The Tin Star (1957)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

Joel Kane (story)
Dudley Nichols (writer)

Release Date:

31 January 1958 (Finland)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A cynical ex-sheriff turned bounty hunter helps a young, recently appointed acting sheriff with his advice, his experience, and his gun.

Plot Keywords:

Arson | Hanging Posse | Stagecoach Robbery | Mayor | Native American

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Morgan 'Morg' Hickman
Anthony Perkins	...	Sheriff Ben Owens
Betsy Palmer	...	Nona Mayfield
Michel Ray	...	Kip Mayfield
Neville Brand	...	Bart Bogardus
John McIntire	...	Dr. Joseph Jefferson 'Doc' McCord
Mary Webster	...	Millie Parker
Peter Baldwin	...	Zeke McGaffey
Richard Shannon	...	Buck Henderson
Lee Van Cleef	...	Ed McGaffey
James Bell	...	Judge Thatcher
Howard Petrie	...	Mayor Harvey King
Russell Simpson	...	Clem Hall
Hal K. Dawson	...	Andy Miller
Jack Kenny	...	Sam Hodges (as Jack Kenney)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Norway:12 (1958) | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (PCA #18468) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Perlsea Company

Goofs:

Continuity: When the stagecoach driver rushes into town to report that they were robbed, there is a small trail of dust following each side of the stagecoach. When it comes to a full stop, the dust is almost completely settled down. Next they cut to a slightly closer view of the stage and surrounding areas, and the air is full of dust all over the scene, much more than the stagecoach ever caused to fly up.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sheriff Ben Owens: Uh, ju-just getting the feel of these guns.
Morg Hickman: Where's the sheriff?

Anthony Mann's best post-James Stewart Western

The Tin Star is full of Anthony Mann's typical plays on perspective and symmetry, the cinematic possibilities of which few other directors have ever really grasped - not merely visual but emotional and thematic as well (the opening shot is repeated in reverse as the closing shot, but with an entirely different meaning). Although it's set mostly in the town limits as Henry Fonda's embittered bounty hunter finds himself reluctantly passing on tips to the temporary sheriff (Anthony Perkins, still a nice, awkward young guy here before a lifetime of psychopathic typecasting), his great use of location to define and place characters is omnipresent: check out the great sheriff's office with its huge window overlooking the town which puts both men at the heart of the town while effectively keeping them outside it. Indeed, the film is all about outsiders either trying to belong or trying to dominate, throwing in a surprising subplot about racism that allies its misfits and broken angels.

Fonda makes a superb replacement for Stewart (the director and his favoured star fell out on Night Passage), Neville Brand's tough bad 'un, who wants Perkins' badge for a hunting license, makes a worthy adversary and the final showdown is brilliantly staged, and Elmer Bernstein's score is a definite plus (and a world away from the south of the border energy of his post-Magnificent Seven genre efforts). Mann's last great Western, it deserves to be better known.