Man of the West

Why was this film not liked by alot of people when it came out? Lee J. Cobb is one of the best leaders of a band of outlaws I have ever seen in movies. Gary Cooper is great, definitely not on par with his masterful perfomances in "FRIENDLY PERSUASION", "HIGH NOON", or "THE WESTERNER", but he is very good. The rest of the cast play their roles wonderfully. Royal Dano plays a mute, but he usually did portray either a very quiet character or a somewhat different character, so he is alright. John Dehner is also very quiet, calm, cool, and collected, but in his last scene, in his gunfight with Cooper, he becomes very nervous and worried, because he knows that Cooper is coming for him, but he does not know where Cooper is. Robert Wilke turns in a usual villainous role as Ponch, another member of the gang. His performance is definitely not as good as his small roles in his earlier part of an adversary against Gary Cooper, as one of the bad-guys from High Noon, his earlier work with director of this movie, Anthony Mann, in "THE FAR COUNTRY", his later work as "Wallace", the braggart competing against James Coburn, in "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN", or the first mate of the Nautilus in one of my other favorites, the Disney version of "TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA". Julie London is good, but I cannot compare her to anything else because I have never seen her in anything else but this movie. Arthur O'Connell fits his role like a glove. A role of a person who is talkative, nosy, and very nervous under pressure. Enough with the okay-but-not-perfect performances. On to the ones who should have won some awards for their portrayals. These people would be Lee J. Cobb and Jack Lord. Lee J. Cobb is a particular standout with his deep, cackling, cracked voice of an old man. He is also the only one out of the entire cast, except for London and O'Connell, that actually likes Cooper's character, Link Jones. He is obviously very surprised when Link kills him, because of the soft spot that he has held for Link ever since their good old days of being outlaws. Anthony Mann required Cobb to ham up his voice from just a deep, resonant, booming presence into the voice of an old, old man that has seen better days, both physically and metaphorically, has apparently lost his mind, is usually drunk, and still harbors feelings of a type of father-son relationship for Link. This father-son relationship is what was a big factor towards Dock Tobin's demise. But, unfortunately, it also gives Link an edge against Dock so he can surprise him by drawing his gun to kill him before Tobin can draw his. Jack Lord is absolutely superb as Coaley. He has a particular characteristic in this movie. This characteristic would be the sneer that he has- very cruel, unforgiving, evil, and nasty all at the same time. Another standout from Lord's performance is one of his last scenes, which is his fight with Link, that ranges from in the middle of the small circle of wagons, to a tree a little distance away, and back again. The last part of the fight is definitely the best part of the fight. The reason for this is because Link tears Coaley's clothes off, down to his undershirt, in exchange for what Coaley forced London's character, Billie Ellis, to do, earlier in the movie, back at the gang's hideout shack. Then, Coaley pulls his gun on Dock, but who he really wants to kill is Link. He fires at Link, but somebody else is killed, because they jumped in front of the gun to save Link's life. Dock then kills Coaley. All through this fight, ever since Link gained the upper hand, that is, Coaley was crying. He was still crying when Dock shoots him. This is when we realize that Coaley was a coward, and had, ever since Link "joined" with them again, been jealous of Dock's preference of Link above the rest of them. Coaley just obviously could not stand it. There are two other performances that deserve praise. These would be the one-of-a-kind relationship between Billie and Link, which is very hard to put into words. They cannot get married, but if Link was single, we all know that she would marry him in a heartbeat. When you think about it, Link and Billie do not really need to get married, because the audience would not know what to expect if they were. Cooper and London are perfect for their roles just the way they are. The last, but certainly not the least performance is the great scenery. Sure, its not nearly as good as the scenery in Mann's colloborations with James Stewart, but the scenery in MAN OF THE WEST is not Oregon or Canada/Alaska, such as in "BEND OF THE RIVER", Stewart and Mann's second Western, or in The Far Country, Stewart and Mann's fourth Western. However, the scenery in Man of the West is quite superb. But all these great performances make up an even greater movie. Man of the West would not be what it is, a great Western, if it did not have the performances of Cooper, Cobb, Lord, and all the rest. Also Recommended: "THE WESTERNER" (1940), "HIGH NOON" (1952), "THE FAR COUNTRY" (1954), "FRIENDLY PERSUASION" (1957), "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" (1960) THIS REVIEW IS DEDICATED TO ANYONE, LIVING OR DEAD, INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF "MAN OF THE WEST".

This 1958 Western is a tale of redemption, violence, and change. Gary Cooper plays the deeply flawed hero, Link Jones, while Julie London plays the beautiful, lonely singer in small Texas towns, Billie Ellis. The story centers around a failing small criminal gang with its aged leader, Dock Tobin (Lee Cobb). Dock is the leader of the remnants of a small gang of eccentric, incompetent criminals. Anthony Mann directed the film which was shot largely in California in technicolor. Link Jones had been a criminal protege of Dock but left the gang 12 years before the story takes place to try to live an honest rewarding life. As the film opens he is on his way to Fort Worth to hire a school teacher fro the small town where he lives. When Dock's gang tries unsuccessfully to rob the Fort Worth train, Link and Dock hook up again. Link is in the company of Billie and of a small-time gambler. The gang members are suspicious of Link but Dock sentimentally takes him on in remembrance of old, violent times in a scheme to rob a bank in the distant town of Lassoo. Tensions abound between Link and the gang members. "Man of the West" is replete with violence and with sexuality. The gang members lust after Billie and force her to perform a striptease. As in a tragedy the outlaws, other than the reformed Link, all wind up dead, The film develops a certain sympathy for Dock and for the new life of the West which has passed him by. Link at the end returns to his reformed, essentially decent life with his family in the little Texas town. Billie must go it alone and pursue her singing. This was my first time seeing "Man of the West". It is one of the better Westerns with its tale of the halting change from violence to law, and of the efforts, both individually and communally, to live a good human life.. The relationship between Link and Billie and the much different relationship between Link and Dock both add to the film's complexity. I was grateful to learn of and to see "Man of the West" through Amazon Prime. Robin Friedman

good movie

Released in 1958, this is the ultimate western. Good guy overcomes adversity, and bad guys. The hero has a beautiful admirer(Julie London), who cares for him even though she knows he is married, with children. She knows he has changed from what he was, into her ideal man. I must say this script seems to bear no woman's touch, as her dialogue and situations are definitely male oriented. Be that as it may, she professes her admiration & new feelings of woman-ness to him. Boy are the bad guys played well! Real scum bags. Mr. Cooper is just so enjoyable to watch, and you know he is just being himself.

This Western stands far above 95% of the other films in this genre. Why? Great direction, flawed and therefore interesting characters, quirks, twists, classic conflicts, Julie London at the height of her mythic beauty, memorable dialogue, enigmatic situations, wonderful actors and performances. This is most definitely not a formulaic picture. When is the last time you saw a fight in a western where one guy rips the clothes off of another, just for humiliation sake? Gary Cooper is topnotch as usual, here toward the end of his long and glorious career, but taking some chances by playing a once-super nasty hombre who's now gone straight. My friends and I memorized long passages of the dialogue, particularly the lines spat out by gang leader Doc Tobin, played magnificently by Lee J. Cobb. Here's Doc waxing nostalgic, upon first recognizing Link after many years : "Uvalde.....Saltillo.....Black Fork! Remember them times?? We killed that bank guard together. You held him and I took the top of his head off?" Later Link complains that Doc makes him stay in a room with the creepy mute Trout, played by one of filmdom's alltime great psychos, Royal Dano. Doc again: "Being with Trout is like being alone!" If you don't know about Royal Dano, think of Crispin Glover to get an idea. The two are probably related somehow. What a great supporting cast as well, featuring, besides Dano, some of the dirtiest and most lowdown badguys ever: the frightening John Dehner as Cousin Claude, and that unsung antihero of countless westerns, snarling Robert J. Wilke. And we would be remiss if we did not mention the guy who got his pants ripped off and ends up shedding tears of humiliation: Jack Lord!

happy w/ order

Very predictable plot. If you like Julie London, she’s very cute and a good actress but even good acting does not rescue this dull as dishwater movie. Never heard of it and now I know why.

Possibly one of the greatest Western movies of all times