The Master Gunfighter is a film released in 1975, written and produced by Tom Laughlin, who also played the lead as Finley. It is commonly believed Laughlin also directed the film, using the name of his son, Frank Laughlin, as a pseudonym. He had used his children's names in various forms as pseudonyms in the past — 'T.C. Frank' as the director of Billy Jack, and "Frank and Teresa Christina", his three children's first names — as the writers. In this case, the film was in fact directed by Laughlin's son, Frank. This film is set in southern California near Santa Barbara in the... period shortly after California became part of the United States. American settlers and the U.S. government discriminated against the Mexican landowners and frequently took their land by force or legal skullduggery. This film focuses on wealthy Latino ranchers whose land and wealth are at risk. They decide to misdirect a U.S. government ship carrying gold so that it will be wrecked and plundered. To prevent themselves from being caught, they plan to massacre the local Chumash Indians.
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| Release date: | October 3, 1975 |
| Directed by: | Tom Laughlin |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 121 Minutes |
| Producer: | Delores Taylor |
| Music by: | Lalo Schifrin |
| Screenplay by: | Tom Laughlin |
| Estimated budget: | $3,500,000 |
| Genre: | Western, Action |