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The Man From Laramie

From: $5.15

Only John Ford excelled Anthony Mann as a purveyor of eye-filling Western imagery, and Mann's best films are second to no one's when it comes to the fusion of dynamic action, rugged landscapes, and fierce psychological intensity. The Man from Laramie is the last of five remarkable Westerns the director made with James Stewart (starting with Winchester '73 and peaking with The Naked Spur). This collaboration marked virtually a whole new career for Stewart, whose characters are all haunted by the past and driven by obsession--here, to find whoever set his cavalry-officer brother in the path of warlike Indians.

The Man from Laramie aspires to an epic grandeur beyond its predecessors. It's the only one in CinemaScope, and Stewart's personal quest is subsumed in a larger drama--nothing less than a sagebrush version of King Lear, with a range baron on the verge of blindness (Donald Crisp), his weak and therefore vicious son (Alex Nicol), and another, apparently more solid "son," his Edmund-like foreman (Arthur Kennedy). There are a few too many subsidiary characters, and the reach for thematic complexity occasionally diminishes the impact. But no one will ever forget the scene on the salt flats between Nicol and Stewart--climaxing in the single most shocking act of violence in '50s cinema--or the final, mountaintop confrontation.

For decades, the film has been seen only in washed-out, pan-and-scan videos, with the characters playing visual hopscotch from one panel of the original composition to another. It's great to have this glorious DVD--razor-sharp, fully saturated (or as saturated as '50s Eastmancolor could be), and breathtaking in its CinemaScope sweep. --Richard T. Jameson

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More Video Reviews

24 Reviews

Love it (88%)  |  Hate it (0%)  |  On the Fence (12%)  |  Didn't Rate it (0%)
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From: Amazon Posted: Aug 02, 2008 Type: User Review Great western

Great J. Stewart western, one of his best. Kind of "dark", but still great movie.
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5.00 Star Rating
5.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Jun 27, 2008 Type: User Review Stewart and Mann's last Western in widescreen

This western, unfortunately, turned out to be James Stewart & Anthony Mann's last collorboration together and their only Western in widescreen (Cinemascope). It's may well be their best one along with "The Naked Spur" for it tells the...
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4.00 Star Rating
4.00/5
From: Location: Columbus, IN Posted: Mar 19, 2007 Type: User Review Man From Laramie

I loved James Stewart in about all his films. He was a great actor and is sorely missed. This is one of his better western films. The price was vVERY appealing.
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3.00 Star Rating
3.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Nov 21, 2006 Type: User Review Usual great stuff from Mann and Stewart

Director Anthony Mann and star James Stewart made a great combination. I always found their westerns together reached a part of me that other westerns didn't reach. Along with Bend of the River, Winchester '73 etc, this is top-notch stuff, not...
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4.00 Star Rating
4.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Nov 08, 2006 Type: User Review A tale of anguish and vengeance...

Some of the best Westerns of the fifties were those directed by Anthony Mann and John Ford, straightforward and unpretentious, but each with an interesting approach to the requirements of the genre... Mann's films were the more prestigious,...
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3.00 Star Rating
3.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Sep 02, 2006 Type: User Review Powerful western

This ambitious western concerns a corrupt landowning family (the Waggomans) who finally disintegrate when an outsider, Will Lockhart (James Stewart in his best role for Mann), is drawn into its closed world.

Mann's dramatic...
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5.00 Star Rating
5.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Sep 12, 2005 Type: User Review Solid Stewart western

The collaboration of director Anthony Mann and the righteous Jimmy Stewart again provided the ingredients for a successful movie. Filmed against the sprawling picturesque terrain of New Mexico, the movie tells the tale of Will Lockhart, a loner...
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4.00 Star Rating
4.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Jun 18, 2005 Type: User Review man from nowhere

Lochart (James Stewart) was told that the salt was free for the taking But then he was caught stealing the salt by the son of the cattle baron who actually owend the land and most of that town,so the son wanted to teach Lochart a lesson in front...
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4.00 Star Rating
4.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Apr 05, 2005 Type: User Review The summit of an absolutely superb series of Westerns

One of the reasons that Jimmy Stewart is one of the truly great movie stars in Hollywood history was his ability to reinvent himself. Early in his career, he excelled as a light comedian, though he could expand that into more complex comedic...
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5.00 Star Rating
5.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Oct 14, 2004 Type: User Review Eyepopping cinematography.

All I can say is WOW! The New Mexico locations are simply stunning. After seeing so many films with rear projection, CGI, and other obvious trickery is so great to see an outdoor film that doesn't fake it. The plot is adequate and the acting is...
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4.00 Star Rating
4.00/5
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