AaronCapenBanner 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.

Tweekums As this film opens protagonist Will Lockhart is on his way to the town of Coronado to deliver supplies to Waggoman's Store; on the way he stops briefly at the site of a battle where a cavalry unit had clearly been massacred. Once he has delivered the goods he asks store owner Barbara Waggoman if there is anything he can take back to Laramie so he isn't just taking wagons; she says that there is plenty of salt that he could take from the local salt pan so long as he keeps his eyes open for Apaches. It turns out it isn't the Apaches he needed to worry about; he is attacked by Barbara's cousin Dave; a hothead who doesn't want anybody on their land even if they are just taking salt. He destroys Lockhart's wagons and kills several of his mules. Paying off his men Lockhart stays in Coronado... he doesn't just want restitution for the wagons and mules; he has a far more personal reason to be there; his brother was one of the cavalry men killed and he is intent on finding out just who sold repeating rifles to the Apaches. Before he can find out who is responsible he will get caught in a long running feud between the Waggomans and rival rancher Kate Canady and have more than one further run in with Dave.This is a great western; largely due to the central performance from James Stewart as Lockhart; while his character is softly spoken and always polite there is always the sense that if pushed he will fight back hard. Other notable performances come from Arthur Kennedy who played Waggoman's foreman Vic Hansbro; Barbara's fiancé and the man Alec Waggoman trusts to keep his wayward son under control and Donald Crisp who plays Alec; a severe man who knows that his son isn't fit to inherit the business but loves him despite his faults. There isn't a huge amount of action but what there is is tense and in some cases quite shocking. There is a nice twist towards the end but I won't spoil it by giving any details. Filmed on location in New Mexico the scenery looked great and made a nice change from the Southern California scenery that seems to double for anywhere in America in some westerns!

Malcolm Parker This western is well-remembered by those who saw it in their youth in the 1950s for it's "shocking" violence. James Stewart is dragged through fire and later is held by two toughs while he gets a bullet shot through his hand at close range - very ungentlemanly stuff for the period! Today, the scenes showing the vandalising of his waggons and the shooting of his mules feel somehow more unpalatable, possibly because these are shown more directly on camera. With little chance of shocking a modern audience, this film is still entertaining to watch, but otherwise not really worthy of close analysis. The story - like the men - is unsophisticated and the dialogue is pretty lame, generally working best when it's slightly humorous. James Stewart is the lead, but Arthur Kennedy delivers the best acting, providing a convincing performance in a role that is written little more than wafer thin. For my money, one of the best scenes is where Aline Macmahon correctly identifies Stewart as a bachelor. As he's almost drooling over her at this point it must have been very hard to play for both of them without laughing.

secondtake 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.