In November, The Far Country (1955) coming from Arrow (1 Viewer)

[Robin9]

Roman's role in Strangers On A Train is the least interesting character in the movie. Meryl Streep couldn't have done anything with that role as written so I give Roman a pass on that one. If you haven't already, check her out in The Window (1949), Barricade (1950), Three Secrets (1950), Lightning Strikes Twice (1951), Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951), Down Three Dark Streets and Five Steps To Danger (1957) to see her at her best.

+ Great Day In The Morning if you find a way of watching this MIA movie.

 

[TheSteig]

Kino Lorber said they have Night Passage and The Rare Breed basically leaving Destry Rides Again and Winchester 73 unaccounted for , although Criterion is rumored to have one or both of these.

 

[lark144]

+ Great Day In The Morning if you find a way of watching this MIA movie.

I saw GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING in 16mm in a church basement 40+ years ago. The print was faded but you could still tell the use of color was linked to the emotional highlights of the script. Anyway, the film was sublime; one of the great Tourneurs, equal in my opinion to STARS IN MY CROWN, though I don't even remember Ruth Roman being in it.

Also saw LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE in a beautiful print at MOMA around the same time, as well as THE WINDOW, but don't remember Ruth Roman being in them, either. Maybe I just have an aversion to the lady. I know Hitchcock did, at least based on what he said in the Truffaut book. He insists the reason Ruth Roman was terrible in STRANGERS ON A TRAIN wasn't the script but her. Hitch had someone else cast for the part that he thought would be much better, but (according to him) Jack Warner insisted on Ruth Roman.

Anyway, other than in THE FAR COUNTRY, I've always found her an absence rather than a presence, which is maybe why I don't remember her being in those other films.

 

[Robin9]

I saw GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING in 16mm in a church basement 40+ years ago. The print was faded but you could still tell the use of color was linked to the emotional highlights of the script. Anyway, the film was sublime; one of the great Tourneurs, equal in my opinion to STARS IN MY CROWN, though I don't even remember Ruth Roman being in it.

I'm surprised you don't remember Ruth Roman in Great Day In The Morning as she dies a gruesome yet memorable death and earlier delivers one of the great retorts: Raymond Burr says of her in front of a large gathering "I can read her like a book" to which she responds: "you never got past the front cover, elephant boy!"

 

[lark144]

I'm surprised you don't remember Ruth Roman in Great Day In The Morning as she dies a gruesome yet memorable death and earlier delivers one of the great retorts: Raymond Burr says of her in front of a large gathering "I can read her like a book" to which she responds: "you never got past the front cover, elephant boy!"

Clearly this is a movie I need to re-familiarize myself with.

 

[Stefano B]

And one, if I may add, that we definitely should be getting from Warner Archive at some point...there isn't even an official DVD release available

 

[Robin9]

And one, if I may add, that we definitely should be getting from Warner Archive at some point...there isn't even an official DVD release available

Exactly; which is why in an earlier post I said " if you find a way of watching this MIA movie." It's an RKO film so I'm hoping Warners now own the rights.

 

[Alan Tully]

Shouldn't this thread be renamed, Great Day In The Morning

 

[Randy Korstick]

The Man from Laramie is so beautifully shot that I could not take my eyes off it even if its story was a bit weaker than the others, the cinematography more than makes up for it.

The Far Country is usually not held in that high regard when people discuss the Mann/Stewart westerns and I cannot really understand why as to me it holds up very well and that includes Ruth Roman who is really good in this one.

For me The Far Country is just so dull especially after Winchester 73, Bend of the River and The Naked Spur. It reminds me more of The Rare Breed. Mostly comedy and drama and very little action.

 

[JohnMor]

For me The Far Country is just so dull especially after Winchester 73, Bend of the River and The Far Country.

The Far Country is so dull after The Far Country? Just wondering which other one you meant to type.

 

[OliverK]

The Far Country is so dull after The Far Country? Just wondering which other one you meant to type.

I would have guessed that Randy may have meant The Man from Laramie but then there is not really that much comedy in it.

 

[PatrickDA]

"The Far Country" is far from dull. None of those westerns are ever "dull."

What's up with having to order early to get the booklet? I got the one with "Gosford Park". Have people had problems with Arrow in getting a copy with a booklet? How soon and how should I order to get one?

 

[Randy Korstick]

The Far Country is so dull after The Far Country? Just wondering which other one you meant to type.

Corrected it.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I would have guessed that Randy may have meant The Man from Laramie but then there is not really that much comedy in it.

Far Country is similar to the rare breed for me is what I meant mostly comedy and drama. I don't mind that in westerns just don't find the story very interesting in The Far Country probably enjoy the story in The Rare Breed more and it has the always entertaining Maureen O'Hara.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I would have guessed that Randy may have meant The Man from Laramie but then there is not really that much comedy in it.

Yeah, I didn't understand that point either as I don't think "The Far Country" is filled with much comedy.

 

[bujaki]

"The Far Country" is far from dull. None of those westerns are ever "dull."

What's up with having to order early to get the booklet? I got the one with "Gosford Park". Have people had problems with Arrow in getting a copy with a booklet? How soon and how should I order to get one?

A second printing comes without the booklet. That happened to me with Deep Red and some Bava titles.

 

[OliverK]

Far Country is similar to the rare breed for me is what I meant mostly comedy and drama. I don't mind that in westerns just don't find the story very interesting in The Far Country probably enjoy the story in The Rare Breed more and it has the always entertaining Maureen O'Hara.

Thanks for clarifying. It is interesting how movies are perceived by different people - I never found it to have much humor and I thought there was plenty of stuff happening all the time.

 

[Robin9]

I'm surprised anyone finds The Far Country boring. John McIntire's Mr. Gannon is one of the great movie villains.

 

[Alan Tully]

It was on TV in the UK in HD (TCM I think) a couple of years ago, & I always enjoyed it, just as I enjoyed it years ago. I remember thinking that I'd love to own it on Blu-ray, but not this transfer, something better, & it looks like this is it. I've hardly bought any catalogue releases this year (nothing wrong with the releases, but they just weren't my thing), so when something I'd like to have comes along, it's a cause for celebration. I have no problem with anyone not liking it, I don't like some of the finest films ever made.

 

[Stefano B]

I'm surprised anyone finds The Far Country boring. John McIntire's Mr. Gannon is one of the great movie villains.

I second that; Gannon-McIntire always reminds me of Little Bill Daggett-Gene Hackman in Unforgiven. Actually, the whole final sequence of Mr Eastwood's movie sounds to me, visually and thematically, like a tribute to the corresponding sequence in Mann's film. I'm sure good old Clint must've had in mind The Far Country when he shot Unforgiven.

As to the comedy issue, I think there's very little of that, and it's almost entirely confined to the moments when Corinne Calvet's character appears--which by the way I consider one of the few weak points in the movie.

To me The Far Country is a prime example of the American western genre; I also find it hard to make rankings among the five Mann-Stewart westerns, they're all so quintessential in my opinion.