ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Steineded How sad is this?

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

JohnHowardReid Copyright 1958 by Ashton Productions, Inc. New York opening at neighborhood theaters as the top half of a double bill with Cop Hater. 1 October 1958. U.S. release: October 1958. U.K. release: 11 January 1959. Australian release: 19 January 1960 (sic). 100 minutes. Censored in the U.K. to 96 minutes. Censored in Australia to 93 minutes (and even in this mutilated form, the movie was still saddled with a "Not Suitable for Children" certificate).COMMENT: By the extremely high standards of Anthony Mann, "Man of the West" is a bit disappointing. Though the problem is not with Mann's direction. It's the script that forms the obstacle to 100% success. And in particular, it's the Julie London character. She just doesn't ring true. Mind you, she starts off convincingly enough, but as the film progresses, both she and her relationship with taciturnly steadfast hero Gary Cooper become more and more stereotyped, less and less believable. Mann is obviously not "sold" on these London-Cooper scenes either. He directs them in a bored, listless fashion, often in one or two takes. Cooper seems uncomfortable too. Some attempts at humor with the Arthur O'Connell character also fall flat.Fortunately, both star and director appear much more at home in the action episodes. And here of course they are helped out by full- blooded performances from the support cast. Perhaps too replete with overdone theatrics by Leo Jacoby, but forceful villainy from Jack Lord, John Dehner, Robert Wilke and especially Royal Dano (who has one of his best roles ever as a giggling but otherwise mute sadist named Trout) more than save the day. The scene is which the wounded Trout runs the entire length of the town comes across as one of the most powerful ever filmed. Mann uses both his props and backgrounds to tremendous visual advantage. So long as Julie London remains out of the picture, Mann contrives to make every scene into an effectively dramatic, eye- catching vignette. Superlative photography, especially of the outdoor locations, is a spellbinding asset. But an overly obtrusive and often inappropriate music score tends to undermine the carefully crafted atmosphere built up by the obvious rapport between photographer and director.SUMMING UP: A faulted film but must-see viewing. Cooper's fans will have few complaints and those expecting action will not be disappointed either.

PamelaShort If you are looking to read a synopsis for this film, you won't find one in this review, for many have already adequately done so. But I will say, I found Man of the West an extremely entertaining film to watch if you are a staunch fan of adult western genre as I am, and this film was not made for Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers type, I will also add that Man of the West was a triumphal exit from western films for director Anthony Mann. Dramatic and powerful gritty acts of violence played by ruthless characters, along with the balance of Gary Cooper's reformed outlaw character trying to keep himself and Julie London alive, brings forth some tense suspenseful moments. Man of the West achieves all that is expected from an above average western with some surprisingly risqué scenes for a 1958 film involving Julie London's character forced to strip for the brutish outlaw gang while Cooper looks on helplessly with a knife being held at his throat, as the clothes come off the blood begins to trickle down Cooper's neck. I give all the actors credit for their fine performances and the highest quality cinematography enhances this well paced story. Man of the West is a must see film for Gary Cooper and Julie London fans alike. Many will be surprised by the ruthless character Jack Lord plays with extremely realistic acting. This 1958 film still reaps plenty of exciting adult western entertainment.

dougdoepke There's a mystery in the movie. Namely, why has everyone left the frontier town of Lasso. I think I know why. That's because it's the one ugliest bunch of dwellings to appear in any western, big-budget or little. Heck, even an ant could put together better-looking mud huts than these dirt pimples. I salute whoever in production was responsible for this pest hole, since most Hollywood frontier towns look like they came from squeaky-clean Disneyland.Okay, it's a really good western, but not Mann's best, Godard or no Godard. Besides, what makes a Frenchman so expert on American westerns that everyone has to change their minds because of him. Basically, I'm with those who find the 57-year old Cooper miscast as someone much younger. Sure, he gives it his grim-faced best, and has kept that iconic ramrod physique even at late middle-age. But those facial close-ups can't conceal the proverbial passage of time. Of course, this would be meaningless were it not that the screenplay insists he be younger than two important guys (Cobb & Dehner) who are obviously much younger. Besides, we're reminded by a script that constantly brings up age relations. Thus, I'm constantly reminded that this is only a movie, after all. As good as Coop can be, Mann made a key mistake not hiring the younger Stewart for the role. The other basic flaw is Cobb who hams it up mercilessly. Now I'm hard-of-hearing, but most every time he spoke I had to turn down my earphone. He doesn't speak, he bellows for the very back row. Surely he knows there are other ways of dominating than shouting out your lines.Now for the good stuff which means London plus London. That so-called strip scene got a lot of press in its day, but seems pretty tame by today's standards. Nonetheless, the scene's really good for prompting mixed emotions in the audience. Sure, I wanted her to take it all off, just like when I was sitting front row at strip shows years ago. But still, I could feel her embarrassment in front of all those leering bad guys making her do it. And that's no fun at all, shapely body or not. And I expect a lot of male viewers were similarly affected.For sure, I kept waiting for Hawaii Five-O's Dano to come in and book that leering bad guy Jack Lord (Coley). After all, who would believe that toothy cop from TV could make such an excellent villain. Here he's sporting a 3-day old beard, a layer of grime, and no ethics at all, making him a perfect guy you love to hate. At the same time, it's a stellar line-up of henchman, including Wilke, Royal Dano, and Dehner. All in all, it's a pack of wolves fit for the best of predatory westerns. But you do have to feel for the meek and mild O'Connell (Beasley), what with all that testosterone floating around. Still, he does prove his guts in the end.That shootout between Claude (Dehner) and Link (Cooper) is one of the most imaginatively staged I've seen and arguably the movie's highpoint. Director Mann was certainly an expert at staging. I especially like that barren lunar landscape framing the action. The absence of greenery sort of goes along with an absence of respect for good and bad among the men living there. But that's Link's problem. He's in the process of growing out of that barren ethical stage even if everything around him is preventing it. So he's confronted with that age-old human conundrum of having to use violence in order to end it. It also means having to overcome the teachings of his past. No wonder the last scene has him riding away from what's long been working against him.Apparently, the movie was first underrated. That's not surprising since the screen, big and little, was saturated with horse operas in 1958. Now, however, I'm afraid the movie's overrated among Mann's iconic westerns. Still, the compensations are many despite the two basic flaws, and remains a complex movie, worth catching for a second time.

karlbeale Great scenery spoiled by some of the poorest acting and a wholly unimaginative screenplay. Even the action scenes are lousy peaking with the phoniest fight between Gary Cooper and Jack Lord. The favorable reviews raised my expectations. Cooper can be a bit of a stiff so I wasn't expecting the movie to challenge personal favorites of the oater genre - The Searchers or True Grit - but I wasn't expecting a Western version of the laughable Poseidon Adventure.I'd rather have spent the time walking around the film locations in the middle of the summer.