The Lonely Man (1957)

Great Film overall

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

*** This review may contain spoilers *** *Plot and ending analyzed* A few scenes come to mind in The Lonely Man (1957), a unique Western. It has Jack Palance, as a misunderstood gunfighter. Jack Palance's physique matches his laconic attitude. We don't know whether he truly is evil at heart, or a killer. We believe it at first, but then, we see that he is nothing but a fragile human who is going blind. He exists in the wild West where men will kill you for nothing. He has merely defended himself.Townspeople want him out of their town, a few rivals want him dead. Anywhere he goes, he is treated like a pariah.Jack Palance wants to find his son (Anthony Perkins) before it is too late. Anthony Perkins doesn't want anything to do with him, but goes with him nonetheless. When they get to a town, Anthony Perkins wants to simply go to eat, but Jack Palance says, "A man first takes care of his horse." That scene to me is stupendous, it is what makes Westerns so good. A cowboy who knows the ways of the West.Elisha Cook Jr., Neville Brand, Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins and Denver Pyle are just a few familiar Western actors in the film. This is a nice character study.

A talkative and somewhat slow-moving western that gradually builds to a good climax, The Lonely Man is further hampered by the casting of two super-slow talkers, namely Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins, in the leading roles. When these two men are on screen, I always have the feeling that they speak slowly because they feel the dialogue has a depth to it which is not readily apparent to a bum director like Henry Levin, so they are forced to do his job for him by speaking extra slowly so that the audience will get all the hidden nuances that Levin has neither the guts nor the ability to bring out. True, Levin had a reputation as a fast shooter and I've no doubt the movie is not as effective as it might have been had Levin been forced to direct the rest of the film with as much care as he brings to the Palace-Perkins scenes and to the climactic gun fight. Fortunately, the rugged natural locales of the story are impressively captured by cinematographer Lionel Lindon, and a young actress named Elaine Aiken makes an impressive debut, but alas, nothing came of her career. She had minor roles in Doomsday Voyage, Night Flowers, Caddyshack and that's it! The Lonely Man is available on a very good Paramount DVD.

This film has got merit not least the photography. It is beautifully shot and the location has much to admire. There is a touch of John Ford in parts. Its main strength is the performance by Jack Palance. Anthony Perkins is ok but he has not a lot to do. Small parts by familiar actors adds to the attractions of the film which is well worth a viewing. One of my childhood best loved films which I was not disappointed with when I watched it recently.

I found "Lonely Man' in a local library. I can't believe it only has 26 votes on the IMDB. This is not as great as the Anthony Mann films I've studied in grad school. There is one with Anthony Perkins called "The Tin Star" which I would recommend more. But, this is still a good Western which doesn't follow the conventional theme/structure narrative. Worth a look.