L'homme des vallées perdues

SHANE is an entirely visual and iconic example of the western genre that also standards as Alan Ladd's most famous role. The thing that makes this film is the direction from George Stevens, which is really something else. Stevens carefully crafts a film that looks a treat and his direction of the action sequences is second to none, making them some of the strongest of the genre. My only real complaint with this film is the incessant use of day-for-night filming; everything else is great.

The story is one of those ones which has plenty of mileage in it. Alan Ladd plays a retired gunslinger who joins up with a group of settlers, including Van Heflin who is fine in support and bags a more interesting character than Ladd's. The settlers find themselves up against Emile Meyer as the cruel Ryker, and his various men including veteran genre star Ben Johnson and Jack Palance in a truly evil, star-making performance. Elisha Cook Jr. is here too, playing a tougher character than you'd expect.

A lot of the material is told through the eyes of your typically annoying American kid, but thankfully he's not too grating and at least his heart is in the right place. There's plenty of suspense and drama to keep the tale moving, but it's the action which really hits home. The excellent climax is a given - and Eastwood would later reference it in UNFORGIVEN - but it's the bar-room brawl which is something else, one of the most powerful fist-fights I've seen on a film. Top stuff indeed.