Man of the West

Link Jones (Gary Cooper) is a former outlaw, coming from the west to hire a schoolteacher to his small town with the savings of the locals. A gang robs the train where Link is traveling, including his luggage with the money, the train successfully escapes from them, but the singer Billie Ellis (Julie London), Sam Beasley (Arthur O´Connell) and him are accidentally left behind, in an isolated place many miles far from any city. The next train will pass by the region only a week later, and they look for a shelter for the cold night. They find an abandoned ranch where Link used to live. However, the gang who stole the train is lodged there, and further, Link was a member of this gang. He introduces Billie as his wife, and says that he decided to return to the group. A tense, dramatic and violent relationship develops between Link and the group, with tragic consequences. This western is very different from the others, without action, but having dramatic psychological drama instead, including a claustrophobic situation in the house. Gary Cooper plays a protective good man who wants to forget his past; Julie London's role is a lonely woman, who does not love any man or anything, but who falls in love with Link; and the performances of the `bad guys' are fantastic. This movie is really a classic western. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `O Homem do Oeste' (`The Man of the West)

Stranded in the middle of nowhere after their train is robbed, a former outlaw, a schoolteacher and a gambler take refuge with the gang that the former outlaw once belonged to in this dark western drama. Taking refuge does not come easy to the once-outlaw, played by Gary Cooper, as he has to pretend to still be a tough lawbreaker despite reforming his ways, and there is a lot of tension in the air as the gang members are equally as uneasy about his return. The plot actually has a lot in common with David Cronenberg's 'A History of Violence' with Cooper having to face the violent past that he thought he left behind. Cooper never quite seems right in the role though; aside from being two decades older than his character, it is hard to ever imagine Cooper once being a hardened outlaw. As a character, he is not as well developed as Viggo Mortensen in 'A History of Violence' either with the train robbery happening before we even have a chance to know him. The film is also set back by a melodramatic music score from Leigh Harline that comes off as overbearing half the time. The film does have its moments though. The long distance shots of Cooper entering the supposedly abandoned cabin are great, capturing the eerie isolation of the place. The scene in which Julie London is told to strip at knife point is nail-bitingly intense too, and while he looks too young to really be Cooper's uncle, Lee J. Cobb is delightful in the role, radiating both danger and a sense of longing, wanting so much to reconnect with the outlaw nephew he thought he lost forever.

Of all the western movies that I have seen in my time, I would definitely have to say that "Man of the West" is one of the best. Gary Cooper does an excellent job of portraying an ex con who must confront his past and deal with a gang who does not trust him but would like him to help them out. He acts just as though he did in many of his films, playing a quiet, easy going cowboy who knows how to act in tight situations. I also thought Cooper had a very supportive cast that included Jack Lord as a wild and rebellious killer, John Dehner as a cool but equally violent person, Lee J. Cobb as a filthy old man who was the leader of the gang and who surely was the example for the other gangmembers and Arthur O'Connell and Julie London as the innocent bystanders who Cooper must look out for. I also thought that the content and violence was very well done to help people get the feeling of what people could be like. All in all, "Man of the West" is not only one of Cooper's best but one of the best westerns ever.

I am a big fan of Director Anthony Mann. When it comes to Westerns, he has to belong in the top directorial echelon - WINCHESTER '73, NAKED SPUR, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, THE LAST FRONTIER, all deserve praise for their gritty realism and anti-hero approach.

MAN OF THE WEST stars Gary Cooper, often in Westerns but seldom working under Mann. I have no idea why, but Mann allows a few incongruencies to poison the script, easily the worst in any Mann movie I have seen: 1) Link Jones (Cooper) going on a train with money belonging to a village whose residents want him to bring back a schoolmarm - I find it hard to believe that a teacher would require a large sum of money to be contracted, and even harder that he would surrender that info to the inquisitive Beasley (O'Connell) who immediately finds the ideal schoolmarm (London) aboard the train. 2) Tobin (Lee J, Cobb) plays a much too loud outlaw leading men who would kill their own mother but bungle a train robbery, and look well fed enough that they must enjoy comfortable living... despite failing in their attacks on banks and trains. 3) Tobin's master plan to rob the bank in the town of Lassoo is ridiculous, seeing that it has become a ghost town ever since the local mine shut down.

To add to the need to suspend your disbelief, Tobin is supposed to be Jones' uncle, but Cobb clearly looks younger than Coop - and so he should, seeing that Cobb was born in 1911 and Coop in 1901.

Sultry beauty London tries valiantly to make the most of a rather irrelevant part. She was first and foremost a wonderful singer, and I can only lament that she did not sing a note here, even though the introductory credits announce a song composed by London's then husband Bobby Troup... but no song is heard at all.

Supporting actor O'Connell does not start off too badly as the nose poker of a passenger but then disappears for long whiles. Ultimately, his role is justified by the need to stop a bullet intended for Coop. Jack Lord looks like the most dangerous of Tobin's sidekicks but after a few threats he is just no match for Coop's fast hand.

As a curiosity, Coop underwent cosmetic facial surgery after completing this shoot, but unfortunately cancer would soon set in, so he had little time to enjoy his regained looks.

Forgettable Westerner, I doubt I will ever rewatch it. 6/10.

"Man of the West", being an Anthony Mann directed western, contains a good deal of violence. Usually starring James Stewart, this one stars Gary Cooper in one of the best roles of his career.

The story centers on Cooper as a reformed outlaw who boards a train with Julie London as a saloon girl and Arthur O'Connell as a fast talking gambler. Along the way, the train is held up and the three are left behind. They stumble upon a shack that turns out to be the hide out of the men who had held up the train. Led by a slightly mad Lee J. Cobb, the gang includes Jack Lord as Cobb's sadistic henchman and veteran western performers John Dehner, Robert J. Wilke and Royal Dano as the other gang members. Turns out that Cooper had once been a member of Cobb's gang.

There is a violent fight between Cooper and Lord that is the highlight of the film. There is also an graphic (for the time) shootout in a deserted town and the ultimate showdown between Cooper and Cobb at the end.

Cooper was a little long in the tooth at the time to be believable as Cobb's protege (Cobb was actually 10 years younger), but that can be overlooked due to the excellent performances by both actors. London has little to do but O'Connell is excellent as the gambler who finds his courage.

"Man of the West" is arguably one of Cooper's best.