The Man from Colorado

One of several morose postwar westerns addressing the untidy aftermath of the Civil War, incongruously shot in pristine Technicolor; all the better, presumably, for Columbia to showcase it's fresh young stars. Glen Ford and Bill Holden.

Ford - giving the strangest performance he probably ever gave as the psychotic sheriff - was in reality two years older than Holden; but the grey-templed hairpiece Ford wears (either to make him look older or to show the toll the war has taken on him) actually makes him look even younger.

It begins at the end of the Civil War when a coward massacre takes place , fdealing with two Civil War vets at odds , as two friends return home to Colorado , one an honest marshall (William Holden) , the other a sadistic judge (Glenn Ford) has changed and is now violent and erratic. As two friends go their separate ways after Civil War , one leads an upright life as a sheriff , but the other corrupted by the war engages in a violent campaign to build his own law , and carrying out terrorisation . Colorado's wasn't big enough for both .. when a moan came between them ! .They Turned the West Into a Jungle of Male Killing Male for a Woman!

An odd , old but solid Technicolor Western fare about two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War , but one of them becomes an erratic , disturbing judge with quirky acting by Glenn Ford , while his friend decently acted by William Holden who desperately tries to find a way to help him. It begins as a sluggish , slow-moving Western with long ball scenes but follows to surprise us with complex characters , thrills , breathtaking patches and decent plot about two different friends ; as both of them end up on opposite sides of the law . The simple tale is almost rudimentary though full of clichés , as the engaging script lines too often settle for crude routine , at times . Suspense and tension builds over the time in which the outlaws and the starring await to take the final confrontation . The action is competently made , as when the nasties shoot and hang without remission and even fire a village . The highlights of the film are the scenes in which the strict judge exects his particular justice by hanging and the final facing off . William Holden provides a slighly laborious acting as new Marshal , but his interpretation is really eclipsed by the great Glenn Ford has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more and more insane . They're well accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Ray Collins , Edgar Buchanan , Jerome Courtland , James Millican, Stanley Andrews , among others .

The motion picture was well directed by Henry Levin . Ex-actor ,director Henry Levin was a previous stage player who had a prolific and long career as filmmaker entering the directing in 1943 about every genre over the next 36 years . His heyday was in the 1960s , when he turned out several bright and frothy sex comedies, notably ¨Belles on their toes , Come fly with me , Honeymoon hotel¨ , his greatest films were on the adventure genre as ¨Genghis Khan , The wonderful world of Brothers Grimm , The bandit of Sherwood Forest , The return of Monte Cristo and Journey to the center of the earth¨ . Although Levin's forte was light comedies, one of his most interesting films was a dark, brooding western ¨Lonely man¨ (1957) and ¨Desperados¨ , both of them with Jack Palance. He finished his career piloting made-for-television movies, and died on the final day of shooting Scout's Honor (1980) (TV). If you are looking for Westerns with action , violence but also story and atmospheric scenes The Man from Colorado(1948) should be for you.

Best friends Owen and Del, along with local men, are mustered out of the Union army at Civil War's end. Trouble is Big Ed has grabbed the men's gold-bearing land while the men were gone, and now, as a judge, Owen has to enforce the law in Big Ed's favor. This splits the community into warring factions.

Gritty, character-driven western. We know at outset that Owen (Ford) is a flawed character when his Union detachment shells surrendering Johnny rebs. In fact, Owen hides his killer instinct behind an uptight rendering of authority, whether as a colonel or as a federal judge. Ford plays the authoritarian part so grimly (count the smiles—I stopped at zero), it's hard to see how the charming Caroline would be attracted to him. Nonetheless, the interplay between best-friends Ford and Holden is involving and forms the story's core. Alliances between the various factions are sometimes hard to keep up with, but are more unpredictable than usual. And I especially like that final maneuvering around the bridge that I didn't see coming.

Columbia Studios popped for a lot of extras, along with fine special effects, especially when the burning wall comes down. Funny, though, how mountainous Colorado looks like greater LA. Too bad Columbia didn't pop for sending the crew at least to Lone Pine and the Southern Sierras. All in all, it's a very different kind of horse opera that avoids the usual clichés, with Ford at his absolute grimmest. Clearly, however, he and Holden are on their way up the Hollywood ladder.

The story is a fairly simple one. Col. Glenn Ford and Capt. Bill Holden return with a group of fellow soldiers to their home town after the Civil War has ended. Ford has been a pretty ruthless officer. The town has changed during their three-year absence. Their only source of livelihood were their gold claims, but federal laws converted those claims to private property and the mines were gobbled up by Big Ray Collins.

Collins backs Ford for the post of federal judge, and Ford appoints his best friend Holden as chief lawman. The disappointed ex-soldiers bring their case to Judge Ford who finds in favor of Collins. Judge Ford also marries the girl, Ellen Drew, whom Holden also loves. Well, frankly, the ex-soldiers are thoroughly browned off at the loss of their claims even though Big Ray gives them jobs at a barely livable wage ("digging out our own gold") before firing them. Some of the men become bandits preying on Collins' gold. Some don't. But all of them grow to hate Judge Ford for upholding the law, even coming to his house during a birthday party and insulting him in front of his wife and his guest, the friendly doctor, Ed Buchanan. "I don't blame [Collins]," shouts one of the angry crowd, "I blame you!" Ford throws them out.

The plot gets too complicated to describe in any detail but it can be summed up by saying that Judge Ford slugs Holden for telling him he's "sick inside" (people tell Judge Ford that he's "crazy" so often in this movie that it's no wonder he doesn't believe it). His punishments, while within the law, become outrageous. It isn't so much that he's on the side of Big Ray and the suits. It's that he's on his own trip. The movie ends happily, more or less, with Ford gone and Big Ray destroyed, and Holden riding off to Washington to see that the ex-soldiers and the rest of the town get their just due. He smiles at Allen as he boards the train and tells her, "I'll be back."

It's been pointed out repeatedly that "adult westerns" -- that is, those appearing after everybody started watching cheap Hopalong Cassidy movies on TV -- are a chronicle of their times. {"High Noon" is the most often cited example, although nobody seems quite sure of exactly which point of view the film took.) "The Man from Colorado" is no exception. Released in 1948, it's full of references to war veterans and the problems they experience after returning to their home towns. And Glenn Ford has clearly been twisted by his wartime experiences, as have some character in other late- or post-war movies -- William Bendix in "The Blue Dahlia" or whatever it's called, who keeps hearing "monkey music" in his head, or John Garfield in "Pride of the Marines," or Brian Keith in "Five Against the House," I think it was.

The topical references are the most interesting part of the movie, but they are grafted onto an otherwise routine plot. The movie is overorchestrated. If the characters sang their lines it would be grand opera. The wardrobe is undistinguished. The settings are cheesy. When an unjustly accused young veteran is lying against the wall of his jail cell, it looks like what it is: a plaster wall with bricks painted on it. But Makeup should get a medal. Glenn Ford has worn various dos during his career, from bookeeper to flat-top but nothing like this pompador.

Watch it if nothing else is on.

"The Man From Colorado", filmed in 1948, portrays two men and how the trauma of the Civil War affected them, and those about them. Glenn Ford delivers a truly mesmerizing performance as a Civil War commander who is slowly being gripped by madness due to the violence of the War, while William Holden plays the part of a veteran of the same war, is able to cope with the aftermath, and yet, is unable to prevent his friend from sinking into degenerate madness.

After the war has ended, both men return to the same hometown to resume their lives. Ford is appointed as a federal judge of the territory, and he, in turn, names Holden as federal marshal. Ultimately, Ford's character sinks deeper into violence and glaring errors in carrying out justice, and Holden has to try and stop his former friend.

Don't let the age of the film deceive you, this movie does pack a message that can be applied today. An 8/10 viewing mark