Truly Dreadful Film

recommended

Lack of good storyline.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Copyright 1958 by Ashton Productions, Inc. New York opening at neighborhood theaters as the top half of a double bill with Cop Hater. 1 October 1958. U.S. release: October 1958. U.K. release: 11 January 1959. Australian release: 19 January 1960 (sic). 100 minutes. Censored in the U.K. to 96 minutes. Censored in Australia to 93 minutes (and even in this mutilated form, the movie was still saddled with a "Not Suitable for Children" certificate).COMMENT: By the extremely high standards of Anthony Mann, "Man of the West" is a bit disappointing. Though the problem is not with Mann's direction. It's the script that forms the obstacle to 100% success. And in particular, it's the Julie London character. She just doesn't ring true. Mind you, she starts off convincingly enough, but as the film progresses, both she and her relationship with taciturnly steadfast hero Gary Cooper become more and more stereotyped, less and less believable. Mann is obviously not "sold" on these London-Cooper scenes either. He directs them in a bored, listless fashion, often in one or two takes. Cooper seems uncomfortable too. Some attempts at humor with the Arthur O'Connell character also fall flat.Fortunately, both star and director appear much more at home in the action episodes. And here of course they are helped out by full- blooded performances from the support cast. Perhaps too replete with overdone theatrics by Leo Jacoby, but forceful villainy from Jack Lord, John Dehner, Robert Wilke and especially Royal Dano (who has one of his best roles ever as a giggling but otherwise mute sadist named Trout) more than save the day. The scene is which the wounded Trout runs the entire length of the town comes across as one of the most powerful ever filmed. Mann uses both his props and backgrounds to tremendous visual advantage. So long as Julie London remains out of the picture, Mann contrives to make every scene into an effectively dramatic, eye- catching vignette. Superlative photography, especially of the outdoor locations, is a spellbinding asset. But an overly obtrusive and often inappropriate music score tends to undermine the carefully crafted atmosphere built up by the obvious rapport between photographer and director.SUMMING UP: A faulted film but must-see viewing. Cooper's fans will have few complaints and those expecting action will not be disappointed either.

From director Anthony Mann (Winchester '73, The Naked Spur, The Man from Laramie, El Cid), I only knew the leading actor in classic western High Noon, I wouldn't have known he starred in many others, this was another one in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Basically Link Jones (Gary Cooper) is a reformed outlaw travelling to Crosscut, Texas to hire a schoolteacher, conman Sam Beasley (Arthur O'Connell) briefly speaks to him, and this rouses the suspicions of the town marshal who thinks he looks familiar, and on the train Sam introduces him Crosscut saloon singer Billie Ellis (Julie London) who is keen to be a teacher. Thieves Coaley Tobin (Jack Lord), Trout (Royal Dano) and Ponch (Robert J. Wilke) attempt to rob the train, and Link is knocked unconscious trying to intervene, and after recovering and helping Sam and Billie he finds the thieves hiding out in a rundown house. Aging outlaw Dock Tobin (The Exorcist's Lee J. Cobb) comes in and is shocked to see his nephew Link, he abandoned him years ago allowing him to go straight, he says things have not been the same since he left, he is introduced to the roughnecks, including Coaley, his cousin. He realises he and his friends are in danger when Coaley kills the wounded and near death Alcutt (Jack Williams), he lies to his uncle to get away, but he wants him to remain with the gang to rob a bank in the town of Lassoo, he only agrees to protect Billie. There is a point when Billie is threatened to strip by Coaley, and Tobin takes his time to stop it, they are soon joined by another cousin, Claude Tobin (John Dehner), and set on the four day ride to Lassoo, on the journey Link and Coaley get into a brutal fistfight, Sam tries to intervene and is shot, after being humiliated by Link and attempting to kill him Coaley is shot by Tobin. Billie has affectionate feelings for Link, but back in his home town Good Hope he is already married with a child, he volunteers to lead the robbery, he is joined by mute Trout (Royal Dano) but the town turns to be a ghost town, so Link kills Trout, and in gun battle he kills Ponch and with regret also Claude. He returns to Billie and is shocked to find her raped and beaten, so he searches for Tobin who is above on the cliffs, after some taunting he does get shot and the bag of money is stole is taken back, with the day saved Billie says she will return to singing, while Link rides back to Good Hope to his family. Also starring Guy Wilkerson as Train Conductor, Chuck Roberson as Rifleman-Guard on Train, Frank Ferguson as Crosscut Marshal, Emory Parnell as Henry, Tina Menard as Juanita and Joe Dominguez as Mexican Man. Cooper gives a good performance full of gravitas and intensity, London is interesting as the leading female, and Cobb is chosen well as the villain, I will confess that I found the story difficult to follow at times, but there enough controversial moments, such as the rape scene, and of course the showdown style gun fight near the end is really engaging, so all in all it is a watchable western. Very good!

There's a mystery in the movie. Namely, why has everyone left the frontier town of Lasso. I think I know why. That's because it's the one ugliest bunch of dwellings to appear in any western, big-budget or little. Heck, even an ant could put together better-looking mud huts than these dirt pimples. I salute whoever in production was responsible for this pest hole, since most Hollywood frontier towns look like they came from squeaky-clean Disneyland.Okay, it's a really good western, but not Mann's best, Godard or no Godard. Besides, what makes a Frenchman so expert on American westerns that everyone has to change their minds because of him. Basically, I'm with those who find the 57-year old Cooper miscast as someone much younger. Sure, he gives it his grim-faced best, and has kept that iconic ramrod physique even at late middle-age. But those facial close-ups can't conceal the proverbial passage of time. Of course, this would be meaningless were it not that the screenplay insists he be younger than two important guys (Cobb & Dehner) who are obviously much younger. Besides, we're reminded by a script that constantly brings up age relations. Thus, I'm constantly reminded that this is only a movie, after all. As good as Coop can be, Mann made a key mistake not hiring the younger Stewart for the role. The other basic flaw is Cobb who hams it up mercilessly. Now I'm hard-of-hearing, but most every time he spoke I had to turn down my earphone. He doesn't speak, he bellows for the very back row. Surely he knows there are other ways of dominating than shouting out your lines.Now for the good stuff which means London plus London. That so-called strip scene got a lot of press in its day, but seems pretty tame by today's standards. Nonetheless, the scene's really good for prompting mixed emotions in the audience. Sure, I wanted her to take it all off, just like when I was sitting front row at strip shows years ago. But still, I could feel her embarrassment in front of all those leering bad guys making her do it. And that's no fun at all, shapely body or not. And I expect a lot of male viewers were similarly affected.For sure, I kept waiting for Hawaii Five-O's Dano to come in and book that leering bad guy Jack Lord (Coley). After all, who would believe that toothy cop from TV could make such an excellent villain. Here he's sporting a 3-day old beard, a layer of grime, and no ethics at all, making him a perfect guy you love to hate. At the same time, it's a stellar line-up of henchman, including Wilke, Royal Dano, and Dehner. All in all, it's a pack of wolves fit for the best of predatory westerns. But you do have to feel for the meek and mild O'Connell (Beasley), what with all that testosterone floating around. Still, he does prove his guts in the end.That shootout between Claude (Dehner) and Link (Cooper) is one of the most imaginatively staged I've seen and arguably the movie's highpoint. Director Mann was certainly an expert at staging. I especially like that barren lunar landscape framing the action. The absence of greenery sort of goes along with an absence of respect for good and bad among the men living there. But that's Link's problem. He's in the process of growing out of that barren ethical stage even if everything around him is preventing it. So he's confronted with that age-old human conundrum of having to use violence in order to end it. It also means having to overcome the teachings of his past. No wonder the last scene has him riding away from what's long been working against him.Apparently, the movie was first underrated. That's not surprising since the screen, big and little, was saturated with horse operas in 1958. Now, however, I'm afraid the movie's overrated among Mann's iconic westerns. Still, the compensations are many despite the two basic flaws, and remains a complex movie, worth catching for a second time.

Tense , violent ,epic Western in which Gary Cooper , Lee J Cobb and Julie London stand out . Brilliant and taut Western with wonderful use of locations and top-of-the-range cast . Gary Cooper is the Man of the West , a reformed outlaw called Link Jones (Gary Cooper , he bravely did his own horse-riding scenes despite physical pain from a car accident years earlier though) becomes stranded after an aborted train robbery with two other passengers (Julie London , Arthur O'Connell) . Cooper is forced to rejoin his ex-colleague (Lee J Cobb) and ex-boss to save himself and other innocent people from the band's (Jack Lord , Robert J Wilke, Royal Dano) mistreatment .Magnificent Western plenty of thrills , shootouts , violence , gorgeous landscapes and results to be pretty entertaining . This excellent Western deserves another look at 1958 , nowadays is better considered then the 50s when was dismissed . In spite of its violence that influenced in Spaghetti Western , ¨Man of the West¨ turns out to be an essential and indispensable Western for hardcore aficionados . Jean-Luc Godard, a film critic before he became a director, raved about the film saying it was the best film of that year ; because of his recommendation, the film has been reevaluated and is now considered a classic western . Gary Cooper is frankly well in the role that fits him like a gun fits a holster .Gary Cooper was, at 56, a decade older than Lee J. Cobb who played his "Uncle" Dock Tobin , in the film Cooper and John Dehner talk about being children together , Dehner was actually fourteen years younger than Cooper . However , Stewart Granger was originally announced for the lead role and James Stewart eagerly sought the role played by Gary Cooper, but since Stewart had fallen out with director Anthony Mann he did not get the part . Very good support cast formed by notorious secondaries such as Jack Lord , Royal Dano , Robert J Wilke , Arthur O'Connell , Frank Ferguson and special mention to Lee J Cobb . Colorful cinematography in CinemaScope by Ernest Haller . Powerful and thrilling musical score by Leigh Harline . This top-drawer Western was stunningly realized by the master Anthony Mann , infusing the traditional Western with psychological confusion , including his characteristic use of landscape with marvelous use of outdoors which is visually memorable . Mann established his forte with magnificent Western almost always with James Stewart . In his beginnings he made ambitious but short-lived quality low-budget surroundings of Eagle-Lion production as ¨T-men¨ , ¨They walked by night¨ , ¨Raw deal¨ , ¨Railroaded¨ and ¨Desperate¨ . Later on , he made various Western , remarkably good , masterpieces such as ¨The furies¨ , and ¨Devil's doorway¨ and several with his habitual star , James Stewart, as ¨Winchester 73¨ , ¨Bend the river¨ and ¨The far country¨ . They are characterized by roles whose determination to stick to their guns would take them to the limits of their endurance . Others in this throughly enjoyable series include ¨Tin star ¨ and ¨Man of the West¨ is probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . After the mid-50 , Mann's successes came less frequently , though directed another good Western with Victor Mature titled ¨The last frontier¨. And of course ¨Man of the West ¨ that turns out to be stylish , fast paced , solid , meticulous , with enjoyable look , and most powerful and well-considered . This well acted movie is gripping every step of the way . It results to be a splendid western and remains consistently agreeable . Rating : Above average , the result is a top-of-range Western . Well worth watching and it will appeal to Gary Cooper fans .