The Man From Laramie

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Steve D Not among Stewart's best westerns despite its reputation. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/24 Full Review Matthew B The Man from Laramie marked the end of a fruitful collaboration between director Anthony Mann and actor James Stewart. The two men had worked together on seven movies already, including four westerns (Winchester '73, Bend of the River, The Naked Spur and The Far Country). It might be thought that this final movie was one too far, and that the Mann/Stewart westerns were getting tired and had run their course. This was not the case. The Man from Laramie showed no decline in quality, and was even one of the best films on which the two men worked together. Theirs had been a fruitful arrangement which had given Stewart a chance to show that he had acting abilities that went far beyond playing a good-natured hero in comedies. Mann in turn benefitted from having a charismatic actor fronting his movies. Perhaps it is no bad thing that their five-year professional relationship ended on a high. The Man from Laramie was another tense and tough western that used the new Cinemascope method to fully capture the beautiful if barren scenery of New Mexico. Anthony Mann was no innovator or auteur like John Ford, Sergio Leone or Sam Peckinpah. He made use of conventional and familiar western plots – a loner arrives into a remote town, a family member seeks revenge for a murder, a love triangle develops between hero, heroine and villain, immoral white men sell guns to the Apaches etc. What Mann did bring to the table was a strong sense of pace and rhythm that was perfectly pitched during both the intimate chamber scenes and the action set-pieces. His westerns had a toughness and grit about them, although it was still too early for a director to make films in a style that was too brutal and nihilistic. At its heart, The Man from Laramie is a revenge tale. Will Lockhart (James Stewart) is trying to find out who sold repeating rifles to the Apaches. His interest in the issue is personal – the warriors used the guns to attack and slaughter a troop of soldiers, one of whom was Lockhart's brother. The question is whether Lockhart is the kind of man to see it through. Does he have the necessary hard streak to kill another man, except in self-defence? At the heart of Lockhart's investigation is Alex Waggoman, the owner of the Barb Ranch, which occupies almost all the land in the area for miles around. Like many westerns, the film has a conservative approach towards the powerful man. Waggoman may be a ruthless businessman who uses unethical methods, but the story ultimately makes him seem more sympathetic than he deserves. Nonetheless there is a sense how hollow Waggoman's lifetime of greedy acquisition has been. Most of the land that we see in the film is surprisingly empty and barren, hardly worth the fight that it took to own it. In any case, Waggoman will no longer be able to admiringly gaze on his property for long. He is going blind. In some ways, the story acts as a re-enactment of King Lear. Waggoman has just the one son, Dave. The old man would like to see Dave as his responsible heir one day, but the young man has no interest or aptitude for the business, and prefers to preen in front of a mirror rather than look at the accounts. Due to the feeble nature of his son, Waggoman is forced to leave the real running of the estate in the hands of Hansbro. Hansbro has no relations of his own, and regards himself as being a second son to Waggoman. The feeling is not reciprocated. Waggoman likes Hansbro, but favours Dave because he is a blood relation. At first glance, it might seem that Hansbro is the better man. He is more reasonable and capable than Dave, and his personality is more appealing. Perhaps he would have been the better man in other circumstances. However Hansbro has his own Shakespearian flaw, his ambition. Despite warnings from Barbara that he is being used, Hansbro guards the honour of the family jealously, because he believes that he will one day inherit a share in their estate. This ambition corrodes his soul. By the end of the film, Hansbro proves to be far worse than any of the Waggomans. The Man from Laramie is seen as one of Mann's darker westerns. There is certainly an intensity about it that is not found in Winchester '73, which has a more relaxed and open feel to it, compared with the more intense focus of The Man from Laramie. Nonetheless the final note is one of redemption and not retribution The last of the great Mann/Stewart collaborations ends on a hopeful note. I wrote a longer appreciation of The Man from Laramie on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2021/03/13/the-man-from-laramie-1955/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/30/23 Full Review Dean M This is the last of of the five great Anthony/Mann Jimmy Stewart Westerns and is filmmaking perfection. The viewer is magically transported back to a time and place in the Old West and without knowing it becomes part of the tragedy that unfolds. All the acting is superb. Jimmy Stewart as usual gives an Oscar worthy performance. Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp and Alec Nicol are brilliant in supporting roles. The rare film I can watch again and again and learn somthing new each time. One of the best films ever made and definitely the greatest Western! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/13/23 Full Review Ed M Solid western. And, of course, Jimmy Stewart elevates the material. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/10/22 Full Review david f This film felt kind of incomplete, I wasn't quite sure what everyone's motivation was. But nice scenery and a kind of almost Shakespearean plot about a man out for revenge and a cattle baron and his bully son and frustrated assistant that he encounters. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Liam D The Final Western collaboration between Anthony Mann (Quo Vadis, T-Men) and James Stewart (X-15, The Ice Follies of 1939) is they most underrated Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/18/21 Full Review Read all reviews

The Man From Laramie

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