Winchester '73
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Movie Reviews of Winchester '73
Movie Review: Settling of an old score
Summary: 5 Stars
Rangy and righteous cowpoke Lin McAdam played by James Stewart spends the entire movie pursuing both a gun and black hearted enemy in the Anthony Mann directed "Winchester 73" which features a very well rounded cast.
Stewart and his side kick High Spade played by perennial Western veteran Millard Mitchell ride into Dodge City just in time to enter a July 4th shooting contest. The prize is a custom made Winchester 73 repeater rifle. While in town he encounters the focus of his disdain, Dutch Henry Brown played by a grubbily whiskered Stephen McNally, who killed Stewart's father. Tempers are temporarily kept at bay as town marshal Wyatt Earp played by Will Geer has confiscated all guns in town. They square off in a shoot out for the prize gun which Stewart ultimately wins. No sooner does he claim his prize when he is waylaid by Brown who steals the gun and flees Dodge.
The movie then proceeds to chronicle an adventurous chase through the rugged terrain surrounding Tucson where it was filmed. While Stewart and Mitchell pursued McNally they become involved with a cavalry troop defending against an Indian attack lead by curiously cast chief Young Bull played by Rock Hudson. The troop included excellent character actor Jay C. Flippen and a baby faced Tony Curtis. Stewart also winds up bumping into dance hall gal Lola played by a svelte Shelley Winters many times along the trail.
Stewart's odyssey finally concludes when he and McNally engage in a deadly rifle duel where we learn in a twist of fate that Stewart and McNally have quite a great deal in common.
Director Anthony Mann is in his milieu in the Western genre where he typically creates movies with plots that go well beyond the normal shoot em oaters. He introspectively portrays charcters in the midst of strife and conflict and the inevitable battle of the forces of good and evil.
Movie Review: `My mistake. I shot THROUGH it...'
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie can do no wrong in my book.Two greats, Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart, team up to deliver this two-fister about an obsessed man tracking a killer from his own past while his friend Millard Mitchell does his best to keep him from going over the edge. Shelly Winters does a nice turn as the poor gal. Stephen McNally is oily as the main bad guy, and Dan Duryea comes off like Johnny Udo (from the original Kiss Of Death) in chaps.
The story really heats up when Stewart wins a shooting contest in which Wyatt Earp officiates (watch for the postage stamp across the nickel - some heroic marskmanship here) and gets his prized Winchester rifle stolen for his trouble. The Winchester does a hot potato act between badmen and Indians (Rock Hudson shows up as a war chief, in a scene where Tony Curtis dons the blue wool as a cavalry buck), and finally winds up in a climactic, hair raising shootout in a jumble of rocks above the desert. You can FEEL the bullets whizzing by.
Especially love the scene where Lin encounters Waco Johnnie Dean (read: Johnny Udo)in a bar and displays a decided lack of patience for the young bad man's showboating... There aren't many places to find good old Jimmy Stewart coming off harder (but do try `Flight Of The Phoenix'...wow!).
PS - This DVD is a good buy - the print they used tends to be a little less than pristine here and there, but it has got a commentary track with Jimmy Stewart on it! How did they do this? It seems Jimmy might have been watching the Laserdisc. His anecdotes about the old studio system and incites into acting are great. Especially like the stories about his hat (used in various westerns for twenty years) and horse, Pie (same as above).
"Huh...this laser thing is very interesting..." Jimmy Stewart.
Great suprise. Great DVD.
Movie Review: First Stewart/Mann Teaming a CLASSIC!
Summary: 5 Stars
Winchester '73 is one of the most enduring and popular films of James Stewart's career, for several reasons; it was the first of five teamings with brilliant, underrated director Anthony Mann, who retooled Stewart's drawling, 'aw-shucks' persona into a laconic, edgier, more flawed hero; it featured a brilliant cast, including Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, John McIntyre, and, in VERY early appearances, Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis; visually, it is spectacular, one of the most beautiful Black and White films ever made, with deep-focus photography highlighting rugged Arizona settings that literally leap from the screen; and, most of all, it is a terrific variation of 'Cain and Abel', told through the premise of the search for a 'one-of-a-kind' rifle Stewart wins in a competition, then loses through treachery. It's the kind of film that offers new insights each time you view it, as the actions and motivations of 'good' brother Stewart and 'bad' brother McNally become better understood.What truly makes this DVD an 'essential', though, is the bonus track...Described as an 'interview' with Stewart, it is actually an audio commentary that runs through the film, offering not only his reflections about the making of Winchester '73, but insights about his career, working with John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, and his great friends Henry Fonda and John Wayne, even a nice story about his long-time mount, Pie. Recorded several years ago for the laserdisc edition of Winchester '73, it provides a rare opportunity to hear a screen legend reminisce (and makes you wish Wayne and Fonda had lived long enough to have offered personal observations about THEIR classic films!)
This is a DVD NOT to be missed!
Movie Review: A classic western with a great story and fine performances
Summary: 5 Stars
This classic Western from 1950 is yet another proof of how much we miss having an actor like Jimmy Stewart around. He can play the good guy while keeping him dangerous, a bit mysterious, and who can be both tender and ferocious an instant apart. In this movie his is Lin McAdam who travels with his friend High-Spade Frankie Wilson in pursuit of a really bad guy named Dutch Henry Brown. Early in the movie they compete in a shooting contest in Wyatt Earp's (Will Geer) town. They are competing for a gleaming new Winchester rifle, which represents the epitome of personal weaponry in 1873.
Much of the plot follows the ownership of that rifle as it passes through many hands until it finally gets back to its rightful owner at the end. This is interwoven with the pursuit of Dutch Brown by Lin McAdam and the adventures they have along the way.
It is a fine classic Western with shootouts, fistfights, a woman of ill repute (Shelly Winters) who has a heart of gold and is ill treated by nearly every man in the movie. The bad guys do their character acting well and impart an edge and memorable quirks to their performances. Most memorable is Dan Duryea's portrayal of the dangerous Waco Johnnie Dean. There is one peculiar scene of law enforcement, though, when the good guys burn down the house of an innocent settler to drive the bad guys out. Isn't that a bit much?
Even though it is in black and white it is so compelling that my twelve year old son was walking by and was instantly captivated by the movie. Westerns still have that magic for every generation when done right. This one is done very right.
Movie Review: Fantastic Western That Started A Great Partnership
Summary: 5 Stars
Winchester '73 wasn't the best, but it is probably the second best teaming of James Stewart and director Anthony Mann. And this film was the first film that the two made together.
This series would forever put Stewart at the forefront of the great Western movie stars of all time, and put Mann at the forefront of alltime great Western movie directors.
Stewart plays a sharpshooter who wins a prized Winchester rifle in a shooting contest against a rival against whom he obviously holds a grudge. The rival steals the rifle, and loses it himself. The rifle changes hands as Stewart pursues the rifle and the man who stole it from him, leading to an exciting climax.
The film is littered with great supporting performances and cameo appearances from later well-known stars, including John McIntire, Millard Mitchell, Dan Duryea, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Will Geer, and Shelley Winters. But Stewart appeared here as no one had seen him before - serious, cynical, hardbitten, far from the jovial, easygoing comedic actor that had won Hollywood's and America's heart. Whether it was his service in World War II or feeling a need to broaden audiences' perception of him, Stewart takes this role, and makes the most of it, setting the stage for the later films with Mann including The Naked Spur, Bend of The River, The Far Country, and The Man From Laramie, as well as several other films that weren't Westerns.
This is a great film that serves as an important milestone in the career of two great artists.