Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

weezeralfalfa This largely unique western deals with coming of age as a young sheriff, the somewhat controversial topic of vigilante justice, and hatred toward Native Americans by many whites on the frontier. We have 3 men or pair of men who are regarded by many in a small western town as murderers. Firstly, there's bounty hunter Morgan Hickman(Henry Fonda),who brings the body of a supposed fugitive into town, expecting a reward. We aren't told the crime committed by the fugitive, but presumably it didn't involve murder of a respected citizen. Most of the town people seemed to consider this murder a crime equal to or exceeding that of the crime committed by the fugitive, even though it was legal. Hence, he was shunned by most of the town people. However, he found an accepting soul in the form of a beautiful and charming widow and her rambunctious half-breed son(Betsy Palmer, as Nona, and Michael Ray as Kip). They tentatively accept Hickman as a roomer, but when he seems upset by Nona's revelation that her murdered husband was a Native American, she's about ready to throw him out. However, he apologizes and calms down her ruffled feathers sufficiently to stay, and eventually form a romantic relationship with her. Like Hickman, Nona and Kim are treated by most regionals as outcasts, she because she consorted with a Native American, and he because he's a half-breed. The second character considered a murderer by some is Bart Bogardus, a bully who runs the livery stable. He shoots down a Native American in the street, claiming self defense, with minimal supporting evidence. Many of the townies are not upset by this murder, as Native Americans were widely regarded as subhuman vermin, to be exterminated. Sheriff Ben, considering him a trigger-happy bully, asks for his gun. But Bogardus resists, pulls his gun on Ben, and Hickman shoots the gun out of his hand. Apparently, Bogardus is not prosecuted for this apparent murder. He heads up a posse going to look for the murderers of Doc McCord. Frustrated that they don't find them at their home, the posse burns their house and other buildings. Miffed that the team of Ben and Hickman capture them alive, Bogardus heads a vigilante group intent on lynching them right away. Ben stands in the way of this mob. Ben talks Bogardus down, but Bordardus tries to shoot Ben on the sly. Ben is a faster draw. The third murderers in the screenplay are the McGaffey brothers, who are charged with the murder of Doc McCord(John McIntire), who treated a bullet wound of one of them, acquired when they held up the stage, killing the driver. After these murders, they decided to hide in a cave in a canyon behind their house. Ben and Hickman serendipitously discover them there. Although Hickman, as an ex-sheriff, has advised Ben to shoot to kill, Ben wants to take them alive, if possible. Hackman helps him toward the goal. But, as mentioned, many townies want to see them hanged as soon as possible, without a trial.. Henry Fonda had witnessed a lynching when young, and found it revolting. Hence, he was keen to do a couple of films talking up the dangers of lynchings. He had been involved in a lynching in the previous movie "The Oxbow Incident", back in 1943. The earlier film "The Silver Whip" has a very similar plot to the present film, involving a thwarted lynching and a young man faced with the challenge of becoming a stage driver, as well as a sheriff's deputy. I regard that film, as well as the present film, as being more interesting and significant than "High Noon" or "The Searchers". The present film is quite possibly Anthony Mann's most significant western.I thought Fonda and McIntire did great jobs in their respective roles. Anthony Perkins' character comes across as too immature to be even a believable temporary sheriff, until toward the end, when Fonda's instructions paid off.Here is a good place to discuss some philosophy relating to vigilantism. From a moral(not necessarily legal) viewpoint, is vigilantism ever justified? If the judicial system is quite corrupt or otherwise ineffective, and you are very positive you have identified the guilty and they have perpetrated a crime of sufficient magnitude, vigilantism may be justified.Distinguishing between self-defense, vigilantism, duels and murder can be difficult. If a person is licensed as a bounty hunter, he is not a vigilante, technically, as long as his job description allows him to kill the fugitive. In the formal duels of the early 19th century, for example, usually one challenged another for a perceived deed or slight. They can be considered a duel between a vigilante(challenger) and one acting in self-defense(the challenged). If there is a mutual agreement to settle a dispute by a formal duel, both may be considered vigilantes.

John Brooks This is better than one would expect looking at the poster and cast and what not. Obviously running in at about 1h30, and given its plot, it's not meant to be a masterclass in film making either, but it's always at least interesting to have a watch of Anthony Perkins or Henry Fonda on screen. Here, we're even given a pretty entertaining flick with interesting scenes and fine moments of sensitivity. There's a nice subtly to the film that helps instill a certain sense of fairness, respect and ultimately justice. It's not done in the cheesy way you'd expect though. The characters are good: the film is complex enough in its actors to not be the utterly straightforward affair these often become. Sure it could've had a bit more development, depth, and quality overall, and it really did have potential for more - but this is good enough.

Tim Kidner 1957 was a good year for movies and amongst all the strong contenders, The Tin Star still managed to get Oscar nominated for best original screenplay, by the same screenwriter that brought that real trail- blazing classic, Stagecoach, to life.Anthony Mann's black & white Western isn't a long, sprawling John Ford epic, nor does it feature Ford's often comical characters but at a fairly concise 92 mins it feels like a real book - a story that's never hurried and which includes proper characterisation and dialogue. Those wanting John Wayne spitting into the dust and cowboys and Indians need look elsewhere...I've always liked Henry Fonda - and whilst many have pointed out that Mann's main man had previously been James Stewart, Fonda takes that slim thoughtfulness that Stewart eschewed and added dignity as well as grit - maybe somewhere between a Wayne and Stewart mix. You can never take your eyes off Henry Fonda - tall, dark and brooding if there ever was one. Anthony Perkins is (of course) very different to Norman Bates in Psycho and for those of us who saw him in that long before this earlier work, will not be disappointed. Fonda plays the older, wiser but now turned to bounty hunter ex lawman, who helps out rookie sheriff Perkins, both strategically but morally, too, when an outlaw gang terrorise the town.The near-silent ending is as tense as you'll find anywhere within any Western - and you will be both too - silent AND tense...Radio Times gives Tin Star a rare five stars - and you won't see this undervalued and under-known western on TV very often. It does get onto Sky Movies Classics once in a while but I don't recall it ever being on terrestrial TV, at least recently, so the DVD does make good sense. If you like the western genre and not yet seen The Tin Star, you really should...

tieman64 Anthony Mann could direct the hell out of a western. "The Tin Star" is one of his underrated ones, though like most films in the genre, there's also something sleazy about the whole plot.The film stars the always lovable Henry Fonda as an embittered bounty hunter who rides into town to find a young sheriff, played by a well-cast Anthony Perkins, struggling to maintain law and order. As he was himself once a sheriff, Fonda decides to hang around town and help the young gun. Much of the film's best moments involve Fonda dispensing wisdom, offering advice, teaching Perkins to shoot, disarm men, shell out justice and keep the citizenry safe.The film is impeccably shot, with Mann's usual plays on perspective, symmetry (the film opens and closes with the same shot, but from different angles) and "depths of field". It's Mann's sense of slow, mounting tension, and his interesting compositional work (lots of low angles, forced perspectives and shots which stress a kind of three dimensional depth) which would influence Leone's style when shooting duels, showdowns and gunfights. The sheriff's office in the film, with its expansive windows which offer massive widescreen views of the film's town, is also special.The film has a subplot about racism, the mistreatment of Native American Indians and the ostracising of "half breeds", a trend which began to filter into westerns only in the 1950s. See "Broken Lance" for another early example. The westerns of Mann and other auteurs were always ahead of Ford in this respect. Still, the film's subplots about racism and outsiders "trying to belong" are undermined by the psychic ripples of its very Wild West mentality, in which we're made to grin with glee when cartoon bad guys push our buttons and are summarily gunned down. The film's climactic gunfight practically baits you into lusting after murder, and like most Westerns the film hinges on false choices; either a lawless, anarchic violence perpetuated by psychopaths, or tough guy justice, in which its the white man's burden to keep order with barrels and bullets. Shoot to kill, always, Fonda schools us, because then Chaos comes knocking. By the 60s, Westerns would evolve into fare like "Shenandoah" (starring Mann-Western regular, Jimmy Stewart), which is openly anti-interventionism, anti-combat, before the blood and guts pop-nihilism of the Leone, Peckinpah era, with their oh-so-attractive mixture of dumb nostalgia (a mourning for the passing of those "olden days") and mindless, purgative violence."The Tim Star's" score was by the great Elmer Bernstein. It's regarded by hard-core Western-fans as Mann's last classic Western.7.5/10 – Worth one viewing.