The Far Country
by Anthony Mann
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Corinne Calvet, James Stewart, John McIntire, Ruth Roman, Walter BrennanDirector: Anthony Mann
Brand: STEWART,JAMES
Cinematographer: William H. Daniels
Editor: Russell F. Schoengarth
Producer: Aaron Rosenberg
Writer: Borden Chase
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Published); English (Published)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Far Country
Movie Review: Another fine Anthony Mann-Jimmy Stewart Western
Summary: 5 Stars
In the 1950s, Jimmy Stewart began his second career. In the 1930s and 1940s he had established himself as one of Hollywood's most likeable leading men, and had starred in a string of great comedies, many of them classics. After serving as a bomber pilot in Europe (one of the few Hollywood stars to do a full tour of duty in the field of battle), Stewart returned, but was not as a rule able to reduplicate his pre-war success, his only great films between 1946 and 1950 being the classic holiday film IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and the gritty Chicago detective film CALL NORTHSIDE 777. But beginning in 1950, Stewart teamed up with director Anthony Mann for a string of superb Westerns that surpass any group of Westerns ever made, with the exception of John Wayne's partnership with John Ford. While in his comedies Stewart had always been a good-hearted, solid, highly likeable gent, in these Westerns he usually was complex, haunted, driven, and as a rule somewhat anti-social. It was a dramatic change from his earlier films. Stewart was able to use these roles as a springboard back to other, sometimes even bigger roles, completely revitalizing his career, and establishing him as an actor capable of some darkly complex, varied roles.
THE FAR COUNTRY is the fourth collaboration between Stewart and Mann. It is not one of the finest films in the series, but that isn't because this isn't a very good film, but because the others were so exceptionally fine. As in most of these films, Mann is concerned to show men and women on the outer edge of Western expansion, struggling not merely with nature, but with the vagaries of human nature. The wildness of the settings always serves as not merely a backdrop but as a symbol of the struggles of human beings against one another. There is little admirable in the men who are involved in fulfilling Manifest Destiny; these are greedy, hard, cruel, capable, and vicious men, and the wise person trusts no one but oneself. But in each film, the smaller, dearer, more human virtues of love, forgiveness, and hope manage miraculously to win out. The frontier turns men into such rugged individuals that they become slightly less than human. These films invariably end with Stewart's character moving gradually and perceptibly towards humanity.
Mann was one of the directors who first broke out of the confining Hollywood back lots to film primarily on location. Unlike John Ford, who continually refilmed in Monument Valley, each Mann film would opt for a new locale: WINCHESTER 73 in Arizona, BEND IN THE RIVER near Mt. Hood another other locations in Oregon, THE NAKED SPUR in Colorado, THE MAN FROM LARIMIE in New Mexico, and this film in Jasper and Banff National Parks in Canada.
The quality of this cast can't be exaggerated. Stewart adds yet another stellar performance to his resume as Jeff Webster, a not-very-nice and profoundly self-interested individual trying to score big enough to get his own spread in Utah. Ruth Roman manages to hold her own with the mean, but she doesn't generate the onscreen charisma that a Barbara Stanwyck would have been able to in the same kind of role. John McIntire is suitably nasty as the film's chief villain. It is the supporting cast that makes the roster so outstanding. Was there some secret contract that every Western made in the fifties had to have either Walter Brennan, Jay C. Flippen, or Jack Elam in it? This one manages to find all three. When you add other veteran character actors like Henry Morgan you have a group of familiar and highly competent actors who managed carry off Mann's vision with great aplomb.
The film features a marvelous score, though curiously no one is credited with it. A search on the Internet revealed that four composers were responsible for it, including the great Henry Mancini, though the style isn't one a person normally associates with him. There is no way to know who was responsible for what in the score, but it is compelling throughout. Like with Mann's other Westerns, this is a glorious thing to watch. With the pristine Canadian locales, it possesses a visual exoticism that is rare in Hollywood Westerns. With such backgrounds as Jasper and Banff provided, the photography is gripping throughout. Unlike many other directors who would film a part of the film on location but much or even most in a Hollywood back lot, this film is clearly photographed in the field. It was an expensive way to make a film, but we today are the beneficiaries of their added efforts and expense.
This isn't the Mann-Stewart film that I would recommend most for the newcomer to their series. That would be either THE NAKED SPUR or THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, but all of these films are exceedingly fine, and all of them are important to the career of both men. No one who loves movies could find any of them disappointing.
The DVD is not stuffed with extras, but the print is decent, and the price is exceptionally reasonable.
Summary of The Far Country
No Description Available.Genre: Westerns
Rating: NR
Release Date: 27-FEB-2007
Media Type: DVD
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