Man of the West (1958)

"Man of the West" is not your typical western. Absolutely, it takes place during the times that most western films take place, it has all the markings of a western with the ten gallon hats, the unshaven bad guys, the beautiful Technicolor landscape populated by horses, and why not, there is even a covered wagon. So, but every account this is and should be labeled a western with Gary Cooper. But watching this film, truly viewing what is happening in front of the camera as well as the words from our actors, it quietly, very quietly, transforms into a dark drama with a western background. This is done through various avenues that direction Anthony Mann is not afraid to explore with this genre that rarely likes to go out of the box. With introductions into modern technology, the purest sense of an anti-hero, as well as a fight that borders between the lines of eerily sexual and the foundation for the legendary fight in "They Live", "Man of the West" boldly changes the typical dynamic of a tired genre and produces a film far from perfect, but wildly entertaining to watch from a cinematic standpoint.


To begin, what can you say about Gary Cooper, despite being in other westerns - "High Noon" comes to mind - he just doesn't seem to fit the typical mold for western superhero. He is tall, he is not as gruff around the outsides, and his emotion seems to capture the better of him. When he spews those last minute call lines, those bits of anger for the life that he chose, it never quite has that gruff demeanour about it, instead, it feels like a struggle via the eyes of an everyman. Is Gary Cooper an actor? Can he carry roles? Absolutely. Was the a powerful choice for the internally decommissioned Link Jones? I think Anthony Mann made a brilliant choice for casting Cooper as the lead. He is what pulled me into this film, and while I lean the further direction from westerns, it was because of him that I found myself captivated by the screen. His name changes as he enters the film, the seemingly funny but poignantly true account of him fitting onto a train, and finally the revelation of what his life is like outside the gang added to his mystique. The fight, well, the fight is an entirely different situation that demands its own paragraph, so I will leave it there. Accompanying Cooper are Julie London as a "love interest" (in the vaguest sense of the word) and Lee Cobb as Dock Tobin. London exudes sex as she briskly walks from scene to scene, while Tobin is way over the top as the curmudgeon old villain who is neither drunk nor blind, but acts like both. Yet it feels like our side characters are merely that, sideline characters. Your eyes, the viewers eyes, focus almost entirely on Gary Cooper due to what he brings to this film. His level of humanism brought to the character of a man who loves to kill, but hates the lifestyle (I will argue this point), is brilliant.

The fight. The seemingly elephant in the room when it comes to this film. For nearly five minutes smack dab in the center of this film we are given two fights. The first is between Tobin and the cousin, Claude. This is a peculiar fight because it seems like they are arm wrestling without a table. Like a fight to see who has the firmer handshake, Claude eventually loses and Cooper instigates a duel between him and the emotionally and sexually deprived Coaley. Let us not forget the scene earlier in which he requested that Billie Ellis to remove her clothing, in what became a very awkward scene quickly. This leads to this fight, there are fists thrown, there are tree branches used to disarm, there are horses nearly caught in the cross fire of this battle as innocent bystanders. It is an epic battle, and eventually, when Cooper gets the upper hand, he begins removing Coaley's clothing in reference to what happen to his not-woman earlier. This makes sense, but it is still extremely awkward. As Mann directs, he puts the focus not only on the fight, but also onto the faces of those watching, which eerily reminded me of what I looked like as I viewed. This is a powerful fight. This is a cinematic fight. This is a fight that just goes from strange to even stranger, yet I could not remove my eyes from the screen. When the eventual climax of the scene happens, it pulls you back into reality because, well, they didn't have the budget for a big death. Needless to say, post fight was a let down.

This wraps up my "501 Must See Movies" book and for the first time, I drew the slip for some Eclipse series of films (a subset of the Criterion collection) and I cannot wait to see where in the world I get to travel next. Until then, let me score this film. "Man of the West" was a strong film. There were scenes that I LOVED, the color of the background and the lush, lush Technicolor was perfect. This movie stands at attention. Gary Cooper was a wise chose of a character, and while the ending seemed haphazard at best, the steps to get to that point was fun. I also appreciated how "new" the train system was in this film. Two scenes particularly stand out. One is when Cooper isn't comfortable on the train and cannot understand the logic of why people prefer that way to travel. The second is when Tobin talks about taking a covered wagon as if it is 1,000 years old. It is the details of this film that make it more than your average western, but I cannot give it that almighty green. I liked it, but I don't think I could watch it again. I could easily suggest it, and if it were on at a party I would not complain, but pink is where I stand.

Great job Gary Cooper. Amazing choices Anthony Mann!