It is a great movie that should have been an all time classic, yet it somehow feels right. It's a one-of-a-kind curio piece. And my heart says it deseves more recognition. Give or take a star or two.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$16,000,000.00
Revenue:
$4,594,452.00