The Man From Laramie (1955)

Truth be told, I am a big and biased fan of James Stewart. Since I first saw him in Vertigo, I took an instant liking to the avuncular actor. I hunted down and saw dozens of his films (and a few ended up in my personal top twenty) over the last few years. Then, when I watched Martin Scorsese's documentary on American Cinema, I learned about Anthony Mann's (one of the directors who influenced Scorsese) collaboration with James Stewart. Together, these two have made six excellent films, five of them Westerns. Since I love Westerns as much as I love Noir, I had to hunt them all. After the terrific Winchester 73 (1950), I picked The Man From Laramie(1955).

Apart from the plot and besides Stewart, I loved the locations (New Mexico) where the movie was shot. The movie has many great wide-screen, panoramic shots depicting New Mexico's vast open lands and using them as another character in the film. Close-ups are few. The plot has many complexities and they slowly unfold in the latter half. Stewart is a man from Laramie who comes into a new town to deliver supplies but like you guessed he has ulterior motives. Its not easy to be a stranger in this rowdy town, ruled by the ruthless old mercenery Alec Waggoman, played brilliantly by Donald Crisp. Waggoman's son is a bad apple and a very rotten one at that. Many great inter-personal dynamics come into play as Stewart gets himself slowly established in this raucous town. There is Arthur Kennedy playing Vic, who faithfully serves Alec but has his own devilish designs. Finally, everything comes into play once Alec's son is murdered and this leads into a nice finale with Apache Indians joining the party and a nice gun fight.

Till Winchester 73, I have only seen the all-American sweetness side of James Stewart. But I learned more and started respecting more of this great, versatile actor. He can do anything from a naive senator (Mr. Smith) to a cynical scholar (Rope); from a hapless survivor (Its a Beautiful Life) to a vengeful cowboy (Most of Mann's movies). The Man From Laramie is not the greatest western ever made but it surely is a damn fine movie. It is a must for any James Stewart or Western buff. The movie also has a sweet soundtrack with a haunting title track. 8 guns out of 10.