The Man from Laramie (1955)

Directed by Anthony Mann - starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Alex Nicol, Cathy O'Donnell and Aline MacMahon as 'Kate Canady'

**SPOILERS ABOUND**

Stewart plays 'Will Lockhart', an ex-soldier seeking revenge for the death of his brother who was killed by Apaches using rifles. While trying to investigate who sold the Indians the guns, Lockhart runs afoul of powerful cattle baron Alec Waggoman (a superb Donald Crisp) and his spoiled brat of a son, Dave (Alex Nicol).

Alex Nicol is great as the whiney spoiled manchild, Dave. Throwing his weight around and showing off he picks on outsider Lockhart. He tosses a rope around him and drags him through a campfire, burns down his wagons and shoots his mules (off camera)! Dave is upsurped by Vic Hansbro (Arthur Kennedy) who runs the ranch himself and is like a son to Alec, possibly moreso than Dave.

Cathy O'Donnell plays 'Barbara Waggoman' caught between the love of Vic and Lockhart, the stranger, and a much older man. Cathy isn't given much to do but has a couple cute scenes with Stewart, one where they're drinking tea and carrying on.

Lockhart gets framed for knifing a wino (Jack Elam!) in a back alley and gets bailed out by Kate Canady (a spirited Aline MacMahon). She's an old love of Alec's and his only true competition in the country. She wants Lockhart to help her run the ranch. He wants nothing to do with it but needs her help so he agrees and begins looking over the cattle. What follows is one the most shocking sadistic scenes of violence in a pre-1960's mainstream picture, as if the poor mules weren't already enough. It's great.

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is one of the best films of the genre, and possibly Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart's best film together. The relationships are grey and not everyone is as good or bad as they seem to be at first. Lots of ideas about fate, tragedy and love. Especially between the KING LEAR inspired good son/bad son. There's quite a bit of plot but it never gets bogged down and has a nice pace that is always moving and interesting. The New Mexico locations shot in CinemaScope are stunning, with expansive sweeping shots of the desert, the salt flats and the various ranches look beautiful. It's too bad Mann and Stewart didn't get to do more films together in Scope.

Six six-guns are pointed at James Stewart in this publicity still for the Columbia Pictures release,
The Man from Laramie (1955)

Night Passage (1957)

Directed by James Neilson - starring Jimmy Stewart, Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea

Stewart plays 'Grant McLaine', an accordion player hired to deliver payroll for a railroad and gets robbed by a gang lead by 'Whitey Harbin' (a villainous Dan Duryea) and Grant's own brother the 'Utica Kid' (Audie Murphy). Dianne Foster and Elaine Stewart play the brother's old flames but the movie doesn't get too deep and mostly follows what's expected.

Anthony Mann was set to direct but he had a falling out with Stewart so they split. The script by Borden Chase is similar to the Mann/Stewart pairings but lighter in tone. Stewart is playing a broader more typical role and sings two tunes with an accordion. There's also a kid played by Brandon De Wilde that Stewart saves early on from a brutish Robert J. Wilke. The best scenes are when the gang is holed up in a ghost town saloon. There's some sexual tension as Dan Duryea and his group of mugs fight over a single woman. This turns into a power play between Audie Murphy and Duryea over who leads the gang. Dan Duryea is a joy to watch as he acts circles around Murphy and bosses the gang around.

Jack Elam and Jay C. Flippin' show up to do their thing but the real star is the Colorado scenery. The film has a great golden autumn hue and the scenes aboard the train as it travels through the mountainside are breathtaking. But there seems to be a bit more rear projection than usual and a few stage-bound shots. It all ends with a fantastic shootout in a rundown mill, with everybody getting what they properly deserve. While it never reaches the complex qualities of the Mann pictures it's still a lot better than most westerns.

The Far Country (1955)

Directed by Anthony Mann - starring James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan, John McIntire, Jay C. Flippen, Harry Morgan, Chubby Johnson, Royal Dano and Jack Elam

Jimmy Stewart and Walter Brennan are partners rustling cattle up to the Yukon and get hoodwinked by a crooked border town lawman, Gannon (a devilish John McIntyre). They get rescued by saucy Ruth Roman and decide to stay in Canada staking a successful gold claim. But Jimmy has dreams of buying a ranch in Utah and must figure out a way to leave without going through Gannon's border town and getting hung.

Beautifully shot in Alberta, Canada, Jimmy plays a reluctant hero who watches a frontier town full of kind people get bullied and taken for a ride by John McIntyre and his gruesome henchmen full of mugs like Jack Elam, Henry Morgan and a scary Robert J Wilke. McIntyre seems to be having a ball just relishing in his villainy, always on the lookout for a good hangin'. He's gleeful as he steals everyone's gold claims through a technicality in the law. Stewart only looks out for himself, and his good-natured buddy Ben Tatum (a loveable Walter Brennan), and is indifferent to all the bullying. Corinne Calvet plays a cute tomboyish French girl who immediately takes a liking to Stewart who doesn't take her seriously and treats her like a kid much to her irritation. As Gannon works over the town Stewart is left with the choice to do something or sit idle. And eventually push comes to shove. The town is full of great character actors like Connie Gilchrist, Kathleen Freeman, Royal Dano, Chubby Johnson and JC Flippin. A lovable bunch that have a great warm sense of community. It makes me want to give up my life and move to the Yukon and eat bear stew at the Hash House.

A beautiful western directed by Anthony Mann with a great script by Borden Chase. The westerns Mann did with Jimmy Stewart are some of the best of the genre, equal only to the films Budd Boetticher did with Randolph Scott. WATCH OUT FOR THAT AVALANCHE-!!

The Rare Breed (1966)

Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen - starring Jimmy Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Jack Elam and Juliet Mills

Jimmy Stewart plays a man with a shady past who reluctantly helps two English ladies transport their lovely hornless bull to a randy cattle baron (Brian Keith, who steals every scene).

The first half of the movie involves Stewart and Jack Elam fighting over who will deliver the fancy bull and get the delivery $$$$. Elam is great as he and Stewart have multiple fistfights, in a bar, across the plains, etc. Upon arrival to Brian Keith's cattle ranch the tone changes from western adventure to love triangle/chamber drama. Everyone finds the English bull to be a joke, including Stewart. But along the way he begins to believe in the bull and the strong willed English ladies. Brian Keith transforms from a filthy drunken hermit to a cleaned-up proper Scottish baron in the hopes of winning over Maureen O'Hara. But Stewart's faith in the women that the bull will survive the winter long enough to breed transforms him from a thief into a man with real purpose.

Lighter in tone than the Mann/Stewart pairings, mostly becoming a love story by the end. I enjoyed the contrast of the English ladies in the old west and their common sense that is thrust upon everyone they encounter. A sweet tale of love an inspiration for all you hardened cowpokes. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!