The Man From Laramie

Starring:James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell, Alex Nicol, Aline MacMahon, Wallace Ford, Jack Elam, John War Eagle, James Millican, Gregg Barton, Boyd Stockman, Frank DeKova, Eddy Waller, Bill Catching, Frosty Royce, Jack Carry, Frank Cordell
Director: Anthony Mann
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Only John Ford excelled Anthony Mann as a purveyor of eye-filling Western imagery, and Mann's best films are second to no one's when it comes to the fusion of dynamic action, rugged landscapes, and fierce psychological intensity. The Man from Laramie is the last of five remarkable Westerns the director made with James Stewart (starting with Winchester '73 and peaking with The Naked Spur). This collaboration marked virtually a whole new career for Stewart, whose characters are all haunted by the past and driven by obsession--here, to find whoever set his cavalry-officer brother in the path of warlike Indians.

The Man from Laramie aspires to an epic grandeur beyond its predecessors. It's the only one in CinemaScope, and Stewart's personal quest is subsumed in a larger drama--nothing less than a sagebrush version of King Lear, with a range baron on the verge of blindness (Donald Crisp), his weak and therefore vicious son (Alex Nicol), and another, apparently more solid "son," his Edmund-like foreman (Arthur Kennedy). There are a few too many subsidiary characters, and the reach for thematic complexity occasionally diminishes the impact. But no one will ever forget the scene on the salt flats between Nicol and Stewart--climaxing in the single most shocking act of violence in '50s cinema--or the final, mountaintop confrontation.

Amazon.com

Only John Ford excelled Anthony Mann as a purveyor of eye-filling Western imagery, and Mann's best films are second to no one's when it comes to the fusion of dynamic action, rugged landscapes, and fierce psychological intensity. The Man from Laramie is the last of five remarkable Westerns the director made with James Stewart (starting with Winchester '73 and peaking with The Naked Spur). This collaboration marked virtually a whole new career for Stewart, whose characters are all haunted by the past and driven by obsession--here, to find whoever set his cavalry-officer brother in the path of warlike Indians.

The Man from Laramie aspires to an epic grandeur beyond its predecessors. It's the only one in CinemaScope, and Stewart's personal quest is subsumed in a larger drama--nothing less than a sagebrush version of King Lear, with a range baron on the verge of blindness (Donald Crisp), his weak and therefore vicious son (Alex Nicol), and another, apparently more solid "son," his Edmund-like foreman (Arthur Kennedy). There are a few too many subsidiary characters, and the reach for thematic complexity occasionally diminishes the impact. But no one will ever forget the scene on the salt flats between Nicol and Stewart--climaxing in the single most shocking act of violence in '50s cinema--or the final, mountaintop confrontation.

Customer Reviews:

Usual great stuff from Mann and Stewart.......2006-11-21

Director Anthony Mann and star James Stewart made a great combination. I always found their westerns together reached a part of me that other westerns didn't reach. Along with Bend of the River, Winchester '73 etc, this is top-notch stuff, not necessarily heavy on action, but with a lot of heart.

The rest of a really great cast includes Donald Crisp, Arthur Kennedy and Aline MacMahon.

A tale of anguish and vengeance..........2006-11-08

Some of the best Westerns of the fifties were those directed by Anthony Mann and John Ford, straightforward and unpretentious, but each with an interesting approach to the requirements of the genre... Mann's films were the more prestigious, usually featuring James Stewart who, with John Wayne, was the fifties' biggest box-office draw... "The Man From Laramie" best known because of the Frankie Laine theme strong which accompanied it, is notable for (among other things) Alex Nicol's extraordinary projection of sadism, an element which dominated the best of Mann's movies... The motion picture was to be the last of the Mann-Stewart Westerns...

Stewart is cast as a wagon handler from Laramie, Wyoming, but is, really, an army officer out to avenge the death of his younger brother, a U.S. Cavalryman, massacred by the Apaches who were buying guns from unknown persons... It is these persons that Stewart is looking for..

Soon Stewart gets involved in an area of New Mexico which is ruled by the iron hand of a cattle baron Donald Crisp, a strong authoritarian "who can't live with a lie"... Crisp's one weakness is his love and care for his spoiled son, Alex Nicol...

Wild but feeble, yet vicious, Nicol - with extraordinary projection of sadism - accosts Stewart in several confrontations in which (among other outrages) Stewart is dragged through fire by horses, and has his hand held tight while Alex puts a bullet through it... Mann proceeds in this mood throughout the movie, growing even more sadistic...

Arthur Kennedy, a hard-working heavy, plays the adopted son of Crisp... He is a son in disguise, jealous of Alex, pretending to be his brother's ally and protector...

A lot of good supporting actors are cast including Cathy O'Donnell, the fragile beauty who has little to do but await patiently for an opportunity; Aline MacMahon, the fine 'ugly' woman who never leaves the old man, and Jack Elam who tries to knife James Stewart in the back...

Anthony Mann adopted an altogether tougher approach to Western mythology than John Ford... His obsessive, neurotic characters and his emphasis on violence foretell the work of Peckinpah, Leone and Eastwood...

Filmed in Technicolor, "The Man From Laramie" is a Western with new touches of brutality touching off the wide screen spectacle...

Powerful western.......2006-09-02

This ambitious western concerns a corrupt landowning family (the Waggomans) who finally disintegrate when an outsider, Will Lockhart (James Stewart in his best role for Mann), is drawn into its closed world.

Mann's dramatic presentation, here as in most of his 50s westerns, is Shakesperian in its power and intensity. Mann's widescreen compositions of the 50s are among the best uses of that then fresh format when people were still exploring its possibilities. His landscapes create a superbly configured canvas against which the conflicts are played out.

Donald Crisp is the family patriarch (going blind in more than just a physical sense) who is preoccupied with dynastic succession. His natural son (Alex Nicol) is a psychopath who, early in the film, overturns and brutally burns Stewart's trading wagons, shoots his mules and has him roped and dragged through the dirt, all in a pitiful bid to assert his authority in front of his men. In a later incident, he shoots Stewart's hand at point blank range, as if castrating him (a violent and potent sequence). Crisp's foreman and surrogate son (Arthur Kennedy in a fine performance) feigns worthiness but plots to usurp the succession and betray his father-surrogate.

Stewart as catalyst and protagonist, fulfils his own quest for justice and revenge with an obsession/pathology bordering on madness. Strong stuff!

Solid Stewart western.......2005-09-12

The collaboration of director Anthony Mann and the righteous Jimmy Stewart again provided the ingredients for a successful movie. Filmed against the sprawling picturesque terrain of New Mexico, the movie tells the tale of Will Lockhart, a loner and ex-Army man who is now delivering freight via wagon train.

He winds up in the town of Coronado on the border of Apache territory, in part looking for the party responsible for the death of his younger brother. He was killed in an Apache massacre with rifles illegally supplied to them by an unknown arms dealer.

The town is under control of Alec Waggoman, a cattle baron played by Donald Crisp. Stewart soon runs afoul of Crisp's ill tempered son Dave played by Alex Nichol coming into conflict with the family who own the huge Barb ranch. Ranch foreman and filial figure to Crisp, Arthur Kennedy playing Vic Hansbro, is also the guardian of Nichol, keeping him out of harms way.

Stewart manages to upset the Waggoman family dynamic as he pursues the answers to his brothers death as well as trying to keep the Apaches at bay. With help from two local women the elderly Aline MacMahon playing tough rancher Kate Canady and Cathy O'Donnell playing Crisp's niece Barbara, Stewart eventually gains the trust of Crisp.

man from nowhere.......2005-06-18

Lochart (James Stewart) was told that the salt was free for the taking But then he was caught stealing the salt by the son of the cattle baron who actually owend the land and most of that town,so the son wanted to teach Lochart a lesson in front of his sidekicks that how tough he is,so he burned the wagons and shot his mules.But the baron when found out wants to compromise with Lochart as he saw in his vision that a man will come one day and kill his no good and only son,but (JIMMY STEWART ) SAYS I NEVER OWENED AN ACRE OF LAND -NEVER WANTED TO AND YOU COULD'NT LIVE WITH AN ACRE LESS THAN YOU GOT-WHERE DO WE BEND. jimmy stewart gave a very powerful performance in this movie "again" as always.I cant forget and i still remember the scene where jimmy stewart was pinned down by few and the barons son shoots him in the palm of his gun hand.A very memorable movie which leaves the lasting impression on the viewers. The credit goes to the people who made this movie bringing it to big screen the struggle, hardship and tough life earlier pioneers faced to shape United States what it is today and for todays generations to injoy and live a better life.legacy of western movies must continue.It is a lesson in History and a way of life.

Average customer rating:

Usual great stuff from Mann and Stewart
A tale of anguish and vengeance...
Powerful western
Solid Stewart western
man from nowhere

The Man from Laramie [Region 2]
Starring: James Stewart , Arthur Kennedy , Donald Crisp , Cathy O'Donnell , and Alex Nicol
Director: Anthony Mann
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Far Country
Winchester '73
Bend Of The River
The Naked Spur
Night Passage

ASIN: B00005N9FX

Amazon.com

Combining elements of King Lear with Anthony Mann's favorite themes of splintered families and filial betrayal, The Man from Laramie was James Stewart's final collaboration with Mann and one of their best. Lanky Stewart plays his usual brooding loner, a former army scout searching for the man responsible for his brother's death. He rides into a town run by a cattle baron (Donald Crisp) with an irresponsible son (Alex Nicol) who despises him and a dutiful foreman (Arthur Kennedy) who desperately craves his father-figure's affection and respect. The complicated web of love, hate, and betrayal sprawls over the entire town, and Stewart, less psychologically haunted than in previous Mann collaborations, becomes a catalyst that pitches the conflict into violence, usually directed at him. Through the course of the film Stewart is dragged through a burning campfire, shot point-blank in the hand, beaten, ambushed, and generally made unwelcome. Mann's brutal violence reaches a new level of cruel glee in Nicol's sadistic delinquent with a six-shooter, and Kennedy provides the psychotic edge as the spurned son with a black secret. As usual Mann's landscapes are magnificent (though the glorious widescreen compositions are lost to some extent in the pan-and-scan tape) in country where beauty and danger lie in the same handsome wilderness. Also starring Cathy Downs as a Kennedy's long-suffering fiancée, googly-eyed Jack Elam as a shady informant, and Wallace Ford as a tracker who becomes Stewart's ally. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Usual great stuff from Mann and Stewart.......2006-11-21

A tale of anguish and vengeance..........2006-11-08

Powerful western.......2006-09-02

Solid Stewart western.......2005-09-12

man from nowhere.......2005-06-18

Average customer rating:

The Professionals/The Man From Laramie
Starring: Burt Lancaster
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0002I835Y
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Average customer rating:

Usual great stuff from Mann and Stewart
A tale of anguish and vengeance...
Powerful western
Solid Stewart western
man from nowhere

The Man from Laramie [Region 2]
Starring: James Stewart , Arthur Kennedy , Donald Crisp , Cathy O'Donnell , and Alex Nicol
Director: Anthony Mann
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Far Country
Winchester '73
Bend Of The River
The Naked Spur
Night Passage

ASIN: B00005NVN6

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Usual great stuff from Mann and Stewart.......2006-11-21

A tale of anguish and vengeance..........2006-11-08

Powerful western.......2006-09-02

Solid Stewart western.......2005-09-12

man from nowhere.......2005-06-18

Average customer rating:

Usual great stuff from Mann and Stewart
A tale of anguish and vengeance...
Powerful western
Solid Stewart western
man from nowhere

The Man from Laramie [Region 2]
Starring: James Stewart , Arthur Kennedy , Donald Crisp , Cathy O'Donnell , and Alex Nicol
Director: Anthony Mann
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video