The Far Country

Plot synopsis:
In 1896, Jeff Webster (James Stewart) sees the start of the Klondike gold rush as a golden opportunity to make a fortune in beef. He and his friend Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan) drive a cattle herd from Wyoming to Seattle, by ship to Skagway and through the mountains to Dawson City.On the way, he annoys town boss and self-appointed Skagway judge Gannon (John McIntire) by interrupting a hanging. Webster ends up being taken into custody and jailed. He meets French-Canadian gamine Renee Vallon (Corinne Calvet) at the jail, when she brings supper to his cell mate. Renee immediately takes a liking to Webster and flirts with him.Webster doesn't have to wait long for trial, and he's escorted to the saloon to meet with the judge. Renee goes along and Webster calls her "Freckle Face," which irritates her. Judge Gannon asks him who he shot. Webster explains it was two men who took it upon themselves to combine his herd with theirs. The judge agrees that was justified, so he dismisses the case, but he also tells Webster his cows are being confiscated for disturbance of the peace, among other things. Webster wants to take issue with that, but he realizes he's badly outnumbered, and justice usually goes to the strongest at the time.The owner of the saloon, a woman named Ronda Castle (Ruth Roman), asks the judge why he confiscated Webster's cattle. "Because I wanted them," he says.Webster and Tatum decide to make for the Klondike, even though they lost their cattle, and begin making preparations. Ronda just happens to be heading up a party bound for Alaska with the cows and she offers Webster a job as her trail boss. Since Webster and Tatum are down to their last $50, and it requires a minimum $100 in food and supplies to receive permission from Judge Gannon to head up the trail, Webster agrees to the job. Plus, he's obviously attracted to Ms. Castle and her to him.Not long into their trip, Webster, Tatum and Ben Rube (Jay C. Flippen), slip off during the night, and take off with the cattle. Gannon and his men pursue. After crossing the border into Canada, Webster uses a few well-placed warning shots to persuade Gannon's gang to give up the chase, but the judge promises a hot reception when Webster returns to Skagway, as he must, for it's the only way to get back.Ronda and her men re-join Webster to complete the journey to Dawson City. She still considers Webster to be her employee, obliged to see them all safely through. As they approach 2-Mile Pass, Webster announces that they will take a trail through the valley and not attempt to go over the pass. Ronda tells him that she won't accept him taking an additional six days to go through the valley, but he won't be persuaded, or ordered, to do differently. So, Ronda and her group head for 2 Mile Pass while Webster and his men, with the cattle, head for the valley.What Webster didn't explain to Ronda was that he was concerned about a possible avalanche in the pass. When Tatum asked Webster why he didn't tell her that, Webster just says, "she wouldn't listen." It's not long before there's a loud rumbling noise and Webster and the others look up towards the pass to see a large avalanche taking place. Renee, who's along for the trip, quickly calls for the men to head up there and see if the others needed help. Webster refuses at first, but Renee and Tatum appeal to his sense of morality and he begrudgingly agrees to go with them.Three members of Ronda's group were killed and other injured. The survivors rejoin Webster's group and they all continue on to Dawson City. Ronda tricks Webster into reaching for her coffee cup, and she kisses him. Renee witnesses that and gets very upset.When the group get to Dawson, they find widespread (though relatively peaceful) lawlessness. Webster ignores it as none of his business. There's interest in his cattle and Tatum ends up conducting an impromptu auction, where Ronda outbids the co-owners of the local hash house, Hominy (Connie Gilchrist), Grits (Kathleen Freeman) and Molasses (Connie Van).The people of Dawson City have visions of using their hoped for mining wealth to create a regular town where they can live and raise families. However, Gannon and his gunmen show up in Dawson City and begin cheating the miners out of their claims. One man who takes issue with that is shot to death. The others in town are advised to leave Dawson City and never come back. Dawson has suddenly become a very dangerous place to be.Webster chooses to stay out of the fray, figuring it's better to stay alive and be able to take another direction in life, if need be, or at least wait until the odds are more favorable. He secretly plans to sneak out and make his way back south, while Gannon is otherwise occupied. He and Tatum get down to the river, where Webster has stashed a raft. However, Gannon had been tipped off when Tatum bought some extra coffee for a long trip, and he and his men ride up on them, shooting and killing Ben and wounding Webster.Webster manages to load Tatum's body onto a horse, and then gets on his own horse and rides back to Dawson City. No one makes a move to help until Renee sees them and she goes to Webster's cabin and tends to his wounds. She also makes arrangements for Tatum's burial.Webster is itching to strap on his gun and go after Gannon as soon as he wakes up to find Renee tending to him, but realizes his right hand is wounded too bad.Ronda comes to the cabin to check on Webster. Renee wants Webster to make her leave, but he allows her to stay, so Renee leaves, angry. Ronda wants Webster to leave things be, as far as Gannon is concerned. She believes if Webster tries to do anything, he'll be killed, but Webster isn't about to let Gannon get away with having murdered Tatum.Even though his hand is still not healed, Webster decides to strap on his gun and carry his rifle and go face down Gannon. First, he scares off two of Gannon's men who were in the process of placing a notice on his gold claim, identifying it as now belonging to Gannon.Webster sends his horse down the street, to walk in front of the saloon, where Gannon and his men waited. They were expecting him, so it was very quiet, and they could hear the sound of the small bell attached to the saddle horn (Tatum had been carrying that bell around, intending to put it somewhere in the ranch house they planned to establish in Utah).Two of Gannon's gunmen, Madden (Robert J. Wilke) and Newberry (Jack Elam), were standing in the dark in front of the saloon, ready to shoot down Webster as he rode up. After they are surprised to see that it's a rider-less horse, they start looking around. Webster steps out of the shadows across the street and yells at them. They all start shooting. Webster is hit by a fragment in his cheek, but he shoots and kills Madden and Newberry.Webster then calls Gannon to come out and settle the dispute man-to-man. Gannon confirms that his men know when to come outside, then he slips out the back door and sneaks around the side. Before Gannon can complete his ambush, Ronda rushes out the front door to warn Jeff. Gannon shoots her in the back, killing her. Jeff rushes forward and falls down near Ronda, asking her why she couldn't have just gone away.Gannon and Webster continue their gunfight, shooting at each other from opposite ends of the porch, until Webster shoots and kills Gannon. Gannon's men in the saloon failed to appear in time to help, or save, Gannon. When they did finally step out onto the porch of the saloon, they found themselves facing the rest of the townspeople who were all pointing guns at them. They decide it's time they left town, and they go. Renee rushes up to Webster, ready to help him with his newest wounds.

Tags: murder

Review:
Stewart is a Wyoming cattleman who dreams to make enough money to buy a small ranch in Utah ranch His only real companion is his sidekick Ben Tatum, the great Walter Brennan To accomplish that, they drive the cattle clear to Alaska and on to Dawson, in Canadian territory, where they sell them...Along the way they meet the man who runs the gold-crazy town behind a dishonest lawman John McIntire...
Captured by Mann's camera in the wonderful scenery of the Canadian Rockies, Stewart is a thoughtful loner forced into violence by his need to get rid of the treacherous actions of a corrupt entrepreneur robbing local miners of their claimsIn this entertaining, beautiful Western, Stewart has two leading ladies to struggle with: Ruth Roman, a bit too valuable to describe as a sexy woman resisting the worst vicissitudes of the territory and the more docile, the French Canadian girl Corinne Calvet who does create a nice portrait of a likable girl with the ability to form a judgment...
Stewart of course plays a congenial sort, but his character Jeff Webster has a history of killing a couple men and having a little vengeance in his heart, and when he is coerced into this new job you know it isn't going to go smoothly.This is an odd story told with an odd tilt to it, and that's a good thing overall.
And there is the sheriff and judge and power-monger in town who is ruthless with a laugh and cackle, and he makes a great villain.I'm not interested in movies for their scenery, but it's worth noticing the amazing mountain country that is the setting here.
Brennan acts as his conscience, reminding him to be a good guy, and Stewart, to his credit, listens.Heroics come slowly in a Mann Western.
Both of which play out amongst some of Mann's peccadilloes like honour, integrity, betrayal and of course, death!The story sees fortune hunting partners Jeff Webster {James Stewart} and Ben Tatum {Walter Brennan} travel to Oregon Territory with a herd of cattle.
Here beautiful women and a meek and lawless town will fill out the destinies of all involved.Interesting from start to finish, The Far Country benefits greatly from James Stewart's bubbling {anti} hero in waiting portrayal and Mann's slick direction of the tight Borden Chase script.
Paying dividends on re-watches for hardened genre fans, it still remains something of an essential viewing for first timers venturing into the wonderful, yet dark, Western world of Anthony Mann and James Stewart.
Once there, they have to contend with seductive, shifty businesswoman Ruth Roman and ice-cold, happy-go-lucky villain James McIntire.John Wayne may get talked about more, but his good pal Stewart made some excellent, hard-edged westerns too, some with the great director Anthony Mann.
Frankly, I'd take this, with it's sturdy action sequences and fine melodrama, over North To Alaska any day!The Far Country features some breathtaking scenery and cinematography that should definitely have been shot in widescreen.Also, there's some strong support by the always reliable Brennan, Roman (who's great), the incredibly cute Corrine Calvet, and James McIntire, who plays one of my favorite types of bad guy, the kind that doesn't take himself too seriously.This would make a great double-bill with another highly recommended Mann/Stewart northwest-set western, Bend Of The River..
As a self-minded , haunted cowboy (Jeff Webster) leads his herd to the Yukón , through Seattle , Scagway , Alaska , in hopes of huge profits accompanied by veterans Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan) and Rube (J.C.Flippen) transport cows by boat when they arrive in Scagway , subsequently to sell it them in Dawson City .
Sympathetic as well as brave acting by the great James Stewart as the stubborn Webster who must fight frontier lawlessness and locks horns with a crooked judge , a top-hatted nasty , magnificently played by John McIntire .
The story starts fast and doesn't let up, with several scenes of really good dialog between (Stewart's) Jeff Webster, Ronda Castle and Sheriff Gannon.
The production is very good and you can tell that it was done with pride and love.Unique peek into the American NORTHT WEST pioneers is very educational and entertaining.This movie is very under rated because most people do not like to see the reality that many "lawmen" during this particular time and place were very crooked/corrupt much like most developing countries today.The action sequences could have been more realistic though but still,this movie really covers most of the essentials.Not for an audience who wants only pure testoterone type westerns for this movie is more for those who have a sense of history and philosophy........
This is such a fantastic movie, a Western about a self-concerned man (Jimmy Stewart) going up to the Klondike for gold.
Flippen and Walter Brennen, who plays Stewart's best friend), builds a saloon (a Hollywood front for a whorehouse) and tries to run the town's restaurant and hang-out place out of business.
The fourth of five westerns Anthony Mann did with James Stewart, this one involves a hard bitten cattleman named Jeff Webster who takes a cattle drive from Wyoming to Alaska, via Seattle.
That's why she hides him out on the boat while the captain's looking for him for the earlier (and justifiable) killing of a trail hand.Jeff also has the misfortune of running into sleazy Judge Gannon (John McIntire) who runs the town of Skagway, Alaska.
But then Judge Gannon comes up to Dawson to get in on the gold action up there, and tells Jeff that he was getting a little bored with Skagway and wants to try his luck up in the Klondike, himself.
But there isn't.Stewart plays the part of reluctant hero Jeff Webster taming Cattle Rustlers and Mining bullies, fronted up by Jim Gannon, in the ubiquitous black hat.
(And yes, I HAVE seen at least some of the so-called "greats", and unapologetically lump them into this negative assessment - including Stagecoach, Rio Bravo, My Darling Clementine, and of course the infamous [but profoundly dull] Clint Eastwood-Sergio Leone teamups in the '60s.)But when I saw this movie on TV - as part of a commemorative Jimmy Stewart weekend upon his death - I finally GOT IT: I understood, at least in theory, what the Western mythos has to offer as a serious thematic preoccupation (aside from just action and thrills).
In this very watchable and highly entertaining western {shot in Canadian Northwest} it plays with all the veracity and dishonesty that marked the 'OL WEST and Klondike rush of period.With breathtaking photography and backdrop of big unconquered Alaska,we are taken on tour with Jimmy Stewart and crew to witness the fervor and passion that marked the hunt for GOLD.
With a cast of significant players,John McIntire {Top Hat wearing local magistrate} and Walter Brennan {side kick and partner to Stewart} and lovely but too strong-willed independent lassie Ruth Roman on hand to make believably interesting ,the movie never fails to be fun and gripping.I couldn't find any weak spots,where either action or interest lulls.Very good sign of filmmaking,to let the movie play out with nary a weak or insignificant scene.One of the main reasons for my big approval of.The scenes all play and build upon one another,with such ease as to seem effortless.Another good sign.
The actual filming of backdrop and landscape is as good as it gets for any picture.Whether it was shot in early Cinemascope or Technicolor ,it should have bragging rights for production value and credibility.The color was never truer or richer and as clear as that bell 'OL Walter kept talkin about,that he gave his fiercely self-reliant and sometimes cold of heart buddy-Stewart.Speaking of which,he goes thru kind of transformation during scenes and starts caring more about his fellow frontier blazing man,which can be both hazardous and rewarding for his character.Since Stewart personified the ordinary man,and his pursuit of happiness or just life,he doesn't fail to deliever the gods here,except to the extent upon which he is brazen about many men in general,since crooks,liers and killer's were in abundance.Who better than cinema's Jimmy to sing praises of or cast dispersions upon one's character.
Ruth Roman tries to usurp her presence with a combination of riches and wily ways,and mostly to the chagrin of Stewart,who is caught up in the middle.But to ease his entanglements along the way and steer clear of ever present danger,is old timer Brennan to the rescue.He innocent enough and only wants the best for the two,being too easily pleased with condition of their fate,wanting only early place to retire and pot after pot of coffee.He adds element of moral support and buddy vehicle to film.Good touch.Other cast are authentic and visual,if not vocal upon command and lend to texture of storyline.
RELEASED IN 1954 and directed by Anthony Mann, "The Far Country" stars Jimmy Stewart as a self-centered cattleman, Jeff Webster, who conflicts with a crooked, self-appointed lawman (John McIntire) while driving cattle through Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson during the 1896 Klondike gold rush.
Walter Brennan plays Jeff's best friend while Corinne Calvet plays a tough foreign settler with romantic inclinations.This was the fourth of five Westerns Mann did with Stewart.
This one was shot in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, with one episode involving Athabasca Glacier.The opening sequence on the steamship is memorable for the way Jeff (Stewart) escapes ship authorities with the assistance of Ruth Roman's character.
This movie was just as good as some of the other westerns made by Anthony Mann and James Stewart like Winchester '73 and The Naked Spur, and much better than Thunder Bay and Bend Of The River.
It has a great cast with so many of the wonderful character actors and actresses from the old days - Walter Brennan, John McIntyre, Jay Flippen, Connie Gilchrist, and others.
Jimmy Stewart plays Jeff Webster, a loner and bachelor who, along with his sidekick/business partner Ben Tatum(played by Walter Brennan) takes a herd of cattle by ship from Wyoming to Seattle.
The nearby town of Dawson has an increasing amount of lawlessness, which doesn't bother Jeff until it hits him personally...Disappointing western can't measure up to either of the previous films with director Anthony Mann and star Jimmy Stewart.
However, they encounter John McIntyre (Gannon), a crooked judge/lawman in Skagway., where McIntyre quickly confiscates their cattle.Ruth Roman (Rhonda) hires Stewart to guide her pack train north to Dawson, located in the Yukon Territory, where she plans to open a saloon.
James Stewart, Walter Brennan, John McIntire, Ruth Roman, Jay C.
Flippen, Corinne Calvet, Steve Brodie, Harry Morgan, Robert Wilke, Jack Elam, Kathleen Freeman - lots of familiar names and faces in this western.It was my first look at THE FAR COUNTRY (1954) and I was very impressed.
FAR COUNTRY has cowpoke Jimmy Stewart running afoul of a self-appointed sheriff (John McIntire in a Judge Roy Bean top hat) in a small Alaskan town, and having trouble shaking him as he moves on.
This was a surprisingly strong movie, much better than Winchester '73 and The Man From Laramie, two other Mann/Stewart Westerns I have reviewed.Here's what I liked:The basic plot is convincing and credible.
The year is 1896.Jeff Webster (James Stewart) doesn't like people.There's only one friend he's got and he's Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan), an old sympathetic man.They're driving a cattle herd with them.That would be their key to richness.In Skagway they run into trouble when Sheriff Gannon (John McIntire) takes the cattle.Now Jeff only has to get it back and drive it through the U.S. Canadian border to Dawson.Now they have a group of other people with them, like the ladies Ronda Castle (Ruth Roman) and Renee Vallon (Corinne Calvet).There the two men get into the gold business.Anthony Mann's and James Stewart's fourth collaboration, The Far Country (1954) is a fine western, indeed.The acting work is superb.Walter Brennan makes a terrific sidekick to Stewart.Ruth Roman is brilliant and Corinne Calvet's delightful.Jay C.
Flippen is very good as Dawson Marshal Rube Morris.The great Jack Elam and Kathleen Freeman are seen in smaller roles.It's fantastic to watch how Jimmy Stewart overcome's all the troubles in his way.There's just the man and his rifle.But also he's vulnerable..
Fourth in the series of westerns director Anthony Mann made with James Stewart, "The Far Country", while not the best of them, is still hugely entertaining.
Aw, I'm Not That Bad, Now. Jimmy Stewart, soft-spoken, classically well-mannered and mild, with that inimitable drawl, was an unexpected choice to play a frontier anti-hero, and that's precisely why, unlike more conventional cowboy stars, his lanky figure and detached behavior gives Jeff Webster a vulnerability rarely seen in western protagonists, particularly his power to intermingle a sinister, fuming state with America's Everyman.
Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann teamed to do some of the best westerns ever made and this is one of the best.The real star of the film however is the spectacular Canadian Rockies that serve as a backdrop for the story.
Some of the best cinematography ever done in the history of film.In all five of the westerns that Stewart and Mann did together the supporting roles were perfectly cast.
The story is that Jeff and Ben, through a series of events, wind up in the get rich quick town of Dawson, along with gold partners Calvet and Flippen, and no-good but beautiful Roman and her hired men.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this misrepresentation of Canadian history, particularly the disservice done to the history of the Mounted Police in the Yukon.I'll leave it to Pierre Berton, noted historian, born and raised in Dawson City Yukon, and author of the definitive history of the Klondike gold rush, Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899 to express my exasperation with this silly movie: The American idea of an untamed frontier, subdued by individual heroes armed with six-guns, was continued in The Far Country, another story about a cowboy from the American west - Wyoming this time - driving his herd of beef cattle into gold country.
This is mostly a story about the growing relationship between Jeff Webster(Jimmy Stewart) and Ronda Castle(Ruth Roman).
Anthony Mann's westerns with Jimmy Stewart are slowly gaining for that director a position with John Ford and Howard Hawks as the best film director in that genre.
Directed by Anthony Mann, "The Far Country" is no masterpiece, but it does maintain a great story about a selfish young cattleman named Jeff Webster, wonderfully portrayed by James Stewart.
Dowd character from "Harvey" [1950].) By the end of the film, Jeff learns about the importance of helping others, as he helps the struggling Canadian boom town of Dawson rid itself of a crooked lawman from Skagway, Alaska named Mr. Gannon (John McIntire), who has been deviously forcing the Dawson inhabitants off of their gold claims.
"The Far Country" boasts an excellent cast; Stewart, McIntyre, Brennan, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, and Jay C.
I'm gonna hang you, but I'm gonna like you." The pretty young French-Canadian girl Renee Vallon (Calvet) nurses Jeff back to health after several of Gannon's henchmen wound him, but she displays her jealousy when the more worldly, self-centered Ronda Castle (Roman) steps in and takes over where Renee left off.When I first saw "The Far Country," I found the selfishness of Stewart's character very hard to take, and I was not convinced of his reformation at the end.
There's nothing wrong with a hero in a Western being cynical, but he was just too cynical.But I liked Ruth Roman as an antagonistic businesswoman and Walter Brennan as James Stewart's friend.
Not that Webster had any problems with people not liking him, it was just his way, take it or leave it.The other aspect of Webster's character that satisfied this viewer was his resolve to go back to Skagway and retrieve his stolen cattle from town villain Gannon (John McIntire).
Exceptional western directed by Anthony Mann (one of the greatest western directors to ever live) with Jimmy Stewart—no surprise—terrific in the lead as a crusty cattle driver who loads his herd on a boat heading to Alaska through Canada when he comes across the morally bankrupt "law" of a frontier town that stands in his way, Judge Gannon (John McIntire) who runs it like a totalitarian government.
Stewart is Jeff Webster, with old buddy, Ben (Walter Brennan, endearing and folksy as expected), ready to make some bread from his cattle, losing the herd to the shifty Gannon when he claims that they're unloading of the live beef interrupted his hanging session in the town for the day, criminal disorderly conduct the charge.
Ruth Roman is good as a saloon owner who is torn between the real bad guy (John McIntire and Jimmy Stewart).
Anthony Mann did a lot of good, to the Western and to Noir, but he can't quite shoot his way out of this one.Jimmy Stewart as a heel: interesting.John McIntire as Judge Roy Bean: surprising.Walter Brennan as Walter Brennan: poor guy.
James Stewart put in a fine performance as Webster and was ably supported by Ruth Roman who played Ronda Castle and John McIntire who played Gannon.
Jeff Webster (James Stewart) prides himself on not needing anything from anyone, except his old trail buddy Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan).
But unlike other Westerns where the story is all about the good guy riding into town and solving every problem with his quick draw and his six gun, The Far Country is all about the need of people to work together to face their challenges and make the world a better place.This is a pretty entertaining film, most notably for the performances of James Stewart and John McIntire and for the story's take on the closing of the frontier.
Stewart appears to relish the misanthropic aspects of Jeff Webster and McIntire plays Gannon as the sort of bad man who's perfectly capable of doing something good as long as it amuses him.
It's men like Gannon, who cloak themselves in the law and authority, that are seizing control and it takes more than any one man to stand up to them.The Far Country is a Western grappling with the end of an era without wanting to demystify it.