Rating: 
Summary: Stewart and Mann do a Western where Shakespeare meets Freud
Review: "The Man From Laramie" is a great example of the psychological westerns that were popular in the 1950s. Jimmy Stewart plays Will Lockhart, an army Captain who goes undercover to learn who sold rifles to the Apaches, which were then used to kill his brother when a cavalry patrol was ambushed. Lockhart delivers supplies to storekeeper Barbara Waggoman (Cathy O'Donnell) in the isolated town of Coronado, deep in Apache country in New Mexico. He also meets her uncle Alec (Donald Crisp), a wealthy, arrogant cattle baron who is basically a decent man and who loves his worthless son Dave (Alex Nicol). The old man is going blind and is worried that a man will come and kill his son. Trying to reign in the psychopathic Dave is the ranch foreman, Vic (Arthur Kennedy), who is sort of an adopted son to Alec and engaged to Barbara. Of course, the answer to Lockhart's quest is to be found in this tortured family and a lot of people are going to have to die before his obsession finally ends. This 1955 film, the last Western Stewart did with directed Anthony Mann, owes as much to Shakespeare's King Lear as it does to Freudian psychology. It also features one of the most violent sequences you would find in a Western (for that time) when Dave and his ranch hands roust Lockhart's wagon train loaded with salt. They rope Lockhart, drag him through a fire, burn his wagons and start shooting his mules. Only the arrival of Vic stops Dave from killing Lockhart, setting the stage for his involvement with the Waggomans. The performances by the cast and excellent, with Stewart, Crip and Kennedy are especially good and the film has the additional virtue of having been filmed on location near Sante Fe. "The Man From Laramie" is one of the darkest Westerns, what you might consider the "Unforgiven" of its day.
Rating:
Summary: Stewart and Mann do a Western where Shakespeare meets Freud
Review: "The Man From Laramie" is a great example of the psychological westerns that were popular in the 1950s. Jimmy Stewart plays Will Lockhart, an army Captain who goes undercover to learn who sold rifles to the Apaches, which were then used to kill his brother when a cavalry patrol was ambushed. Lockhart delivers supplies to storekeeper Barbara Waggoman (Cathy O'Donnell) in the isolated town of Coronado, deep in Apache country in New Mexico. He also meets her uncle Alec (Donald Crisp), a wealthy, arrogant cattle baron who is basically a decent man and who loves his worthless son Dave (Alex Nicol). The old man is going blind and is worried that a man will come and kill his son. Trying to reign in the psychopathic Dave is the ranch foreman, Vic (Arthur Kennedy), who is sort of an adopted son to Alec and engaged to Barbara. Of course, the answer to Lockhart's quest is to be found in this tortured family and a lot of people are going to have to die before his obsession finally ends. This 1955 film, the last Western Stewart did with directed Anthony Mann, owes as much to Shakespeare's King Lear as it does to Freudian psychology. It also features one of the most violent sequences you would find in a Western (for that time) when Dave and his ranch hands roust Lockhart's wagon train loaded with salt. They rope Lockhart, drag him through a fire, burn his wagons and start shooting his mules. Only the arrival of Vic stops Dave from killing Lockhart, setting the stage for his involvement with the Waggomans. The performances by the cast and excellent, with Stewart, Crip and Kennedy are especially good and the film has the additional virtue of having been filmed on location near Sante Fe. "The Man From Laramie" is one of the darkest Westerns, what you might consider the "Unforgiven" of its day.
Rating:
Summary: Stewart and Mann do a Western where Shakespeare meets Freud
Review: "The Man From Laramie" is a great example of the psychological westerns that were popular in the 1950s. Jimmy Stewart plays Will Lockhart, an army Captain who goes undercover to learn who sold rifles to the Apaches, which were then used to kill his brother when a cavalry patrol was ambushed. Lockhart delivers supplies to storekeeper Barbara Waggoman (Cathy O'Donnell) in the isolated town of Coronado, deep in Apache country in New Mexico. He also meets her uncle Alec (Donald Crisp), a wealthy, arrogant cattle baron who is basically a decent man and who loves his worthless son Dave (Alex Nicol). The old man is going blind and is worried that a man will come and kill his son. Trying to reign in the psychopathic Dave is the ranch foreman, Vic (Arthur Kennedy), who is sort of an adopted son to Alec and engaged to Barbara. Of course, the answer to Lockhart's quest is to be found in this tortured family and a lot of people are going to have to die before his obsession finally ends. This 1955 film, the last Western Stewart did with directed Anthony Mann, owes as much to Shakespeare's King Lear as it does to Freudian psychology. It also features one of the most violent sequences you would find in a Western (for that time) when Dave and his ranch hands roust Lockhart's wagon train loaded with salt. They rope Lockhart, drag him through a fire, burn his wagons and start shooting his mules. Only the arrival of Vic stops Dave from killing Lockhart, setting the stage for his involvement with the Waggomans. The performances by the cast and excellent, with Stewart, Crip and Kennedy are especially good and the film has the additional virtue of having been filmed on location near Sante Fe. "The Man From Laramie" is one of the darkest Westerns, what you might consider the "Unforgiven" of its day.
Rating: 
Summary: Eyepopping cinematography.
Review: All I can say is WOW! The New Mexico locations are simply stunning. After seeing so many films with rear projection, CGI, and other obvious trickery is so great to see an outdoor film that doesn't fake it. The plot is adequate and the acting is pretty good - the only weak link is Cathy O'Donnell - who nobody seemed to notice - can't act. The real star, however, are the stunning New Mexico locations. Get a widescreen TV and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A GREEK TRAGEDY IN THE DESERT
Review: Director Anthony Mann's THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is a movie lover's dream. It's a western shot in the beautiful deserts of New Mexico with enough action to keep your mind occupied while your eyes wander through the landscapes. James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy and Donald Crisp are at their best and the rest of the cast gives a great performance. Some of the reviewers have already noted the shakespearian flavour of the story so I'm rather going to underline other evident references. OK ! So, in THE MAN OF LARAMIE, we have an old man with a recurrent dream, a dream announcing that a stranger will come and murder his son. When Alec announces to Vic that he's becoming blind, we cannot have any doubts more : we are witnessing another variation of the myth of Oedipus. From this moment on, you're going to have a subtle pleasure to read THE MAN FROM LARAMIE with a pair of freudian glasses ! Let's observe these brothers ( Vic HansBRO ) fight for the love of their old father, let's mourn the disappearance of Alec's wife who created a monster out of her son in order to hurt her macho husband, etc.. Images and sound (stereo) are OUTSTANDING. For once, a production company has forgotten the usual economic laws and takes advantage of the real possibilities of a DVD by presenting 4 or five different subtitles. Thank you Columbia ! A DVD for your library.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves more attention
Review: Hard to believe I missed this jewel before. Just an outstanding collaboration by Stewart/Mann. I really don't see the brutality here that so many people are quick to scream these days, and who cares about King Lear? This is just a great Western in the classic sense. Jimmy Stewart was always his best in the "I'm gonna get you sucka'" role and he is terrific here. The story outweighs some casting issues but you won't care. Cathy O'Donnell is exactly like Stewart describes her..."beautiful", a fragile genuine treasure. The DVD transfer is nothing but spectacular. I've never seen colors like this anywhere and there's plenty of scenery to "wow" at. Amazing actually but that's an Anthony Mann trademark. Just jumped into my top five all time list. 5 mules, still standing.
Rating:
Summary: One of the five great Westerns.
Review: I think that the Man from Laramie is Anthony Mann's best film and one of the top five Westerns of all time. Who is really Donald Crisp's real (spritual) son -- Alex Nicol (his biological son), Arthur Kennedy (his quasi-adopted son), or James Stewart (the stranger he fears in his dreams)? This film has obvious allusions to King Lear. When I first saw it I was deeply moved and frightened. It is a very profound and spiritual film. Give it a chance -- it's an overlooked gem of the cinema.
Rating:
Summary: One of the five great Westerns.
Review: I think that the Man from Laramie is Anthony Mann's best film and one of the top five Westerns of all time. Who is really Donald Crisp's real (spritual) son -- Alex Nicol (his biological son), Arthur Kennedy (his quasi-adopted son), or James Stewart (the stranger he fears in his dreams)? This film has obvious allusions to King Lear. When I first saw it I was deeply moved and frightened. It is a very profound and spiritual film. Give it a chance -- it's an overlooked gem of the cinema.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Farewell to a Phenomenal Partnership
Review: In the 1950's, James Stewart and director Anthony Mann made eight films together, including five westerns. The first was "Winchester '73", the last was "The Man From Laramie". Every film was a masterpiece. There was always a throughline of theme and plot, and Stewart's character was always a loner with a mean streak who is brought back from the brink by the love of a good woman...or something similar to that...but it didn't matter. These five movies are among the best of the western genre, and "The Man From Laramie" stands tall as one of Stewart's greatest performances.
Stewart comes to a small New Mexico town, ostensibly to deliver goods to the general store, but he's actually an undercover Cavalry officer in search of the man or men who sold the local Apache a load of rifles, which were then used to massacre a Cavalry platoon, among them Stewart's younger brother. His investigation brings him in contact with the town's patriarch and his psychotic son (see "King Lear" and the more recent "Road to Perdition"), and while it seems Stewart is getting sidetracked he's actually on the right road, heading inexorably toward the brutal truth and the vicious need for revenge in his own soul.
Anthony Mann was a major director, he gets great performances from all his actors and the scenery in his movies is always breathtaking. With a great actor like Stewart working (and working hard) for him, Mann could explore the darker aspects of the American western, he could go places the brilliant but "straight" John Ford never thought of going. And Stewart, in dire need to tarnish his All-American Boy routine which was growing old fast, dug into these roles with a gusto actors like DeNiro and Brando would have been afraid to muster. These films made up one of the great collaborations between director and star of all time; and they went out with a bang, a classic confrontation between hard men who know more about their guns and their horses than they'll ever know about themselves that must be on the short list of anybody who wants to swim in the deep and warm waters of the Western.
Rating:
Summary: Sturdy Mann Western
Review: James Stewart and Mann invented the " adult" western with films such as " Winchester 73" and others. This is also a fine film that benefits from a fine performances by Donald Crisp, Aline McMahon, Alex Nicol and one of the best ...Arthur Kennedy. The plot of this film does resemble" Duel In the Sun" Two Brothers, Big Ranch...etc....Today..westerns are made to show off (fake) cowboy hats...and absurd macho entendres..with special effects of course...all this junk is needed you see because these "NEW" films have hackneyed screenplays..idiot directors who think they are the second coming of John Ford and A. Mann..0..and blaring high decibel film scores.... All this mayhen is needed today to cover up the fact that these NEW westerns...are pure junk..."The Man From Laramie" will be worth seeing decades from now...when todays westerns...have been relegated to Gilligan,s Island...
|
