Man of the West (1958)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Good Gary Cooper western.Set in Texas in the late-1800s, a man, Link Jones (played by Gary Cooper), sets out a long-distance train trip in order to hire a teacher for his home town. The train is robbed and him and two other passengers are left stranded at the side of the tracks...Interesting, gritty western. Quite edgy for one made in 1958. Has more dimensions than your average good cowboy-bad cowboy western.Not perfect though: feels clumsy at times, and some parts of the plot don't always make sense.Solid work by Gary Cooper in the lead role. Good support from Julie London. The bad guys are fairly stereotypically played, however.

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 .

When you watch an Anthony Mann western you always know it is going to be something special and different from usual. He was not really a director that applied to usual rules and the particular genre elements of the westerns from its era to his movies. This was not only just the case with his westerns by the way, since he also did a bunch of whole different movies but he is best known for his work in the western genre.Anthony Mann westerns are often more realistic with its characters, story and emotions but at the same time they also manage to be very entertaining ones. Not that this movie is all fun but it still has a sort of adventurous approach and feeling to it all. That also means that the movie has a pleasant pace, which helps to make this movie a very good watch.The story in itself is being kept quite simple. The story provides the movie with plenty of room to let the characters make and tell the story. It's a story that progresses along with its characters. The characters really play the central role in this movie and are what keeps this movie going and progressing so interesting. It's an intriguing to watch due to this effective approach.Lots of people thought that Gary Cooper was miscast in this, mostly due to his age, but in truth he simply was great in this movie and he did not feel out of place or anything in it. I always enjoy seeing Lee J. Cobb in a movie as well but it was a bit silly though how he looked in this movie and at times played his character more like an old pirate, rather than an old tough outlaw.Anthony Mann westerns don't come across as particularly expensive ones, mostly because they are often set in the open or indoors, at an obvious studio but nevertheless his movies are always great looking ones. And with this it just doesn't seem to matter whether his movies are in color or black & white.Another nice, bit of different, little western from Anthony Mann.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

There's a lot to like about this excellent Anthony Mann Western.Great "passing of the West" theme.Great tension and dramatic plot developmentReally good supporting acting. Lee J. Cobb gives a bravura performance. Jack Lord is tremendous as the henchman. Great work by John Dehner as Link's cousin. It's hard to take Dehner seriously, because he appeared so many "B" pictures and TV westerns. But here he comes across as a legit "A" list supporting actor. Julie London is surprisingly effective and Arthur O'Connell provides solid support as well.However, there were a number of things that prevented this movie from being better:Gary Cooper's just way too old for this role. The logic of the its own plot says he should be 40 or so, while he looks like he's 60. That also hurts in the creepy romantic subplot with Julie London, a woman nearly 30 years his junior.As is typical in many Anthony Mann movies, there are gaping plot holes. Mainly the preposterous coincidence that Link gets left by the train within short walking distance of his old hideout - and his whole gang is sitting right there, even though he hasn't been anywhere near the place in over a decade.Another plot hole, how could Tobin possibly not have known that Lassoo was a ghost town. He seemed to know a ton about the gold kept there. Also, it also wasn't much of a town, what, 10 buildings in total. How much money was in that bank? Another case of Mann deciding he wanted a climactic shoot out in a small ghost town and not ensuring that the plot sets it up properly.I thought the rape scenes - graphic for their time - were gratuitous.I didn't see the point of killing the Mexican woman in Lassoo. Mann seems sadistic at times.At the end Link and Billie ride off into the sunset, but isn't the whole territory out looking for Link now? Claude said the telegraph wires were "burning" that the sheriff had identified him. What about his horse back in Crosscut? Also, he told everyone where he was from. Won't they hunt him down in his home town now?It may sound like I'm nitpicking, but all these things add up and most of them aren't necessary. Mann was just very sloppy with plot details. I like to give credit to directors who went to the trouble to preserve the integrity of their stories.