Main Cast: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Charles Drake, Rock Hudson, Millard Mitchell
Release Year: 1950
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
Lin McAdam (James Stewart) and his friend High-Spade (Millard Mitchell) arrive in Dodge City for a shooting contest, in which the prize is a perfectly manufactured Winchester repeating rifle, referred to as "One of a Thousand" -- a gun so fine that Winchester won't sell it. Lin runs across Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally) in a saloon and the two would kill each other right there but for the fact that town marshal Wyatt Earp (Will Geer) has everyone's guns. Lin wins the rifle in an extraordinary marksmanship match-up with Brown, but the latter steals the prize from him and sets out across the desert. Thus begins a battle of wits and nerves, and a pursuit to the death. The roots and raw psychological dimensions of that chase are only exposed gradually, across a story arc that includes references to Custer's Last Stand, run-ins with marauding Indians, a heroic stand with a a shady but well-intentioned grifter (Charles Drake), and a meeting with murderous sociopath named Waco Johnny Dean (Dan Duryea), plus a romantic encounter with a young, golden-hearted frontier woman (Shelley Winters). All of these story lines eventually get drawn together neatly and gracefully by director Anthony Mann, who balances the violence of the events with a lyrical, almost poetic visual language. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Review
James Stewart's first Western with director Anthony Mann introduced the disturbed Stewart/Mann Western hero and became a hit, helping to re-ignite the genre. Departing from Stewart's nice-guy persona, his Lin McAdam already seems slightly off during the opening Dodge City shooting competition for the title rifle. As the Winchester passes from Stewart to nemesis Stephen McNally and psychotic Dan Duryea, Mann touches on such Western archetypes as Wyatt Earp, the cavalry, Indians (including Rock Hudson), and gold-hearted women, before moving on to the elemental conflict between Stewart and McNally. In this era of genre revision, Stewart's rage against McNally becomes the film's central subject; the final shootout on a treacherous mountainside reveals the insanity masked by civilization. Though the film was not quite as influenced by film noir as Mann's first Western (Devil's Doorway (1950)), the sharp, rugged, black-and-white terrain matches Stewart's inner tumult as he avenges a death in the least honorable way. Winchester '73's popular success resulted in four more Stewart/Mann Westerns, including The Naked Spur (1953), and re-energized the genre; Stewart's unprecedented deal for a profit percentage instead of salary also forever altered the business of stardom. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Roland A. Fields - Art Director, Russell A. Gausman - Art Director, Bernard Herzbrun - Art Director, Nathan Juran - Art Director, Yvonne Wood - Costume Designer, Anthony Mann - Director, Edward A. Curtiss - Editor, Joseph E. Gershenson - Composer (Music Score), Bud Westmore - Makeup, William H. Daniels - Cinematographer, Aaron Rosenberg - Producer, Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer, Leslie I. Carey - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard DeWeese - Sound/Sound Designer, Borden Chase - Screenwriter, Robert L. Richards - Screenwriter, Stuart N. Lake - Short Story Author
