Man of the West is a classic 1958 western film starring Gary Cooper and
directed by Anthony Mann in his last film in the genre.
Seemingly naive Link (Gary Cooper) leaves his family to take a train to Fort
Worth. Also on the train is saloon singer Billie Ellis (Julie London), who is
compelled by con man Sam Beasley (Arthur OConnell) to cheat Link out of his
money. But the con comes to naught when the nefarious Dock Tobin (Lee J. Cobb)
and his gang rob the train.
Link takes Billie and Beasley to Tobins cabin, where it is revealed the
mild-mannered Link is Tobins nephew and a former member of his cutthroat gang.
Dock Tobin draws up a plan to rob a bank which the outlaws find agreeable, but
theyre reluctant to have Link rejoin their group. Soon it becomes apparent why
they feel this way; when Link rejoins his old gang, his shy demeanor falls away
and his outlaw instincts rise to the surface.
Review
“For fans of the Western genre, choosing your favourite Anthony Mann
Western is as difficult as singling out a favourite Hitchcock, such is the
richness of the pickings. For his A Personal Journey Through American Movies
Martin Scorsese opted for The Furies and The Naked Spur; in collating the BFI
360 list, archivist David Meeker selected The Man From Laramie. Despite a great
fondness for Winchester 73, I’m inclined to agree with the choice included in
the BBC 100 (a list of one hundred classic films which were screened by the BBC
in 1995 to celebrate the centenary of cinema), namely Man of the West. Made
just prior to his disappointingly turgid retelling of Edna Ferber’s Cimarron,
this was Mann’s penultimate Western as he approached the end of a decade long
dalliance with the genre begun in 1950 with Devil’s Doorway…despite its
themes and ageing leads (this was one of Cooper’s final films before his
untimely death in 1961), Man of the West lacks an air of fatalism.
Cooper’s character may have an antecedent in Clint Eastwood’s William
Munny from Unforgiven (and perhaps even Josey Wales), but this is no ‘end of
the West’ example of the genre. This is unsurprising to a degree given the
healthy state of the Western in the late fifties (a time when The Big Country,
Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Horse Soldiers, The Left-Handed Gun, Rio Bravo
and The Tall T were all made), but also because Mann’s focus is much
narrower. It may hit all of the correct generic buttons and prove hugely
enjoyable as a piece of action cinema, yet what remains is an expertly drawn
portrayal of two deeply troubled men and their outlaw culture.”
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