Viewing Priority: High
Will Lockhart (James Stewart) rides into town, we eventually learn, to find the man who sold guns to the Native Americans who killed his brother. While searching for that man, Lockhart becomes embroiled in the King Lear-indebted saga of the Waggoman family. In his final Western with Stewart, Anthony Mann synthesizes his previous Stewart collaborations (Winchester '73, Bend of the River, the Far Country, and the Naked Spur) into a different kind of Western. The Man From Laramie, with its ensemble of morally ambiguous characters and multiple threads expertly woven into something bigger, is a film noir in Western garb.
Through Mann's films, we've gradually seen Stewart's characters become tougher and increasingly self-interested. In Bend of the River, we see him protecting the weak and enduring their unwillingness to forgive his criminal past. In The Far Country, we see him spend most of the movie attempting to avoid other people until he eventually stand up for his community. Here, it's as if the sum of the strain from his previous roles have driven him to a new level of single-mindedness. Despite clear warnings, Lockhart is willing to endure intense violence against himself and others in pursuit of uncovering who facilitated the death of his brother. Not only are there vicious assaults against Stewart, but we can see fear and pain in his eyes. This is a humiliating brutality, the type of which I haven't usually seen in studio Westerns until the antihero era of the 1960s and 1970s (the maiming of Lockhart's hand would be later appropriated for Corbucci's Django). After his suffering, Lockhart takes his punishment in a manner akin to that of Spade or Marlowe - it only serves to embolden him.
Will Lockhart (James Stewart) rides into town, we eventually learn, to find the man who sold guns to the Native Americans who killed his brother. While searching for that man, Lockhart becomes embroiled in the King Lear-indebted saga of the Waggoman family. In his final Western with Stewart, Anthony Mann synthesizes his previous Stewart collaborations (Winchester '73, Bend of the River, the Far Country, and the Naked Spur) into a different kind of Western. The Man From Laramie, with its ensemble of morally ambiguous characters and multiple threads expertly woven into something bigger, is a film noir in Western garb.
Through Mann's films, we've gradually seen Stewart's characters become tougher and increasingly self-interested. In Bend of the River, we see him protecting the weak and enduring their unwillingness to forgive his criminal past. In The Far Country, we see him spend most of the movie attempting to avoid other people until he eventually stand up for his community. Here, it's as if the sum of the strain from his previous roles have driven him to a new level of single-mindedness. Despite clear warnings, Lockhart is willing to endure intense violence against himself and others in pursuit of uncovering who facilitated the death of his brother. Not only are there vicious assaults against Stewart, but we can see fear and pain in his eyes. This is a humiliating brutality, the type of which I haven't usually seen in studio Westerns until the antihero era of the 1960s and 1970s (the maiming of Lockhart's hand would be later appropriated for Corbucci's Django). After his suffering, Lockhart takes his punishment in a manner akin to that of Spade or Marlowe - it only serves to embolden him.
But Lockhart's mission is only half of the film. There's also the story of influential cattle herd boss Alec Waggoman, who attempts to use his surrogate son/foreman/niece's fiancee Vic Hansbro (Arthur Kennedy) to mold his son Dave (Donald Crisp) into the kind of man who can run the family business. Vic attempts to steer Dave straight, but Dave's petulance makes the task impossible. This family drama has a profoundly negative effect upon the town, but is fascinating on its own terms as well. Alec is a tragic character: an old man who wields his power excessively (possibly to cover for his fading eyesight) while suffering from nightmares in which his son is killed. Alec frantically tries to find a suitable heir, but is never quite willing to pass on his power. Vic, the rightful heir, is consistently passed over and scapegoated, giving him his own tragic arc and descent into evil despite relative innocence.
The portrayal of Native Americans here is another fascinating piece of Mann's film. Despite the fact that they are the ones who actually killed Lockhart's brother, they aren't the target of Lockhart's vengeance. While being mentioned throughout the film as a menace that threatens all of the townspeople's existence, we see them descend only briefly upon Vic to conclude his downfall *. They are essentially a force of nature, the specter of death that haunts this type of noir picture. Does Mann paint them as simpletons or villains? While that's a bit difficult to say, I believe that their brief matter-of-fact appearance suggests that they are wronged parties whose contracts (both with Dave and America in general) have been breached. They don't gloat over Vic's body after he is killed, they continue along their way **.
Mann somehow manages to weave together these divergent plots and ideas - along with a few others - into a coherent, unpredictable, and exciting psychological Western that serves as a fine capstone for the early part of his career in film noir and Westerns ***. Two of the Stewart-Mann Westerns (Winchester '73 and The Naked Spur) focused on bandits being brought to justice by an overly-dedicated pursuer. Two others (Bend of the River and The Far Country) showed how communities came to settle the West. The Man From Laramie examines an already-established community and questions - through Lockhart's investigation into Dave and the Waggomans - if the budding American West hasn't been co-opted by the villains.
Side Notes
* See: Gun, Chekhov's
** I suppose that this may be reaching based on a small part of the film, but some of Mann's past films (Devil's Doorway and The Furies) favor the original occupants of the land over American settlers. If we're going to go further and suggest that Mann views Native Americans as some of the most upstanding characters in these stories, then Lockhart's focus on the white man who sold guns to the Native Americans might contribute to his myopic character.
*** Before moving onto the epics El Cid and The Fall of the Roman Empire.
When I mention the multiple interrelated threads of film noir, I'm thinking of labyrinthine tales like The Big Sleep (and I may also be influenced by recently watching Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang where "there were always two cases" that were linked at the end).
Crew & Cast
Directed by Anthony Mann (The Furies, The Far Country, Bend of the River, Winchester '73, Side Street)
Written by Philip Yordan (Detective Story, Johnny Guitar, The Harder They Fall, Dillinger) and Frank Burt (The Reckless Gun, Dragnet episodes), based on a story by Thomas T. Flynn
Starring
James Stewart - Will Lockhart
Arthur Kennedy - Vic Hansbro
Donald Crisp - Alec Waggoman
Cathy O'Donnell - Barbara Waggoman
Alex Nicol - Dave Waggoman
The portrayal of Native Americans here is another fascinating piece of Mann's film. Despite the fact that they are the ones who actually killed Lockhart's brother, they aren't the target of Lockhart's vengeance. While being mentioned throughout the film as a menace that threatens all of the townspeople's existence, we see them descend only briefly upon Vic to conclude his downfall *. They are essentially a force of nature, the specter of death that haunts this type of noir picture. Does Mann paint them as simpletons or villains? While that's a bit difficult to say, I believe that their brief matter-of-fact appearance suggests that they are wronged parties whose contracts (both with Dave and America in general) have been breached. They don't gloat over Vic's body after he is killed, they continue along their way **.
Mann somehow manages to weave together these divergent plots and ideas - along with a few others - into a coherent, unpredictable, and exciting psychological Western that serves as a fine capstone for the early part of his career in film noir and Westerns ***. Two of the Stewart-Mann Westerns (Winchester '73 and The Naked Spur) focused on bandits being brought to justice by an overly-dedicated pursuer. Two others (Bend of the River and The Far Country) showed how communities came to settle the West. The Man From Laramie examines an already-established community and questions - through Lockhart's investigation into Dave and the Waggomans - if the budding American West hasn't been co-opted by the villains.
Side Notes
* See: Gun, Chekhov's
** I suppose that this may be reaching based on a small part of the film, but some of Mann's past films (Devil's Doorway and The Furies) favor the original occupants of the land over American settlers. If we're going to go further and suggest that Mann views Native Americans as some of the most upstanding characters in these stories, then Lockhart's focus on the white man who sold guns to the Native Americans might contribute to his myopic character.
*** Before moving onto the epics El Cid and The Fall of the Roman Empire.
When I mention the multiple interrelated threads of film noir, I'm thinking of labyrinthine tales like The Big Sleep (and I may also be influenced by recently watching Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang where "there were always two cases" that were linked at the end).
Crew & Cast
Directed by Anthony Mann (The Furies, The Far Country, Bend of the River, Winchester '73, Side Street)
Written by Philip Yordan (Detective Story, Johnny Guitar, The Harder They Fall, Dillinger) and Frank Burt (The Reckless Gun, Dragnet episodes), based on a story by Thomas T. Flynn
Starring
James Stewart - Will Lockhart
Arthur Kennedy - Vic Hansbro
Donald Crisp - Alec Waggoman
Cathy O'Donnell - Barbara Waggoman
Alex Nicol - Dave Waggoman
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