User reviews

Notorious gunman Ray Milland comes upon the scene of a stagecoach massacre. Outlaws had robbed the stage and killed six people, including a mother and child. Milland frees the horses and rides one of them into town for help during a sandstorm.

The sheriff is laid up and a lout of a deputy, Alan Hale Jr., comes at Milland gun in hand without identifying himself. Milland starts shooting and wounds the deputy. After that it's a hunt for Milland in the town.

Of course he takes refuge in the one place no one is going to look, the house of the sheriff, Ward Bond and his daughter Mary Murphy. The house is under quarantine because Bond is down with yellow fever.

Milland helps Murphy nurse Bond back to health. During which news of the stagecoach massacre reaches town. And the hunt is renewed.

Milland gives a fine performance in this very grim western of a man on the run, mostly due to his bad reputation. Ray Milland also directed this film for Republic Pictures in its last days. Director Milland got some good performances out of such in the cast as Raymond Burr, Lee Van Cleef, Arthur Space, and Thomas Brown Henry.

A Man Alone has similar plot premises to both The Oxbow Incident and John Payne's Silver Lode that came out the year before. All three had to do with the terrible consequences of mob violence when due process is abandoned. Very telling stuff indeed coming out as it did at the tail end of the McCarthy era.

The film holds up very well after over 50 years and is recommended for western and other movie fans.

Wes Steele is a gunman, his reputation follows him where ever he goes. Then one day he happens upon a dreadful scene, a stagecoach has been attacked and five people have been murdered, including a woman and a child. This sickens Steele who takes up a horse and rides to the nearest town with the best intentions, but no sooner is he there, he quickly becomes a target for blame and hostility. Taking refuge at the home of yellow fever struck Sheriff Gil Corrigan and his daughter Nadine, Steele proves to have a tender side as he helps to aid the ailing sheriff. But an angry mob is out for Steele's neck and when Gil comes around, will he believe that Steele is not responsible for the recent turn of events?

Ray Milland's westerns are a mixed bunch, ranging from the mundane (Bugles in the Afternoon), the watchable (California) to the very good - here with A Man Alone. Making his directorial debut, star Milland has managed to craft a genuine mood piece out of a well trodden, and often filmed, story. Milland, utilising his silent feature experience, sets the disquiet tone within the first quarter, where as he comes upon the horror scene, it's played out without dialogue, the mood is set for the next part of the journey, the town.

This is an ugly town, corruption and underhand tactics are the order of the day, so much so that when Steele blows into town (literally during a sandstorm) one would think that with his reputation, it would be ideal for him. But things can quickly turn around. Thanks to Milland's portrayal of Steele, it's apparent to us that Steele is weary of the life he has led, his yearning to cast off his burdens evident as his relationship with the Corrigan's starts to blossom. Yet it's funny how quick the milk can turn sour, because seemingly normal people can become a mob, an angry mob intent on justice regardless of the truth. For here there is no truth as the lies have been cast and mud nearly always sticks...

Milland is aided in the cast by the always solid Ward Bond (Gil), Raymond Burr (purple suited and black eyed nastiness as town villain Stanley), Lee Van Cleef (Stanley's thug muscle Clanton) and Mary Murphy (bright eyed and bushy tailed Nadine). Shot on location at Snow Canyon in Utah, it's a shame that location work is very much sparse because of the town set plot. However, in a film calling for an oppressive and pot boiling feel, this is something that is easily forgivable. A Man Alone is a very good Western, yes the story has been done far better (re: The Ox Bow Incident for example), but Milland's film deserves your time, and hopefully come the end, also your respect. 7.5/10

First time director Ray Milland must have scored a success with this psychological Western typical of the 1950s, as he went on to both direct and star in four more features- 1956's "Lisbon," 1958's "The Safecracker," 1962's "Panic in Year Zero!" and 1967's "Hostile Witness." In the role of Wesley Steele, a gunman of ill repute, having to kill simply to survive, director Milland begins the film with nearly a half hour without (much) dialogue. Steele discovers a massacred stagecoach, five people shot dead (including a little girl), all the money gone. He soon finds himself in a most unfriendly town, where the hapless deputy (Alan Hale Jr.) prefers to shoot first and ask questions later; incredibly, the safest place for Steele to hide from a possible lynching turns out to be the Sheriff's quarantined home, due to his being bedridden with yellow fever. Lovely Mary Murphy, Marlon Brando's leading lady in "The Wild One," is entrusted with the most difficult role, the Sheriff's daughter, who naturally falls for the much older Steele, and capably manages the feat of growing up from 'daddy's little girl' to feisty heroine, inspiring Wes to return to clear his name, and redeeming her own father (Ward Bond), who had fallen under the crooked influence of town banker and criminal mastermind Raymond Burr. You can't go wrong with a supporting cast that includes Lee Van Cleef, Douglas Spencer, Thomas Browne Henry, and Arthur Space. Unfortunately for Mary Murphy, her screen career wound down all too quickly, though television kept her busy for another two decades. Horror/sci fi buffs remember her turns in 1951's "When Worlds Collide," 1954's "The Mad Magician," and 1957's "The Electronic Monster."

I was surprised about how good this was since Ray Milland didn't star in hardly any westerns and this was the only western he directed. Milland plays a gunfighter who's horse dies in the desert and starts to walk when he comes across a carriage full of dead people and he takes a horse and goes into the nearest town. As soon as gets into town, Milland shoots a deputy who thought he was the killer and the whole town is after him. Milland winds up hiding in the basement of the sheriff and his daughter and the daughter winds up falling in love with him. Ward Bond plays the sheriff who was sick and when he wakes up doesn't know what's going on. It's a good western that isn't very well known.

After Winning the Oscar for "Best Actor" for the Cutting Edge Film about Alcoholism, "The Lost Weekend" (1945), Ray Milland went on to have a Long and Varied Career in Film and Television.

This B-Western made at "Republic" Studios (one of their last) was His first Try at Directing. He went on to Direct 3 other Movies, the Best is "Panic in the Year Zero" (1962), about the Aftermath of a Nuclear War.

This is an Offbeat Western. The First 30 Minutes has Milland's Gunslinger on the Run in the Desert and there is No Dialog. This First Act Sets Up the Bleak Tone of the Film as there is much Suffering and Brutal Displays of the Harsh Desert and a Stage Coach Massacre (with a not often shot of a bloody murdered little girl). This is Adult Stuff.

The Film has Noirish Claustrophobic Tendencies, Mob Mania, and Rich Folks as Super-Baddies. Almost Everyone in Town, it seems, has been Corrupted by the Harsh Realities of the Desert and the Clan of Outlaws Running Things.

Ward Bond's Speech to His Daughter (Mary Murphy) about just how Bad Things were when She was a Little Girl and Lost Her Mother is Heartbreaking and Profound.

Bond is accompanied by Lee Van Cleef and Raymond Burr and that gives this Western Shades of Film-Noir, as does the Desperation and Wholesale Corruption.

Overall, Mary Murphy is Stunning as a Smart and Beautiful Young Woman, Van Cleef is Menacing, and Burr is Burly and Scary. Above Average Western in Color, but Not CinemaScope with a Good Cast, Good Story, and Milland's Direction is Edgy at times.

Just a brief correction on the above comments: A Man Alone was *not* Milland's only directoral experience. He also directed Lisbon (also starred and produced), The Safecracker (U.K., also starred), Panic in the Year Zero! (also starred) and Hostile Witness (U.K., also starred). Although solid pictures, none of these films made a strong impact on Milland's career.

The first 30 minutes of this film are very gritty, with Wes Steele in trouble from the start, discovering the stage with its murdered passengers and then becoming a fugitive trapped in a town. Then the film tapers off a bit, and it's a little hard to accept that Nadine comes to trust him so quickly.

I'm conscious of my own pedantry, but have to note that Milland here joins Gary Cooper and Randolph Scott in playing a middle-aged Westerner who has little trouble in attracting a much younger woman - he was 50 when the film was released. And if being the notorious Wes Steele is such a handicap, why not assume a false name - it would have been difficult for the authorities to disprove a false identity. (Richard Egan in "Tension at Table Rock" was another notorious Wes - Tancred in this case and in the ballad that accompanied the film - who diligently signed his real name in hotel registers, only for the clerk to react in distaste.) The "Time Out" review describes Milland's direction as "sometimes a little too ponderously deliberate, but - like the performances - eminently watchable", and I agree with this. The plot made a pleasant change from the run-of-the-mill Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s.

Ray Milland makes use of his silent film experience to play the first half of this movie virtually without speaking. He plays the title character, a lonely man in ever sense as he finds a group of slain stagecoach passengers, is forced to kill the sheriff (Hale, Jr.), sees another man shot before his eyes, and ends up a man wanted for all the killings.

A good commentary on human weakness in the "psychological" tradition, but it gets to talky and melodramatic in the second half.

Good supporting cast headed by Burr, Murphy, and Bond hold up well to Milland's straightforward playing and direction.

A stark, fairly convincing western.

A film with Ray Milland, Ward Bond, Raymond Burr & Lee Van Cleef ought to be worth a look. But sadly no. After a promising start the film settles down to tedium. As expected a shoot out finish but that very routine in it's handling. Don't bother with it!

In the Old West, a drifting gunman (Ray Milland) finds himself in a Southwest town wrongly accused of a crime. He hides out in the basement of a young woman whose father is invalided upstairs (Mary Murphy and Ward Bond). Can he escape before being lynched by a vengeful mob? Raymond Burr, Lee Van Cleef and Alan Hale Jr. Are also on hand.

"A Man Alone" (1955) is the first of five films directed by Milland. It mixes the brutal realities of the Old West with some quality mood. While mostly a town-bound Western (and often in the Sheriff's residence), there's also some spectacular photography of the Southwest (listed below). Meanwhile Milland comes across as a James Stewart lookalike.

If you can roll with a couple of contrivances, the story is good with interesting explorations of morality. For instance, is dishonest gain acceptable as long as no one dies? Even if it can be justified, what if innocent people wind up dead? How long can a generally good person keep up the lie and live with their conscience?

The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot at Republic Studios in Los Angeles with location work done at Snow Canyon outside St. George, Utah. Other locations cited are Arizona (Paiute Wilderness Area & Colorado City) and New Mexico.

GRADE: B.

As versatile actor Ray Milland plays a gunslinger Wes Steele running from his bleak past at desert area he've found a stagecoach brutal massacre of six people and worst a woman and his young daughter, a hard scene to face even for guy inured to the killing, he head to the city with a stagecoach's horse in order to report what he had saw, unfortunately others horses arrive firstly at city, alarmed the citizen already figure out the worst, upon a strong sandstorm Wes reaches in town and was conflated as the stagecoach's murder by the deputy Jim (Alan Hale Jr.) in the crossfire Jim stays injured, Wes looking for a shelter randomly ends up in a local Bank where is ongoing a belligerent discussion on next room, Wes hears all about concerning stagecoach's robbery, when one of them leave the office and was killed by back for his partners of stagecoach's robbery and massacre whereof he doesn't agree whatsoever.

Wes looking around some pace to hide, find out a door into a house's cellar, there he meets the young girl Nadine (Mary Murphy) introducing himself as stranger just passing by, his father actually is local Sheriff Gil Corrigan (Ward Bond) is convalescing in bed suffering a yellow fever, through the Doctor Mason (Arthur Spacey) Nadine hears the latest sad happenings over stagecoach bloody murders and the killer is in town hidden somewhere, thus Nadine faces Wes if he had committed such evilness, whom he replays that had make many things that ashamed him, however it wasn't your style, slowly raises a mutual affection over them.

Wes had many opportunity to running away, but often aid to care the feverish Sheriff, the night of funeral of the victims the real mastermind of those crimes stays at church when Wes arrives stealthily and throw at Stanley's faces (Raymond Burr) what he heard on Bank's office when his partner was killed by back, Stanley afraid be killed offers a laissez-passer to Wes leaves the town as uncharged man, Wes prefers beaten him so hard that almost kills him, Wes had a concussion at head stayed unconscious several days waiting for the gallows over such angry crowd, through the shadowed past of Sheriff Gil sets free Wes at desert nearby Indian territory, the destiny of Wes is running once more?

In a nutshell A Man Alone is largely enjoyable in many aspects, firstly Nadine had a secret trunk fully of their belongs ready to stepping out, likewise Wes Steele running for his bad reputation pastime, in other hand Sheriff Gil has theirs skeletons in his closet, after lost his ranch for strong drought and his wife died by exhaustive work as laundress sold his integrity for make blind eyes for Stanley's robberies, also supported by a solid secondary cast, as Raymond Burr, Ward Bond, Alan Hale Jr., Arthur Spacey and the stereotyped gangster Lee Van Cleef, fine movie indeed!!

Resume:

First watch: 1981 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.25.

Why was High Noon so popular, when many other westerns had the same theme and were infinitely better? If you want to see Ray Milland's version, check out A Man Alone, which he directed as well. I used to jokingly call him Ray Mi-bland because I thought he was boring, but that was before I'd seen his good movies. Who would have thought he'd pull off the role of a western gunfighter?

The common theme of an entire town turning against an innocent man is present in this drama. Ray comes across a stagecoach massacre, and when he rides into town on one of the surviving horses, everyone thinks he was the bandit who did it. When a beautiful woman with a lovely figure, Mary Murphy, believes in his innocence, she offers him shelter. As if he needed any more obstacles, Mary's father is the local sheriff, Ward Bond. Ward is very sick and Mary's caring for him while he's confined to his bed. I didn't like seeing him looking so old and ill, especially since I knew he died a few years later, but he still had his signature warm energy.

It's not the best western out there, but it's definitely worth watching. If you like Ray Milland, or if you like the storyline, you'll probably enjoy it. Next up, try Riding Shotgun or Silver Lode.

This classic western style is plenty of suspense as the dreaded final approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone while town people surrounding him and nobody is willing to help him , except for a gorgeous girl . The narration is well adjusted , from the beginning , until the final showdown and being approximately developed in ninety minutes . It deals with a gunfighter (Ray Milland) , stranded in the desert, out when he sees an attacked stagecoach with its murdered passengers . He takes one of the horses to ride to town to report the massacre , but finds himself accused of it . He also finds himself framed of the murder of the local banker as well as wrongly suspected of a stagecoach slaughter , and winds up hiding in the basement of a house . As our starring moved by his will to prove his innocence , takes shelter and hides not alone but comely local marshal's daughter (Mary Murphy) . While the elderly sheriff (Ward Bond) , is very sick on his bed . Somewhere in the DARK a Bullet Drilled Home !

Vintage western style is full of tension as the breathtaking confrontation approaches , following the style of other stories in similar wake , that's why it results to be a ¨High Noon¨ (1954 , Fred Zinnemann) variation -that was a relentless allegory and criticism of HUAC black list- along with ¨Silver Lode¨(1954 ,Allan Dwan) . As our protagonist realizes he must stand alone against impossible odds , as nobody is willing to help him , but they pursue him , as gunfighter's main hope lies in the trust of a beautiful woman who hides him while being wrongfully accused of murder and attempting to clear his name . Remarkably well-organised western in which not one single second is wasted and the tension is built up admirably ."A Man Alone (1955)" is a low-budget western with a tense , intriguing , thrilling and suspenseful storyline. This western thriller is competently built and Ray Milland has an outstanding acting in the character of a gunman who wishes redemption . The performances are top-notch and the viewer gets tense enough , adding an enjoyable love story . Being Milland's debut behind the camera , delivering a decent oater . Ray Milland gives a nice interpreation as the gunslinger who comes across the aftermath of a stage robbery, in which all the passengers were killed . His partenaire is the charming actress Mary Murphy , in her fruitful career getting to give earnest leading lady perfs opposite Tony Curtis in ¨Beachhead¨ (1954), and ¨Hell's Island¨ (1955) with John Payne and especially ¨The Wild one¨ with Marlon Brando . They are well accompanied by a great cast of notorious secondaries , such as : Ward Bond , Raymond Burr , Arthur Space , Alan Hale Jr. , Douglas Spencer and , of course , Lee Van Cleef.

This exciting motion picture was professionally directed by Ray Milland . Ray was a prestigious actor, but also a producer and a craftsman filmmaker. With this A Man Alone(1955) and subsequently Lisbon (1956), Ray Milland moved into another direction, turning out several off-beat, low-budget films with himself as the lead , notably this A Man Alone (1957) his Western debut , The Safecracker (1958) , Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and Hostile Witness (1969) . Rating : 6/10 . Less-than-notable , but acceptable , passable and decent enough . The flick will appeal to Ray Milland fans.

Ray Milland only directed a handful of films, and this was his first, directing and starring as Wes, an innocent man getting caught up in a murder scene. when bandits knock off the stage coach, Wes comes onto the scene, and is made out to be the bad guy by the evil townies. and what western wouldn't be complete without Alan Hale Junior (skipperrrrr), Raymond Burr (perry mason!) and Ward Bond! Mary Murphy is Nadine, who lets Wes hide out at her place. it's pretty slow going... story is good enough, but with all these giant names, this should have been a little more exciting. Wes just hides out in the house most of the film. i've never seen this one on Turner Classics; it's showing on Epix channel, and only has 700 votes, as of today. not sure why Murphy didn't make a bigger name for herself.. she does perfectly fine. sometimes she looks and sounds like shirley jones... other times, a bit like marilyn monroe. she was the girl who straightened out marlon brando in "Wild One".

A Man Alone was one of those films which was consistently shown on BBC2, especially around 6pm in the weekday. An after-school treat, if you ask me. Ray Milland doesn't only star in this suspenseful western, but directs as well and does a competent job. He plays Wes Steele, a man with a notorious reputation as a gunman, and he takes refuge in a house after witnessing a murder of a banker. Of course, he is framed for it. It's an unusual western, has great atmosphere, especially in the windswept street, and when Ray Milland and Mary Murphy are locked in the house, you feel that Milland is at peace for that time. He's not on the run. The characters are deeply etched, there's a grimness to the proceedings but the finale offers hope for all 3 characters ( Milland, Murphy and Ward Bond.) It does get talky in the latter half, however, it does have dramatic tones. There's some action scenes - the brawl between Milland and the villainous Burr is an energetic one.

Ray Milland followed in the footsteps of playing the title role in 'The Thief' by beginning his directorial debut (self-effacingly billed as 'R.Milland') by dispensing almost entirely with dialogue for the first ten minutes in this moody noir western with gothic interiors by cameraman Lionel Lindon and an ugly pair of heavies in the form of Raymond Burr and henchman Lee Van Cleef (neither of whom you see in the same film as Ward Bond every day).

Solitary gunman stands alone against a village for crimes he didn't do. He have some help from the sheriff's daughter, and, of course, they fell in love (But they don't leave the village at the end of the film!) Nothing new under the western sky? Not really in the story. But actor Ray Milland, in his first and only experience as a director, did a very fine job with the cast (except, of course, with awfull Raymond Burr). The 10 first minutes of the film are unique : no word is spoken! In the night scenes, Milland adopts the film noir genre, even if the film is in color (But, you know, men talking in the shadow...) Because of these directing qualies, we forget that the story have been seen a thousand times in western, and this little film becomes very pleasant to watch, for fans of old westerns.