''A Gunfighter's Pledge'' (the working title was ''The Pledge'') is a 2008 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television film starring

Luke Perry Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He ...

. The film premiered on

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...

in July 2008. It was filmed at

Big Sky Ranch 'Big Sky Ranch' is a movie ranch in Simi Valley, California, that is used for the filming of Western television series and motion pictures, among other projects. The Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board designated several of these buildings Cou ...

Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in Simi Valley (valley), the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it ...

Plot

Ex-lawman Matt Austin (

) accidentally kills an innocent man ( Alex Paez) while hunting an outlaw who killed his family. He pledges to the dying man that he will take his body to his sister Amaya (

Jaclyn DeSantis Jaclyn DeSantis is an American actress. She is best known for playing Maggie on the NBC television series Windfall. Early life Jaclyn was born in Long Island, New York. She attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and Mass Arts in Bos ...

). Austin wrestles with the idea of telling her he caused the death, but is faced with bigger battles once at the farm. There he gets involved with land baron Horn (

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

), who is trying to take Amaya's land. Their lives are more intertwined than he thought, when he takes on Horn and discovers that Horn has hired the man he was looking for all along.

Cast

as Matt Austin *

as Horn *

Kim Coates Kim F. Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian–American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in the lead ...

as Tate *

as Amaya * Francesco Quinn as Sheriff * Jorge-Luis Pallo as Samuel *

Wyatt Smith Wyatt Carter Smith (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played as a journeyman center in the National Hockey League before finishing his career with ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Play ...

as Billy *

Nicholas Guest Nicholas Haden-Guest (born May 5, 1951), known as Nicholas Guest, is an American actor who has appeared in various movie and television roles, including that of headmaster Patrick James Elliot in the teen sitcom ''USA High''. Since 2000, he has p ...

as Vaughn * Alex Paez as Eddie *

Johann Urb Johann Urb (born 24 January 1977) is an Estonian-American actor, producer, and former model. Early life and education Johann Urb was born in Tallinn to parents Tarmo and Maris Urb. His father is an Estonian musician and the brother of actor a ...

as Lars Anderson *

Daniel Wisler Daniel James Wisler (born September 10, 1980) is an American actor, best known for his recurring role in the television series ''The Unit'', in which he played Jeremy Erhart, an Army veteran. He appeared in six episodes. Wisler has also appeare ...

as Hank * James Keane as Preacher * Chip Sickler as Hogan * Jeffrey Markle as Bartender * Lisa Brenner as Gail Austin *

Franc Ross The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

as Sheriff *

Bob Ross Robert Norman Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter, art instructor, and television host. He was the creator and host of '' The Joy of Painting'', an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on ...

as Town Resident * Jordan Timsit as Jacob Austin * Miranda Cunha as Fellini Prostitute * Laci Greenfield as Suzy * Laura Molina as Saloon Girl

Promotion

employed

guerilla marketing ''Guerilla Marketing'' ( si, ගරිල්ලා මාර්කටිං, italic=yes) is a 2005 Sri Lankan Sinhala action thriller film directed by Jayantha Chandrasiri and produced by K.C.K Communications for Euroshian Consultancy. It stars Y ...

tactics to promote the movie. The network dispatched 20 cowboys each day from June 30 through July 2 in various places, including

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

and

Rockefeller Plaza Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and

Venice Beach Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

and the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. Over the three days, the cowboys engaged onlookers in showdowns and deputized locals with sheriff's badges featuring tune-in information for the film. Wild postings in the form of

Old west The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

-style

wanted poster A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...

s featuring an ink-block likeness of

’s character, Matt Austin, and the phrase, "a sheriff with nothing to lose" were also put up around the cities.

Reception

When ''A Gunfighter's Pledge'' premiered on

, it scored a 2.3 household rating with over 1.9 million homes. It ranked as the second-highest-rated Prime Time telecast of the day and the second-highest-rated ad-supported cable movie of the week. The movie also boosted the network to rank third in Prime Time on the day of its premiere with a 1.9 household rating. It also ranked in the top 10 during the time period among key demo ratings and delivery.Hallmark Channel Press Release: 7/9/2008

References

External links

* * *

on

''A Gunfighter's Pledge''
on

's press site {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunfighter's Pledge, A 2008 television films 2008 films 2008 Western (genre) films Films directed by Armand Mastroianni Films set in California Hallmark Channel original films American Western (genre) television films 2000s English-language films