Cheap Winchester '73 (DVD) (James Stewart, Shelley Winters) (Anthony Mann) Price

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Customer Reviews of Winchester '73

Format: Black & White
Studio: Universal Studios
Video Release Date: May 6, 1992

Cast:

James Stewart ... Lin McAdam
Shelley Winters ... Lola Manners
Dan Duryea ... Waco Johnnie Dean
Stephen McNally ... Dutch Henry Brown
Millard Mitchell ... High-Spade Frankie Wilson
Charles Drake ... Steve Miller
John McIntire ... Joe Lamont
Will Geer ... Wyatt Earp
Jay C. Flippen ... Sgt. Wilkes
Rock Hudson ... Young Bull
John Alexander ... Jack Riker
Steve Brodie ... Wesley
James Millican ... Wheeler
Abner Biberman ... Latigo Means
Tony Curtis ... Doan
James Best ... Crator
Jack Curtis ... Bit part
Steve Darrell ... Bat Masterson
Robert Anderson ... Basset
John Doucette ... Roan Daley
Mel Archer ... Bartender
Jimmy Hawkins ... Boy at store window (first speech in film)
Timmy Hawkins ... Boy at Rifle Shoot
Carol Henry ... Dudeen
Gary Jackson ... Gary Jameson
Norman Kent ... Buffalo hunter
Ethan Laidlaw ... Station master
Ted Mapes ... Bartender
Gregg Martell ... Mossman (cavalryman)
Bill McKenzie ... Boy at rifle shoot
Jennings Miles ... Stagecoach driver
Norman Ollestad ... Stable boy
Larry Olsen ... Boy at rifle shoot
Bud Osborne ... Man
Ray Bennett ... Charles Bender
Chuck Roberson ... Long Tom
Forrest Taylor ... Voice of target clerk
Tony Taylor ... Boy
Ray Teal ... Marshall Noonan
John War Eagle ... Indian interpreter
Guy Wilkerson ... Virgil Earp
Duke York ... Man #1
Chief Yowlachie ... Indian at rifle shoot
Frank Chase ... Cavalryman
Edmund Cobb ... Target watcher
Frank Conlan ... Contest clerk in saloon
Virginia Mullen ... Mrs. Jameson
Bonnie Kay Eddy ... Bonnie Jameson

Not really a "history" of the famous old Winchester model 1873. It is more a story based on the rifles of that model referred to as "one of 1000". There were such rifles, highly sought after, and were used as a promotion stunt for prizes for the best shot in a particular area.

Stewart (Linn McAdam) was competing with, as it turns out, his brother, Stepfhen McNally (Dutch Henry Brown), an outlaw who had killed their father. Dan Duryea plays a "heavy" quite well, and Shelley Winters provides the love interest. Millard Mitchell is the faithfal companion, and Will Geer makes a believable Wyatt Earp, although in that stage of his real life he was a considerably younger man.

This is a pretty good Western, with all the elements: Indian battles, horse chases, shoot-outs with innocent women and children involved, purely evil bad guys, unbelievably good shooting by men (Stewart and McNally) who then turn around and, when it counts can't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside.

But, I liked the film. Probably because I like the cast. Duryea was always a great "bad guy", Stewart fit his part perfectly, and Winters did hers very well, as might be expected. When you get a good story, well acted by real professionals, the result, given good direction, is a good movie. Who needs color?

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

`My mistake. I shot THROUGH it...'
This movie can do no wrong in my book.

Two greats, Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart, team up to deliver this two-fister about an obsessed man tracking a killer from his own past while his friend Millard Mitchell does his best to keep him from going over the edge. Shelly Winters does a nice turn as the poor gal. Stephen McNally is oily as the main bad guy, and Dan Duryea comes off like Johnny Udo (from the original Kiss Of Death) in chaps.

The story really heats up when Stewart wins a shooting contest in which Wyatt Earp officiates (watch for the postage stamp across the nickel - some heroic marskmanship here) and gets his prized Winchester rifle stolen for his trouble. The Winchester does a hot potato act between badmen and Indians (Rock Hudson shows up as a war chief, in a scene where Tony Curtis dons the blue wool as a cavalry buck), and finally winds up in a climactic, hair raising shootout in a jumble of rocks above the desert. You can FEEL the bullets whizzing by.

Especially love the scene where Lin encounters Waco Johnnie Dean (read: Johnny Udo)in a bar and displays a decided lack of patience for the young bad man's showboating... There aren't many places to find good old Jimmy Stewart coming off harder (but do try `Flight Of The Phoenix'...wow!).

PS - This DVD is a good buy - the print they used tends to be a little less than pristine here and there, but it has got a commentary track with Jimmy Stewart on it! How did they do this? It seems Jimmy might have been watching the Laserdisc. His anecdotes about the old studio system and incites into acting are great. Especially like the stories about his hat (used in various westerns for twenty years) and horse, Pie (same as above).

"Huh...this laser thing is very interesting..." Jimmy Stewart.

Great suprise. Great DVD.

Anthony Mann creates a classic
The story goes that in 1950 Jimmy Stewart was looking around for something a little different for himself, something where he could play a character less folksy and warm. He sure did find it in this film, as well as all the other magnificent westerns he did with gritty, noir director, Anthony Mann (T-Men, Raw Deal, Railroaded, etc). This is the first of their collaborations.

When the film was first shown to test audiences, there were titters in the crowd when Jimmy Stewart's name appeared in the credits. "Mr. Smith" in a western? Shooting people? Please. By the end of the film, the tittering was all done and Stewart had established himself as a viable western hero (although in truth the magic of these Mann/Stewart westerns is that the characters Stewart plays are hardly "heroic." They are usually driven, neurotic men, nearly shifty-eyed, with a mean streak a mile wide - bitter men, and always very, very angry and eager to kill.

The basic set-up of this film is beautifully simple: Jimmy Stewart has a prize rifle stolen from him, a Winchester Model 1973 (which at the time the film takes place was state-of-the-art in the world of firearms), and he spends the rest of the movie hunting the man that stole it.

The story unfolds, however, as the movie rolls quickly along to something much more complex, culminating in one of the finest shootouts in movie history. The two principal actors of the film, James Stewart and Stewart McNally, spent a great deal of time practicing with their rifles (in Stewart's case Mann often found him walking around the set with bleeding knuckles, the results of his hours of self-training working the classic lever-action Winchester). Their hard work paid of in a tremendous realism.

Anthony Mann brought in cinematographer, William Daniels, for Winchester '73, a veteran who most notably had worked a great deal with Garbo in the 30's. Daniels brought his tremendous sense of lighting to the table to create one of the most beautiful looking Westerns of all time. Daniels' light, combined with Mann's unmatched visual sense, made things look nearly 3-demensional in their reality. When viewing this film, watch for the staggering long shots, or the scenes near dusk or at night. Pure texture and light - at once glamorous yet real.

This film also has my favorite depiction of aging Western legend, Wyatt Earp, the Law in Dodge, played with easy authority by Will Greer. Greer always offers his suggestions to town folks with a warm smile, as when he asks Stewart to give up his gun in an early scene. There is always a bit of steel in the old gunfighter's eyes, though, and folks always do just as he suggests. Quickly.

All in all a great treat and a must-have for any fan of the Western (or for that matter, any lover of movies). A true classic all the way. --Mykal Banta