Man of the West

Plot synopsis:
Link Jones (Gary Cooper) rides into the small town of Crosscut. He sees a beautiful woman (Julie London) leaving the local saloon; they are taking down the sign advertising her as a singer. He gets a meal, and then hires someone to take care of his horse for a few days. He says he's Link Jones from Good Hope, which is five days' ride west. Then he drops his money bag, and we see he is nervous about the money. Then he washes up and changes his clothes, and after thinking it over, puts his money bag and his gun in his satchel.Link heads to the train station and buys a ticket to Fort Worth. There he sees that Billie Ellis (London) is also boarding the train, and he meets Sam Beasley (Arthur O'Connell), a loquacious gambler. The local sheriff seems to recognize Link and asks his name. Link gives a different name, and says his home town is Saw Mill. The sheriff asks if he knows Dock Tobin, but Link denies it.On the train, Beasley is friendly and talkative, and gets Link to tell him that he is traveling to Fort Worth to hire a schoolteacher. Talking loudly, Beasley observes that you would have to pay someone a year's salary in advance in order to get them to travel so far to such a remote place. Link replies that yes, he has the townspeople's money. A shady character (Jack Lord) observes it all.The train stops to load wood and all able-bodied men are asked to help. The train guard assures that Link he'll watch his bag. But it's an ambush; four men lay in wait for the train, and the shady character is part of the gang. Separated from his gun, Link gets knocked out, and the shady guy takes his satchel off the train. The train guard manages to fight off the bandits, wounding one of them, and the train takes off.When Link comes to, he realizes he's been left behind, and soon he finds that Miss Ellis and Mr. Beasley are in the same predicament. They begin to walk with Link telling them the nearest town is about a hundred miles away.Link leads the trio to a farmhouse, and says he lived there once long ago. He sends his companions to wait in the barn while he cautiously approaches the house. But the would-be train robbers are waiting in the dark, guns drawn, and Link is caught. The situation is tense, when from the back room comes an old man (Lee J. Cobb) who introduces himself as Link's uncle Dock Tobin. Dock reminisces about what a great gang he had when Link was his right hand, and how enraged he was when Link left him all while Link is at gunpoint. He says he wants to rejoin Dock, but guns remain pointed at him.Meanwhile, the wounded robber is dying. Dock insists one of his men put him out of his misery, and at last, the shady character, whose name is Coaley, shoots him.With the tension still high, they agree that Link will stay, and Link brings in his friends from the barn. Immediately, Beasely is put to work digging a grave. Dock asks if Billie is Link's woman and to protect her, he says yes.Then Link is sent to bring out the body, but Billie Ellis begins screaming. Link runs back to find that Coaley has her at gunpoint, demanding she undress for the pleasure of them all. When Link tries to intervene, Coaley holds a knife to his throat, drawing blood. Billie removes her shoes, stockings, blouse, skirt, and undershirt, and is wearing only her undergarments when Dock ends the show and allows Link to take Billie to sleep in the barn.In the barn, Link helps Billie get into bed, where she sobs and sobs while he tries to comfort her. It is here that Billie begins to fall for Link, who is distraught because he has lost all the townspeople's money. He has a wife and two children (ages 8 and 10) at home and he speaks of them with deep affection. Billie says his wife is a very lucky woman.In the morning, Claude (John Dehner) arrives. Coaley and Claude are brothers and Link's first cousins.Dock wants to rob a bank in Lasso, a bank he says is loaded with money. Now that Link is with them again, he's sure that they can pull off the job. They ride off with wagons towards Lasso.When they stop for a break, a "friendly" bit of wrestling turns into a murderous fight between Coaley and Link. Coaley fights dirty in every possible way, but Link gets the upper hand. He can't bring himself to kill, but Link strips Coaley in the same order he forced Billie to strip and leaves him humiliated. Coaley draws his gun and ignores Dock's order to stop. Beasely leaps jumps in front of Link to save him and is shot dead by Coaley, who is then shot by Dock.Link tells Billie that the folks in Good Hope know all about his murderous past, and he's "broken his back" working to establish himself with them as a decent man. Now, among this gang, he feels he wants to kill them, but he knows if he does, then he's no different from them.Dock's plan is to send one man into Lasso to case the bank. If the man feels that they can take the bank, then he will wait in town; otherwise, he will ride back. The rest of the gang is to wait four hours, and if the man doesn't ride back, they will ride into Lasso to meet him, find out how many guns await them, get the layout from their scout, and proceed to get rich. Link convinces Dock that he's the only man who can be the scout: Claude and Dock are known on sight in these parts, Trout (Royal Dano) is mute, and Ponch (Robert J. Wilke) is too stupid. Dock reluctantly agrees but sends Trout along with him.When they arrive, they find that Lasso is a ghost town, and a scared Mexican woman lives in the former bank. She holds a gun on the two men, terrified, but while Link tries to reassure her, Trout shoots and kills her. Enraged, Link kills Trout with the dead woman's gun. She has no ammunition, so Link gets Trout's gun and gunbelt and waits. He also searches Trout, but doesn't find his money.Claude and Ponch ride into Lasso. A tense, exciting battle follows; Link kills both men and is wounded in the left arm. Again, he searches fruitlessly for the money. As he is leaving, a Mexican man rides up; Link just says "I'm sorry." As Link rides off, we hear the husband's grief as he finds his beloved Juanita dead.Back at camp, Link finds Billie stripped and weeping. It appears that she has been molested despite Dock's promise to keep her safe. Link goes after Dock, wanting to take him in alive, but he is forced to return Dock's fire and kills him. His search over, Link gratefully pockets the money from the townspeople of Good Hope.As they ride together away from the awful scene, Billie thinks that Link will be treated as a hero. She says that she regrets nothing because she's never loved before, and although she knows that Link cannot return her love, to have the feeling is worth it.

Tags: cult, murder, romantic

Review:
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.
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.
Anthony Mann directed this surprisingly tough (for its era) and gritty western about an ex-outlaw (Gary Cooper) who, along with a card-sharp and a pretty woman, is left stranded after gun-toting thieves rob a train, only to end up taking refuge with the bloodthirsty gang--his former partners, led by his uncle.
Released in 1958 and directed by Anthony Mann, "Man of the West" stars Gary Cooper as a reformed owlhoot who becomes stranded with two others (Julie London & Arthur O'Connell) in the Arizona wilderness after their train is ambushed.
They eventually make their way to a hidden ranch in the rolling hills, which ushers in phantoms of the ex-outlaw's past.This is hailed as a cult classic and it's obvious why: To compete with so-called adult TV Westerns of the mid-late 50s, like Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, Maverick and the brutal The Rifleman (for which Sam Peckinpah directed several segments), Mann made "Man of the West" so 'adult' that there would be no comparison.
True, Link's face looks withered, but it could be argued that that's what a hard life in the Old West does to a man.Another criticism is the idea that Dock believed the bank in Lassoo would be full of money when the settlement turns out to be a virtual ghost town.
Unfortunately, with the gift of volition some people inevitably choose to eschew progress and continue in their ape-headed, animalistic ways (which is actually offensive to animals).After the aborted train robbery, Link starts to recognize his old stomping grounds and is drawn to the hidden shack for shelter & refreshment; yet perhaps also to revisit his past and "the good ol' days." He vacillates between his new identity and the temptation of regressing to the wild "freedom" of his lawless youth.Interestingly, "Man of the West" is very similar to the slightly superior "The Law and Jake Wade," which debuted four months earlier.
The grim, laconic Link is the predecessor of future antiheroes, like Eastwood's 'Man with No Name,' but Link is better IMO because he has more human dimension.BEST LINE: "There's a point where you either grow up and become a human being or you rot, like that bunch." The film runs 100 minutes and was shot entirely in California (Santa Clarita, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Jamestown, Thousand Oaks, Newhall, Sonora and the Mohave Desert, with studio-bound scenes done in West Hollywood).
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.
Tense , violent ,epic Western in which Gary Cooper , Lee J Cobb and Julie London stand out .
Gary Cooper is the Man of the West , a reformed outlaw called Link Jones (Gary Cooper , he bravely did his own horse-riding scenes despite physical pain from a car accident years earlier though) becomes stranded after an aborted train robbery with two other passengers (Julie London , Arthur O'Connell) .
Cooper is forced to rejoin his ex-colleague (Lee J Cobb) and ex-boss to save himself and other innocent people from the band's (Jack Lord , Robert J Wilke, Royal Dano) mistreatment .Magnificent Western plenty of thrills , shootouts , violence , gorgeous landscapes and results to be pretty entertaining .
Very good support cast formed by notorious secondaries such as Jack Lord , Royal Dano , Robert J Wilke , Arthur O'Connell , Frank Ferguson and special mention to Lee J Cobb .
Cooper can be a bit of a stiff so I wasn't expecting the movie to challenge personal favorites of the oater genre - The Searchers or True Grit - but I wasn't expecting a Western version of the laughable Poseidon Adventure.I'd rather have spent the time walking around the film locations in the middle of the summer..
One may call it fate or just bad luck when Link Jones finds himself off the train taking him back to his home and finds the one place he'd rather not go to is the only one close by (and happens to have his Uncle Dock Tobin and his cousins), but much of it comes back to the domination of MEN in this world; the 'Man' of the title is meant to be Gary Cooper, and yet it could be any of the men in here.
So when he happens along to his former criminal, gunslinging, bank-robbing kin when off of this train with a good woman (Julie London as Billie) and Arthur O'Connell as a man who seems like a possible annoyance at first (and who isn't so much once the drama really unfolds), it creates an instant conflict.This is Mann's territory, of the dysfunctional families out in the west (see also Winchester 73 with the brothers who have gone down very different roads of killing, or The Furies with its father-daughter power struggles), and he mines it for some rich dramatic terrain.
And few moments are more tense and sad and almost tough to watch as when the men demand that Billie take off her clothes in front of them (it takes a knife to Cooper's throat to convince her to start doing it).That, by the way, has the feel of a rape scene because it is (later, off-screen, there is another, and Mann shows us enough of the aftermath and London is heartbreaking in every moment that Billie is put through the wringer), and yet the only thing that stops that violation of her agency to go further is that "Uncle Dock" says it's time for bed.
Man of the West is the kind of film that gains in uneasiness and violence, including a fight scene midway through the movie that does not look fun like many, more possible hacky directors (or just more "commercial" minded) might have done.
This is rough and ragged and there's a point where the "movie" ness of it goes away and it's just watching two bedraggled men duking it out - including, ultimately, a "humiliation" that Link does that seems to set off this guy more than a simple shot to the head might do.What on the surface may seem like a straightforward thriller turns into a moral tale about the implicit terror that masculinity brings to people in the old west - not unlike Winchester 73 a subtle commentary on the form while getting to be it, in the 1950's of course - and Cobb makes this uncle an imposing presence over everyone (how could he not, after all, he's Lee J friggin Cobb!) Cooper brings a sad dignity to the man, someone who no longer wants to kill, and at the same time can spring into action if he's pushed into a corner, which, you know, is what this movie could also be called: Cornered in the West or something like that.
Mann and his writers have here less a story that's meant to arouse excitement as much as contemplating what it fully means when someone gets shot, what that violence entails, or what happens when a woman is stripped away down to what she's "made" for (when she Billie says to Link that he's the first man she can remember in a long time, if ever, to not look at her as something to be "had" or defiled, we believe it).
And yet London as an actress gives her a ton of screen presence and little moments that don't make her one dimensional.It may fall short of being a "best of 1958" like Mr. Godard said, but I can see his love for the movie: it's more concerned with ideas and notions of the old west than having it be just empty action and gunfights, and exploring the psychology, to be pretentious about it, of the west itself, of what an outlaw family entails and then what it means to be a *good* person in a world where it's so easy to get a gun and go out and shoot for cash and gold.
However, the train he is on is robbed by outlaws, thus meaning that Link's past and his dubious family ties are all careering towards a day of reckoning.This was Anthony Mann's second to last foray into the Western genre, and perhaps his most clinical as regards a structured tale of men as complicated as they are conflicted?
Cobb actually is the glue that holds the film together, his portrayal of Dock Tobin perfectly plays alongside Cooper's emotive showing of Link Jones's confliction.
Nor is the nameless (or is it multi-named?) protagonist, played by Gary Cooper whose "acting" doesn't drag this work down like it does in many of his movies, a true western hero.
Gary Cooper (Link Jones), "The Naked Edge",'61, was leaving his past behind him and wound up getting on a train with Julie London,(Billie Ellis),"A Question of Adultery", and found themselves deeply involved with some outlaws who were lead by Lee J.
There's a lot to like about this excellent Anthony Mann Western.Great "passing of the West" theme.Great tension and dramatic plot developmentReally good supporting acting.
Julie London is surprisingly effective and Arthur O'Connell provides solid support as well.However, there were a number of things that prevented this movie from being better:Gary Cooper's just way too old for this role.
But the glue that holds it all together is a nuanced, low key performance by legendary actor Gary Cooper as the man who is conflicted in thought and emotion, as fate interrupts his journey.He plays Link Jones, a man travelling by train to hire a schoolteacher, and who incidentally is a former outlaw trying to forget his shady past.
Jones reluctantly agrees to rejoin this bunch of men, but you can be certain he's not happy about the arrangement."Man of the West", during its release, didn't attract that much attention despite the efforts of the great Western director Anthony Mann; it took the complimentary words of French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard (a critic at the time) to help it start to attain a classic status.
This was not only just the case with his westerns by the way, since he also did a bunch of whole different movies but he is best known for his work in the western genre.Anthony Mann westerns are often more realistic with its characters, story and emotions but at the same time they also manage to be very entertaining ones.
Cobb in a movie as well but it was a bit silly though how he looked in this movie and at times played his character more like an old pirate, rather than an old tough outlaw.Anthony Mann westerns don't come across as particularly expensive ones, mostly because they are often set in the open or indoors, at an obvious studio but nevertheless his movies are always great looking ones.
Anthony Mann's last Western, "Man of the West", didn't make much of an impact at the time of its release but it has since gained somewhat of a reputation among film buffs.The story centres on Link Jones (Gary Cooper), a reformed outlaw who gets stranded with a couple of other passengers when their train is hijacked.
Good Gary Cooper western.Set in Texas in the late-1800s, a man, Link Jones (played by Gary Cooper), sets out a long-distance train trip in order to hire a teacher for his home town.
Has more dimensions than your average good cowboy-bad cowboy western.Not perfect though: feels clumsy at times, and some parts of the plot don't always make sense.Solid work by Gary Cooper in the lead role.
this is surely one of the best western done in the 50.....one can see where Clint Eastwood got his inspiration from Cary cooper...the film is comparable to unforgiven by Eastwood....great cast a great performance by lee.j.Cobb one of the finest actor of last century....not to be missed...a great part for Julie London reminding us of Claire Trevor in stagecoach....the supporting actors...flawless jack lord and royal Dino especially..run to rent it or wait for the d.v.d. the stark photography and the very dark lighting also might have been an inspiration for Eastwood while he did unforgiven....the scene in the cabin between Jack lord and Julie London doing a striptease is a great find,,,,,,,also the one between Cary Cooper and Jack Lord in the desert scene....great great work by Anthony Mann...Michel B.....
Some of the movies I used to love as a young boy and valued in my memories for many years, are usually dull and uninteresting when seen today, but this is not the case with the "Man of the West".An excellent film, directed in 1958 by Antony Mann, is a "must see" not only for all Western movie buffs, but for any cinema lover and student of the "Septième Art ».Gary Cooper acts the role of a man traveling by train to Fort Worth in search for a school teacher for Good Hope, the town he has settled in after he had escaped from his past.
Wilke is an historic figure in the standard support roles of he villain in many western movies.Gary Cooper, a great actor, lived only three years after the "Man of the West" to die in 1961.
Gary Cooper, in the Arizona of the 1870s, sets forth from his little town with six hundred dollars to hire for it a teacher A trip on a train introduces him to a comely saloon singer (Julie London), to a card sharp (Arthur O'Connell), but also to a bit of his past he'd rather forget For when the train is held up it is all too soon apparent that the gang is one to which he'd belonged in the bad old days, led by a villainous kinsman (Lee J.
Mann typically sets his final gun duels far away from civilization, off in the wilderness, away from all eyes...Released in CinemaScope and Technicolor, this visually beautiful dramatic Western gained instant notoriety, in 1958, because of the scene in which Julie London strips for the Tobin gang....
Man of the West was the last Western directed by Anthony Mann, it also  stands as one of his best works in the genre.
GARY COOPER plays a man haunted by his shady past when he's stranded by the side of the railroad tracks after a train robbery, along with JULIE London and ARTHUR O'CONNELL.
JACK LORD is the prize villain of the piece, almost unrecognizable as the man who later starred in "Hawaii Five-0" of TV fame.But the story is a nasty one, none of the desperadoes worth caring about and Cooper is unable to do much with his role of reformed outlaw trying to turn his life around and save schoolteacher/singer London from the clutches of an evil gang.He manages to do exactly that, in the course of the film's running time but by that time there's been such extravagant over-the-top acting by LEE J.
Cobb), and his gang of four, including some sterling character actors like the mute Royal Dano, the retarded Robert Wilkes, the wolfish Jack Lord, and the thoughtful John Dehner.Cooper had wised up and ridden away from the gang years ago but Dock welcomes him back, believing he means to stay.
Man of the West achieves all that is expected from an above average western with some surprisingly risqué scenes for a 1958 film involving Julie London's character forced to strip for the brutish outlaw gang while Cooper looks on helplessly with a knife being held at his throat, as the clothes come off the blood begins to trickle down Cooper's neck.
Man of the West is a must see film for Gary Cooper and Julie London fans alike.
Director Anthony Mann would always include more violence in his films than his Hollywood contemporaries, but with MAN OF THE WEST he marches us right up to the edge and makes us look over.Gary Cooper turns in a familiar performance as the quiet, introspective hero, just trying to get along in the world and make a place for himself among civilised folks.
As in the cabin, when Coaley (Jack Lord) taunted Billie Ellis (Julie London) to strip down in front of the Tobin gang; I was straining for Link (Cooper) to make a stand.
Anthony Mann's Man Of The West is not just a good western but one of the best films about revenge and violence ever made.
From director Anthony Mann (Winchester '73, The Naked Spur, The Man from Laramie, El Cid), I only knew the leading actor in classic western High Noon, I wouldn't have known he starred in many others, this was another one in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Basically Link Jones (Gary Cooper) is a reformed outlaw travelling to Crosscut, Texas to hire a schoolteacher, conman Sam Beasley (Arthur O'Connell) briefly speaks to him, and this rouses the suspicions of the town marshal who thinks he looks familiar, and on the train Sam introduces him Crosscut saloon singer Billie Ellis (Julie London) who is keen to be a teacher.