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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Anthony Mann made a string of superb westerns in the 1950's - Winchester 73, The Man From Laramie, The Naked Spur (my Favourite).Here he teams up with Gary Cooper who plays a reformed outlaw forced by circumstance to "re-join" his old gang led by Dock Tobin (Lee J Cobb in a crazed performance) to protect innocents he is travelling with. Cooper in keeping with his whole career gives a suitably noble and restrained performance (he was very ill at the time) with the passing of time etched through his every gesture.Watch out for an incredible fistfight with Jack Lord full of all manner of symbolism and mania. An excellent western.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The first Western I saw as a youngster starred Gary Cooper, (The Plainsman - 1936- Cecil B. Demille) I've enjoyed the work of this actor ever since and now many decades after that initial encounter that pleasure remains.
This film is typical of a Cooper Western. Once again he does't have a lot to say verbally - he says what he has to say by his very presence, and a well controlled air of menace. Here he plays a former bad guy trying to be a good guy but unfortunately runs into some villainous former compatriots. (Some interesting appearances from his co-stars here, a terrific, crazy role for Lee J.Cobb and a good show from a young Jack (Hawaii Five-O) Lord among others.)
Cooper's loping, laconic, easy-going style is in many ways like that of John Wayne. Both actors appear to just play themselves whatever role they are taking in a movie, and I have no complaint on that score.
Gary Cooper played a variety of roles in his movie career but he will of course always be remembered for his part in 'High Noon', the film (with also perhaps Alan Ladd's 'Shane') that sums up the golden age of the Western movie.
Technically, 'Man of the West' has transferred well to DVD
with excellent colour saturation, sharpness and - surprisingly - a good soundtrack, although it is 2-track mono.
I'm happy to give this movie 5 stars because, at least for me, it achieves all I ask for in a film. Good acting, a good story and an hour or so of entertainment. This was almost Cooper's last film (he was ill during its production) and he managed to complete only a few more following a career total of over a hundred movie performances.
This film is typical of a Cooper Western. Once again he does't have a lot to say verbally - he says what he has to say by his very presence, and a well controlled air of menace. Here he plays a former bad guy trying to be a good guy but unfortunately runs into some villainous former compatriots. (Some interesting appearances from his co-stars here, a terrific, crazy role for Lee J.Cobb and a good show from a young Jack (Hawaii Five-O) Lord among others.)
Cooper's loping, laconic, easy-going style is in many ways like that of John Wayne. Both actors appear to just play themselves whatever role they are taking in a movie, and I have no complaint on that score.
Gary Cooper played a variety of roles in his movie career but he will of course always be remembered for his part in 'High Noon', the film (with also perhaps Alan Ladd's 'Shane') that sums up the golden age of the Western movie.
Technically, 'Man of the West' has transferred well to DVD
with excellent colour saturation, sharpness and - surprisingly - a good soundtrack, although it is 2-track mono.
I'm happy to give this movie 5 stars because, at least for me, it achieves all I ask for in a film. Good acting, a good story and an hour or so of entertainment. This was almost Cooper's last film (he was ill during its production) and he managed to complete only a few more following a career total of over a hundred movie performances.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This very impressive Western based on the long forgotten book "The Border Jumpers" by Will C Brown was made by the respected director Anthony Mann in 1958. This was his penultimate Western with only the forgettable "Cimarron" to come in 1961. Mann was famous for the wonderful series of psychological Westerns he made with his favourite star James Stewart. But the two sadly fell out during the making of "Night Passage" in 1957, and didn't work together again. It is interesting to speculate that Stewart may well have got the Cooper role if he and Mann had still been on good terms. Certainly his practice with angst ridden heroes would have seved him well. But Cooper got the role in the twilight of his career. It was to be his final masterpiece although the same could not be said of Mann who went on to direct that glorious medieval epic "El Cid".
The story concerns an ex outlaw Link Jones played by Cooper who is forced to destroy his former accomplices by the very violence that he had sought to cleanse from his life. It is a deeply harrowing experience and Coopers features showed it. Only a few short years later Cooper was dead of cancer and he already looked like a dying man in this film. Gone was the youthful hero of the thirties. His performance is never less than impressive. Jones is forced to return to the former robbers nest where he grew up, after being left abandoned by the railway following a hold up. He is accompanied by a saloon singer (Julie London) and a tinhorn gambler Sam Beasley (Arthur O'Connell. The gang return led by the psychopathic Doc Tobin played with elan by Lee J Cobb. The other gang members are played by a suspicious John Dehner, a feisty Jack Lord, a wide eyed Royal Dano and that very underrated heavy Robert J Wilke as Poncho. They are all stellar support actors giving stellar performances. It is odd to see Jack Lord away from "Hawaii five O" in an unfamiliar guise. The gang becomes increasingly violent as Jones stalls for time and it leads to a bloody climax.
Make no mistake this is one of the great Westerns. I feel it was the finest film Mann made, which is a very bold claim given his glittering career. Although largely ignored on its release it was noted by that famous film director and critic Jean-Luc Godard who rated it very highly. Who am I to argue with that respected cinematic icon. This is a fine film in any genre which deserves wider acclaim. I can only hope that this minor review will have helped to do that. Highly recommended viewing.
The story concerns an ex outlaw Link Jones played by Cooper who is forced to destroy his former accomplices by the very violence that he had sought to cleanse from his life. It is a deeply harrowing experience and Coopers features showed it. Only a few short years later Cooper was dead of cancer and he already looked like a dying man in this film. Gone was the youthful hero of the thirties. His performance is never less than impressive. Jones is forced to return to the former robbers nest where he grew up, after being left abandoned by the railway following a hold up. He is accompanied by a saloon singer (Julie London) and a tinhorn gambler Sam Beasley (Arthur O'Connell. The gang return led by the psychopathic Doc Tobin played with elan by Lee J Cobb. The other gang members are played by a suspicious John Dehner, a feisty Jack Lord, a wide eyed Royal Dano and that very underrated heavy Robert J Wilke as Poncho. They are all stellar support actors giving stellar performances. It is odd to see Jack Lord away from "Hawaii five O" in an unfamiliar guise. The gang becomes increasingly violent as Jones stalls for time and it leads to a bloody climax.
Make no mistake this is one of the great Westerns. I feel it was the finest film Mann made, which is a very bold claim given his glittering career. Although largely ignored on its release it was noted by that famous film director and critic Jean-Luc Godard who rated it very highly. Who am I to argue with that respected cinematic icon. This is a fine film in any genre which deserves wider acclaim. I can only hope that this minor review will have helped to do that. Highly recommended viewing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Classy western
I watched this for the first time last night, and wonder how I've never managed to see it before, as this is a superb western, which may even justify 5 stars after another... Read more
Published 2 months ago by S J Buck
Another Intelligent Western from Anthony Mann.
Link Jones is on his way to Fort Worth to hire a schoolteacher, having left his wife and children behind, Link appears to be the epitome of the simple honest man. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Spike Owen
Mann and Cooper at the top of their game.
This very impressive Western based on the long forgotten book "The Border Jumpers" by Will C Brown was made by the respected director Anthony Mann in 1958. Read more
Published on 5 April 2009 by Bob Salter
"Gary Cooper Series ... Man of the West (1958) ... United Artists"
United Artists presents "MAN OF THE WEST" (1 October 1958) (99 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) -- Our story line and plot, On his way to hire a schoolteacher, a... Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2008 by J. Lovins
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