The Man from Laramie

One day I see an upcoming broadcast of a "classic western" that I had never heard of and so I took the gamble, pressed record and then recently sat down to see what The Man from Laramie was all about. Released in 1955 and starring ol' Jimmy Stewart, I wasn't sure whether to expect a fairly safe affair given the time in which it was made or whether this western might have more going on beneath the hat. 

The story sees Will Lockhart and his small team riding supplies through the frontier and around dangerous Indian territory, who recently killed a small group of cavalry soldiers, to the isolated town of Coronado. However, Lockhart runs into trouble with the son of the man who runs Coronado but that doesn't deter him from leaving because there is a matter he wants to settle in this town that holds secrets. The TV guide spoilt Lockhart's motivation to me but I'll be sure to avoid any spoilers here.

Directed by Anthony Mann, this would be one of his and Stewart's eight films working together so one could assume they worked very well together, and The Man from Laramie is a very good film that gives Stewart plenty of opportunities to take the lead, and give a great performance. This isn't the typical western flick, which dominated the screens around this time, and I quickly engaged with the story that feels as fresh today as it did back then. The cast are great and the villains are suitably wicked that I was hooked to see where this went and I really do think audiences today will find this to be an accessible one to jump into. 

The only snags I found were with the film's sloppy use of day-for-night sequences, otherwise this is a great looking film and any rear projection/sets are kept to a minimum. The Man from Laramie might not exactly be on the zeitgeist anymore but western fans would be remiss to pass this one up and newcomers to the genre will also find it to be very entertaining.