Themes: Out For Revenge, Ranchers, Fathers and Sons
Main Cast: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell, Alex Nicol, Wallace Ford
Release Year: 1955
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Anthony Mann directed this brilliant psychological Western reminiscent of Shakespeare's King Lear. James Stewart plays Will Lockhart, who is obsessed with finding the man who sold automatic rifles to the Apaches, resulting in the death of his brother. Will enters the town of Coronado, NM, ruled by the blind and aging patriarch Alec Waggoman (Donald Crisp). Unaware that he is trespassing on Waggoman's land, he finds himself accosted by Alec's sociopathic son, Dave (Alex Nicol), who brutally beats Will and is ready to kill him. But Will is rescued at the last minute by Waggoman's adopted son, Vic Hansbro (Arthur Kennedy). Will finds that Waggoman has become increasingly concerned over who will inherit his vast empire. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Anthony Mann's final Western with James Stewart, and his first in Cinemascope, The Man from Laramie (1955) revisits the themes of earlier Mann/Stewart movies and pushes them to the extreme, while allowing Stewart to play a (slightly) less disturbed hero than in their other collaborations. In another superbly structured oater about men's inner wilderness, Stewart is once again a wandering loner. The King Lear-esque family conflict in which his Lockhart gets enmeshed confronts him with the violent fallout of the corruption of family ties (the kind of ties that his own quest to avenge the death of his brother seeks to honor) and with the most brutal physical torture inflicted on a Stewart/Mann hero. Mann exploits the widescreen frame to reveal the violence's visceral impact, as the psychotic son drags Lockhart through a fire and later shoots him through the hand, intensifying the action through Scope close-ups of Stewart's pain. Shot on location in New Mexico, the arid landscapes, particularly the infernal salt flats, match the anger driving Lockhart and the villains, while enhancing the sense of their inner torment. Even as Lockhart allows his conscience to prevail, Mann still sends him off alone at the conclusion, leaving his future uncertain. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Anthony Mann - Director, William Lyon - Editor, George Duning - Composer (Music Score), Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Arthur Morton - Musical Direction/Supervision, Clay Campbell - Makeup, Cary O'Dell - Production Designer, Charles B. Lang - Cinematographer, William Goetz - Producer, James Crowe - Set Designer, George Cooper - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank Burt - Screenwriter, Philip Yordan - Screenwriter, Thomas T. Flynn - Book Author
Will Lockhart becomes entangled in the happenings of Coronado, an isolated western town, after delivering supplies there. He immediately ends up at odds with the Waggomans, an influential ranching family, as he continues his search for someone selling rifles to the local Apaches, his brother having been killed in one of their attacks.
Cattle baron Alec Waggoman is haunted by visions of a stranger who intends to do him harm. He also is gradually losing his eyesight and can't count on his son Dave, a vicious and arrogant man who refuses to learn how to run the ranch.
Lockhart is led to believe he can collect salt for free and haul it away for freight, but Dave Waggoman accuses him of stealing, shoots Lockhart's mules and burns his wagon. Lockhart returns to town, engages Dave and ranch foreman Vic in a fistright, then comes to Alec Waggoman for restitution for his goods.
Vic considers himself a second son to Alec and intends to marry Barbara Waggoman as well. But when push comes to shove, Alec sides with his son, being a blood relative. Vic rides after Dave and catches him trying to contact the dangerous Apaches in another gun transaction. Vic shoots him and then lets Alec believe that Lockhart was responsible.
Lockhart takes refuge with a rival rancher, Kate Canady, who wishes she and Waggoman could declare a truce. Alec sets out to discover for himself whether it was true that his son Dave was involved in selling rifles to the Apaches. He is intercepted by Vic, who pushes the nearly blind Waggoman from his horse and down a hill.
Kate takes in Waggoman and tends to his wounds. Vic is anxious because Waggoman is still alive and can identify him. He tries again to kill Alec but is thwarted by Lockhart, who pursues Vic on horseback. Lockhart is unable to shoot him down in cold blood, but Vic ends up attacked by a band of Apaches and is killed.
Lockhart leaves town, but hints to Barbara Waggoman that perhaps he will come back.
James Stewart starred in five classic western movies by director Anthony Mann. In all five, he plays a man who is haunted by the past. The films are famous for their groundbreaking use of the landscape to portray the characters' feelings.
