Opinions About "Man Of The West" (1 Viewer)

[haroldS]

While there are some very positive reviews of Anthony Mann's "Man Of The West", most movie guides do not consider it in the same class as "Man From Laramie" or "The Naked Spur". I would would be interested in how, today, it compares with other Anthony Mann westerns or for that matter how it compares to the other 1950s "revisionist" westerns.

 

[PatrickDA]

I put "Man of the West" along side "The Naked Spur," "Winchester '73,"
and "The Furies" in terms of Mann's non-traditional westerns. I think it's
among his best films (top 10 out of 41) and Cooper delivers his best
performance in many, many years as well as his last great one. The real star
of the show (outside of the great locations, which support the story so well),
is Lee J. Cobb's performance. Falstaff meets King Lear! People today, who
have very little sense of real acting, think he's over-the-top, which he
ISN'T!!! Doc Tobin couldn't have been some bland character! He had half the
territory after him for decades of holdups and murders, therefore Cobb had to
match that with his work. The only huge flaw in the film would be the false
uplifting score at the very end when Cooper and London ride off into the
sunset. I greatly enjoy how Mann used the William Wyler set from "Big
Country" as the ghost town. That just shows the difference between the two
directors and the stories they told. I like both, by the way! I also enjoyed
that Mann had Jack Lord stripped of his clothing much in the same way poor
Julie London is hanlded by the gang eariler in the film. "Man of the West" is
one of the top western films ever made, but I don't think 9 out of 10 people
on the street have even heard of it, yet alone watched it.

 

[Jim_K]

DVD Savant Review: Man of the West

 

[Richard--W]

I understand Man of the West is about going through a traumatic ordeal to purge the past. The premise and first act are fine and engaging, but I find myself resisting the ensuing emphasis on humiliation, rape, and torment. The overall tone of the film, with its pre-occupation with the threat of rape, puts me off, while some of the other themes seem under-developed.The two scenes that everyone praises -- Julie London forced to strip, Jack Lord's clothes torn off by Cooper -- put me off. The latter scene is not believable; I find it unintentionally funny.

Man of the West is sadistic. True, it's a beautiful western impeccably and imaginatively crafted. I appreciate the film on a technical level, but I do wish Gary Cooper and Anthony Mann had found a different story, or reconsidered how to tell this one, for their only western together.

 

[Jim_K]

I'm in agreement with PatrickDA and the always insightful Glenn Erickson in regards to Man of the West.

 

[John Hodson]

FWIW, ditto.

 

[Richard--W]

Glen Erickson's review is certainly insightful, yes. He is also correct in saying that the film didn't register at the box-office at a time when westerns were the most popular attractions and Gary Cooper was still much-admired for High Noon, among other things. So why didn't the public respond? Perhaps they found the movie to be a bummer, and bad word of mouth discouraged attendance. That's my theory.

The screenplay needed further development to shift the emphasis onto Link's moral struggle and Doc Tobin's emotional blackmail. Making Doc Tobin turn delusional is a cop-out. He should know what he's doing every second and operate on the principle that villains don't know they're evil. Also, cut the rape and the stripping downs. There's plenty of emotional business going on without that bummer. Besides, the old band of brothers should remember that Link is not to be trifled with, not if they want him back in the group. The direction strikes one emotional note and stays on it. The bad guys are too sleazy, too over the top, to much the same even for 1958, in my humble modest and unassuming opinion. In earlier westerns, Mann gave a lot more attention to his secondary characters.

Also, the casting is a bit off. Lee J. Cobb is an absolutely brilliant method actor and as always gives a committed and deeply felt performance, but why is he in the film? Even with a gray wig, he looks younger than Gary Cooper, who is supposed to be his junior. For the story to work, Doc Tobin should be played by Gary Cooper who is the right age for that character. Because of who he is, Gary Cooper could have endowed Doc Tobin with dimensions that Lee J. Cobb doesn't have. Link should be played by a younger man -- not too much younger -- perhaps the charismatic Jack Lord. A few simple changes and a shift in tone and the film would be much improved and more accessible to ticket buyers.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not picking on the film. But the original poster asked for opinions, so I'm giving mine. The issue of why the film failed to find an audience should be addressed. Also, I highly recommend the new DVD. Despite the lack of extras, it's a fine transfer of a beautiful looking western and an important film, and everyone should see it.

 

[David_B_K]

Richard--W, thanks for your comments. You perfectly described my feelings about the film.

 

[Richard--W]

-- stutter --

 

[Coopsgirl_31]

To understand why Man of the West did not do well at the box office, we need to put ourselves back in 1958 and see it from the viewpoint of audiences then. To people around the world, Gary Cooper represented the best of the American man. He had been playing those roles since 1926 and that was firmly engrained in the minds of the movie going public. Now this isn’t to say his characters were one dimensional uber-good guys, they weren’t. But the difference with his character in Man of the West and all his previous films, is Link Jones had a very bad past. We know he killed people in cold blood, committed crimes like armed robbery and we can assume that he may have even raped women like the other men in Tobin’s gang seem willing to do. This was a hard pill to swallow for audiences, even though Link has reformed and is now a good guy.

I think people now of my generation who were born after Coop died, can watch some of his later films more objectively and appreciate them for what they are. I love all his films but I'm more partial to his 40s and 50s movies. Man of the West is one of my faves of his Westerns and I like that later in his career he was willing to mix it up and play men who had a checkered past but who were now good guys.

 

[Robin9]

Love In The Afternoon, where Gary Cooper played a philanderer, also did not do well at the box-office despite being a very good film with Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier and directed by Billy Wilder.

 

[Coopsgirl_31]

Hi Robin,
I love Love in the Afternoon and it's one of my friend's favorite films. It's funny how some movies just don't find an audience when they are released and only later are they appreciated. It's a Wonderful Life is probably the best example of that.

 

[David_B_K]

I look forward to revisiting Man of the West. I have not seen it for a long time. It used to play often on late shows here in the 70's and I saw it several times. I always found it too dark and disturbing and never really enjoyed it, even though I was a big Coop fan when young. Today, I might find it to be a different experience.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This is a fine western, but it's far from being one of my favorite Cooper films. Also, I can see why audiences back in the late 50s didn't flock to see this film. It was ahead of its time as they weren't ready for such a western. Such was the similar cases of other films in which the audiences weren't ready for them such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Night of the Hunter".






Crawdaddy

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, count me as a fan of Man of the West and I think the film fits perfectly into the group of "adult westerns" that seemed to become popular with filmmakers of the period. Last weekend a friend and I had a western film fest weekend and we watched Man of the West, The Bravados, Warlock, and Last Train From Gun Hill. What a great bunch of westerns and all of them appeared in the last couple years of the decade. We talked a bit about how we felt The Searchers probably influenced this group of films but also about how we felt this group of films pretty much wrote the book for westerns that followed. I mean watching these four films you could almost sense Leone and Peckinpah taking notes. The look of the films, the themes, the characters, and even what they wore and their weapons. You will see where Leone stole a lot of bits and pieces for his films. From the use of a timepiece to fancy weapons, to the town of Lassoo you'll find it all in these films.

Mann was outstanding at adding layers to his films and Man of the West certainly shows off his skill. One funny thing is how three of the four films I mentioned have rape as a central theme. At one point we were joking about how the old west in the late 50's seemed to be all about rape and revenge. Perhaps this is one of the reasons people were growing tired of westerns by the time the 60s rolled around. The films grew darker and the reason for needing revenge often was somebody was raped.

I think what makes these films so good is the fact that the "good guys" in them are so flawed. Anyway, if you want a good western Man of the West and the others I mentioned are well worth your time and if you are a fan of the westerns that came after them you'll certainly recognize quite a bit.

 

[Robert Crawford]

One of the reasons why people got tired of westerns in the 1960s was television and the amount of western series playing on our televisions on a nightly basis. Westerns were like cop shows are today, one was at least on every day.

 

[Robert Crawford]

As a boy that grew up in the 1960s, my love for westerns were satisfied on a nightly basis with sometimes 3-4 westerns on a night to at least one western on a given night.

Just to give you a snapshot of the amount of westerns on nightly television look at the following:

There were 23 western television series in the Fall of 1960

• Maverick
• The Lawman
• The Rebel
• Cheyenne
• Riverboat
• Tales of Wells Fargo
• Klondike
• The Rifleman
• Stagecoach West
• The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp
• Laramie
• Wanted Dead or Alive
• Wagon Train
• Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
• The Outlaws
• Bat Masterson
• Rawhide
• The Westerner
• Have Gun Will Travel
• Gunsmoke
• Bonanza
• The Tall Man
• The Deputy

There were 13 western television series in the Fall of 1965

• Branded
• Bonanza
• Legend of Jesse James
• Man Called Shenandoah
• F Troop
• Rawhide
• Big Valley
• The Virginian
• Daniel Boone
• Laredo
• Wild Wild West
• The Loner
• Gunsmoke

There were 6 western television series in the Fall of 1969

• Bonanza
• Gunsmoke
• The Virginian
• Daniel Boone
• Here Comes the Brides
• High Chaparral

As you can see, the amount of westerns declined during the decade for a number of reasons. People grew tired of westerns. There were major events in this country including assassinations, Vietnam War and civil rights movement that alter American taste in programming. The increase of variety shows, dramas and comedies replaced western series.

Personally, I think America just got tired of westerns and wanted more contemporary programming. Also, science fiction began to be the new type of "western" settings that take place in the future and not the past.





Crawdaddy

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Ha! That's a heck of a lot of hats, horses, and shoot-outs! I would not argue that point, Robert, and I would guess that had a lot to do with it. Imagine all that cowboy stuff and there were nowhere near as many channels and choices back then. You would flip through three or four channels and saddle up! Wild Wild West did add the spy/gadget/sci-fi/horror twist to bring people back a little though.

Still, I love a good western and it's fun to watch the ones I mentioned and pick out exactly what Leone used later...even ol' Lee Van Cleef! I'm sure he fell in love with Henry Fonda in Warlock just as Anthony Quinn's Tom Morgan lusted after him...which was an odd twist for a western...

Of course in Man of the West Cooper stripping Lord was odd too, I think this was a big influence on the Spaghetti westerns being a bit perverse at times.

 

[Richard--W]

Let's be crystal clear on this: Anthony Quinn did NOT lust after Henry Fonda in Warlock. There is no homosexuality, either conscious or subconscious, in the film. The director, Edward Dymytryk was adamant about this. He was telling a story in part about loyalty, hero-worship and self-esteem, NOT about homosexuality. It irked him when fans of the film interpreted it that way. The interpretation surprised him the first time he heard it and I heard him insist otherwise on more than one occasion. Of course you are free to think whatever you want, but the simple fact is this: there is no homosexuality either implied or stated in Warlock. Period.

As for Gary Cooper stripping Jack Lord to humiliate him the way he humiliated Julie London, this is probably another reason why audiences in 1958 did not enjoy Man of the West. Still another reason might be that songstress Julie London's album covers were more provocative at the time than her scenes in the film.

 

[Mark-P]

Oh my God, what a homophobic reaction from Dymytryk. I would have respected him more if he had just said, no that's never what was intended but it's interesting that people interpret it that way.