The Man from Laramie (1955)

The fifth of five western collaborations between actor James Stewart and director Anthony Mann is certainly one of their finest. Plot involves Army Captain from Laramie doing business in the small town of Coronado, but in reality seeking revenge for the killing of his brother by Apache Indians using rifles purchased from wealthy local ranchers. Adapted from a magazine serial by Thomas T. Flynn (later published in book-form), this no-nonsense outdoor adventure is surprisingly gripping, with no-holds-barred violent action and a solid supporting cast. Stewart gives yet another first-rate performance in a genre that was especially good for him, however Cathy O'Donnell was an odd choice for a (subtle) love-interest. Charles Lang's splendid cinematography needs to be seen in the widescreen format to capture its grandeur (this was one of the very first westerns shot in CinemaScope). An entertaining film, and capped with a nifty theme song. **1/2 from ****

Fmovies: Jimmy Stewart re-teams with director Anthony Mann for this interesting western as he plays Will Lockhart, who is driving supplies to his employer Barbara Waggoman(played by Cathy O'Donnell) who is waylaid by ruthless and vicious Dave Waggoman(played by Alex Nicol) son of local cattle baron Alec Waggoman(played by Donald Crisp) who is apologetic to Will, and offers to reimburse him the full value of his loss. He accepts, but retains a grudge against Dave, and continues to work for Barbara, as he also pursues the person who is selling guns to the local Apaches. Arthur Kennedy costars as Alec's right hand man, who ends up helping Will.

OK western is well acted and exciting, though the story has certain weaknesses in logic and motivation that weaken it. Still, worthwhile viewing despite these problems.

The Man From Laramie is the last completed western of the James Stewart- Anthony Mann combination. They started Night Passage together, but quarreled and James Neilson finished it. Stewart-Mann turned out some great westerns and three other films as well and all were good entertainment.

The Man From Laramie is probably the weakest of the five westerns. It seems better than it is because of the quality of company of players Anthony Mann got for this film. The story has way too many improbabilities.

Stewart plays an army captain on leave on a personal mission to find out who sold Apaches repeating rifles with which they massacred an army patrol led by Stewart's brother. He arrives at his destination and tangles with the spoiled and crazy son of the owner of the local Ponderosa.

The owner is Donald Crisp, as always a strong character and his son is played by Alex Nicol. Nicol delivers a scenery chewing performance as a really rotten human being, the kind you go to the movies and love to hate.

The point is that Nicol is so bad and so obviously lacking a whole suit in his deck of cards is that why would anyone get any kind of close to him to have private dealings. Yet that's what we're asked to believe.

Arthur Kennedy is the foreman of Donald Crisp's ranch. His is the same role that Charlton Heston did in The Big Country, the orphan kid who gets taken in by the big landowner and raised by him. But Charles Bickford had a daughter there.

Kennedy is courting Cathy O'Donnell who is Crisp's niece and Nicol's cousin. She owns the local mercantile and upon Stewart's arrival she starts reevaluating her personal life. She's playing an older version of the part she had in The Best Years of Our Lives as Harold Russell's fiancé.

Another big plot hole is that the people dealing with the Apaches are doling out the weapons bit by bit afraid of starting a general Indian uprising. Leaving aside the question of why they're selling them at all, why don't the Apaches just follow them to where the supply is and take the weapons?

The only other two roles of consequence are Wallace Ford as Stewart's sidekick and Aline McMahon as the owner of a rival spread to Crisp's. Both deliver in their usual good style.

It's not a bad western, but the script and the character motivation from the script could have used some rethinking.

The Man from Laramie fmovies. The Man from Laramie (1955)

You have a right to expect a movie starring James Stewart, directed by Anthony Mann, and photographed by Charles Lang to be spectacular. And it is. This is one of the first full wide screen Technicolor movies, and it's one drawback might be that it is trying to apply a new format to an old and slightly tired genre. The fact it rises above its familiarity is to Stewart's credit and Mann's. Lang (who photographed an extraordinary number of great black and white films) trades stately perfect color and design for pure drama and intensity, which are very different things, but it gives a full backdrop to the high drama here.

This is a beautiful movie, for sure, in its restrained way. (The fact that it's restrained when the whole world is gaping for surging new big color movies is a small miracle in itself.) Mann did a number of westerns, for which he's most known, and a few other genre pics, but first made his name as a film minor film noir director. He seems to carry over enough of the edginess and cruelty of those noirs to make his Westerns exciting rather than epic, which is a good thing. He and Stewart worked together on five westerns, and they have taken on a life of their own, and a feeling of their own that's impressive once you click into it. One of the best noir elements to the story (which was not written by Mann) is the feeling of the lone man against the world, a great theme.

The key woman lead is a cliché, the widow hanging on against the odds in town. In this case she is a charming but slightly miscast Cathy O'Donnell, a favorite of mine who takes demur and innocent to the heights. You see from the outset that this widow and Stewart's good, hard working character are destined for some kind of meeting of destinies. And there are inevitable clichés, too, that you might get used to--the stoic Indians, the older woman as tough as nails (and a gem of a role), a patriarch with a thoughtful wise look that shows counteracting wisdom, and fistfights in the dust. It's all great stuff, in the Western mold. (One fight is right in the middle of a mooing herd of cattle, and it's pretty fun.)

You do wonder sometime at the possibility of a super nice guy sticking it out against all these obstacles, and I mean obstacles. The domineering (and sometimes evil) family led by Donald Crisp, with the always impressive Arthur Kennedy as the chief hand, seems like more than a man could handle. But the conflict is real, and the movie makes it pertinent beyond being "just" a western. And beautifully done. Even if you don't like westerns, this will grab you anyway.

From Columbia Pictures , produced by William Goetz and screenplay by prestigious Philip Yordan , a Western plenty of emotion , action and shootouts ; being the last and the best of James Stewart's classic Western collaborations with Anthony Mann. From a story by Thomas Flynn for the Saturday Evening Post and its subsequent novel with the same title . A cowboy named Lockhart (James Stewart) defies the local cattle baron (Donald Crisp) and his sadistic son (Alex Nicol) by working for one of his oldest rivals (Aline MacMahon) . The obsessed cow-herder going through hell and high water to track down the stranger who sold Indians weapons which led to the death of his brother ; then excitement increases until a surprising final .

This exciting Western contains tension-filled familial atmosphere , thrills , suspense and gun-play . Magnificent western from duo Anthony Mann/James Stewart and their final collaboration . Colour , music , scenarios , landscapes all marks well in this thrilling story about a cowboy who deals with a baron land who's going blind and worries which of his two sons he will leave the ranch to . The picture has been described as a western version of King Lear adding a tautly strung outdoor Wodunnit . It describes a family tragedy in which there are extreme characters combined with psychological observations and enriched by eventual ambiguity . By that time (1955) the picture was considered very strong , tough , surprisingly cruel and brutal ; today is deemed a classic film . And seems to be a great influence of wide range such as violence and scenarios , both of them influenced in Spaghetti Western as well as outdoors similar to Almeria landscapes . Filmed in Cinemascope with colorful cinematography by Charles Lang supported by assistant Henry Jaffa , Mann gets to take from nature the maximum impacts , as desert , river , mountains , being wonderfully photographed . Impressive background scenarios , dramatic close-up along with shading illuminations , all of them perfectly mingled with a tale full of violence , tension , intrigue and shoot'em up . The filming took place on location in New Mexico , there were built two ranch : Big Barb and Half Moon , next to Santa Fe . The technician and artist team was formed by numerous actors and 142 technicians . Producers hired 18 mules , 24 horses and 800 cows and building a great ranch of 32 miles length . Nedless to say , the main and secondary cast is first-class . Top-of-the-range acting by the great James Stewart as a lone avenger obsessed with hunting down the men who sold guns to the Indians that murdered his brother . There are top-notch acting from old-stagers as Donald Crisp playing an aging ranch baron and Aline MacMahon as an old spinster and special mention to Western usual secondary Jack Elam as a sinister gunslinger . Delicate Cathy O'Donnell (Ben Hur) was widely felt to be badly miscast as Barbara Waggoman and seems a little lost among the movie's many shots and brawls. Emotive as well as intriguing musical score by George Duning performed by Morris Stoloff , including a notorious theme tune .

This top-drawer Western was stunningly realized by the master Anthony Mann , including his characteristic use of landscape 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¨ . La

Another solid western by a man who gave some of the best works of the whole genre (the naked spur, cimarron,etc).This is the story of a double search:Stewart is looking for the man who's responsible for his brother 's death.Crisp is afraid of a man who might possibly kill his son:he has a recurrent dream which frightens him .Little by little the two stories converge and make one in one of the most brilliant western screenplays of the fifties.The dreamlike touch gives a movie another dimension,which only great directors can conjure :Walsh,Ford ,Daves,or of course Mann.

The characters are more complex than we thought at first sight,and the cliché of the old wealthy man with a son -black-sheep-of-the-family and an almost- adoptive- son-good-boy is avoided.Alex Nicol and Arthur Kennedy give strong nervous tortured portrayals which almost outshine star Stewart.Crisp is equally effective in the part of a man who tries not to face the truth -which may be the meaning of his premonitory dream-,and will finally see it when he is blind.The lead female part is the weakest link of the movie ,but Aline MacMahon's colorful Kate more than makes up for Cathy O'Donnell's blandness.

I had seen this movie for the first time when I was 13.I saw it again yesterday.It has not aged a bit.