Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Robert D. Ruplenas I came across this recently on TCM and watched it, soon realizing that I had seen it before previously. It definitely sustained a repeat viewing. For some reason, only with the second viewing did I realize what a superb movie this is, ranking right up there with "My Darling Clementine," "Red River," "The Shootist," and others. Anthony Mann of course had a great reputation as a director of Westerns and this is Exhibit A. Part of it is the superb screenplay, a richly textured, multi-levelled story involving family tension, jealousy, revenge, and rivalry. And of course the casting; anything with Jimmy Stewart, Donald Crisp, and Arthur Kennedy can't be bad. Then there is the superb cinematography of the Western expanses, among the best in any western I've seen. Altogether a richly gripping, expansive story.

Neil Welch In the course of trying to find the people who traded guns to the Apache (who used them to kill his kid brother), Will Lockhart falls foul of psycho Dave Waggoman and, by proxy, Dave's rich rancher father and kind of adoptive quasi-brother Vic.I somehow managed to never see this classic western until now. It features James Stewart in one of his iconic roles, and it looks great, with glorious widescreen colour locations. The story, which draws on King Lear, is relatively straightforward, albeit there are some threads which are never fully explored (Will and Barbara), some which are so obvious they might usefully have been avoided, and some - especially Dave's storyline - which get what, in my view, were lamer payoffs than they merited.I feel awful for criticising a classic western, but its strengths vastly outweigh its weaknesses, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

LeonLouisRicci Rising Above the Landscape of the Incredible Proliferation of 1950's Westerns are the Films of Anthony Mann. Along with Budd Boetticher They Managed to Break Away from the Herd and Deliver Different, Adult, Complex Movies with Brutal Violence and Interesting Flesh and Blood Characters Roaming Around in the Western Environment.This is the Final of Five Westerns that Director Mann did with Jimmy Stewart and Interested People can Agree or Disagree about which One is the Best, but it Really Doesn't Matter. They are All Way Above Average and have Now Made Their Mark as Artistic and Essential Entertainment.This Film may have an Overbaked Plot with Many Motivational Intrigues that don't Quite Come Together. There is a Hot Headed, Spoiled Brat of a Central Villain that is Way Overacted and the Women are Country Corn. The Landowner Heavy is Drawn to be Very Nasty and Sympathetic at the Same Time and it Barely Works as Engaging.While the Script May have some Inconsistencies and Plods with some Confusion as to Purpose, the Cinemascope Scenery is Vintage Anthony Mann and is Used to Effect as More than just Pretty Pictures, and there is a Stereo Score. But the Highlights are the New Wave of Up Close and Personal Violence, and the Usual Spot On Portrayal of the Conflicted Hero by Stewart.

secondtake The Man from Laramie (1955)You have a right to expect a movie starring James Stewart, directed by Anthony Mann, and photographed by Charles Lang to be spectacular. And it is. This is one of the first full wide screen Technicolor movies, and it's one drawback might be that it is trying to apply a new format to an old and slightly tired genre. The fact it rises above its familiarity is to Stewart's credit and Mann's. Lang (who photographed an extraordinary number of great black and white films) trades stately perfect color and design for pure drama and intensity, which are very different things, but it gives a full backdrop to the high drama here.This is a beautiful movie, for sure, in its restrained way. (The fact that it's restrained when the whole world is gaping for surging new big color movies is a small miracle in itself.) Mann did a number of westerns, for which he's most known, and a few other genre pics, but first made his name as a film minor film noir director. He seems to carry over enough of the edginess and cruelty of those noirs to make his Westerns exciting rather than epic, which is a good thing. He and Stewart worked together on five westerns, and they have taken on a life of their own, and a feeling of their own that's impressive once you click into it. One of the best noir elements to the story (which was not written by Mann) is the feeling of the lone man against the world, a great theme.The key woman lead is a cliché, the widow hanging on against the odds in town. In this case she is a charming but slightly miscast Cathy O'Donnell, a favorite of mine who takes demur and innocent to the heights. You see from the outset that this widow and Stewart's good, hard working character are destined for some kind of meeting of destinies. And there are inevitable clichés, too, that you might get used to--the stoic Indians, the older woman as tough as nails (and a gem of a role), a patriarch with a thoughtful wise look that shows counteracting wisdom, and fistfights in the dust. It's all great stuff, in the Western mold. (One fight is right in the middle of a mooing herd of cattle, and it's pretty fun.) You do wonder sometime at the possibility of a super nice guy sticking it out against all these obstacles, and I mean obstacles. The domineering (and sometimes evil) family led by Donald Crisp, with the always impressive Arthur Kennedy as the chief hand, seems like more than a man could handle. But the conflict is real, and the movie makes it pertinent beyond being "just" a western. And beautifully done. Even if you don't like westerns, this will grab you anyway.