Director: Anthony Mann
Screenplay: Robert L. Richards and Borden Chase
Starring: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Millard Mitchell, Charles Drake, John McIntire, Will Geer, Jay C. Flippen, Rock Hudson
Country: United States
Running Time: 92 min
Year: 1950
BBFC Certificate: PG

Director Anthony Mann and actor James Stewart collaborated on eight films together, five of which were westerns. Their pairings included landmarks of the genre, such as The Far Country and The Man From Laramie, as well as a monster hit for the time, the bandleader biography The Glenn Miller Story.  Their repeated collaborations were sparked by the surprise success of their first film together, a landmark of the western genre: Winchester ’73.

Winchester ’73 follows Lin McAdam (James Stewart) and Frankie Wilson (Millard Mitchell) who arrive in the famed Dodge City searching for Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally). It’s not initially clear why the pair are after Dutch, although what is apparent is that McAdam very much wants to track him down.

Upon arriving in the city, the pair track down Dutch but discover that real-life lawman Wyatt Earp (Will Geer) has prohibited guns and they can’t take him down. Despite the ban on guns, a competition presided over by Earp is about to take place for the famed and titular Winchester 1873 rifle, dubbed the finest gun in the world.

McAdam and Dutch are among those who enter the competition and are both closely matched, leading to a test of wits that culminates in a battle to shoot a coin out of the air, which McAdam wins, securing him the rifle. However, he’s soon ambushed by Dutch’s goons, the rifle stolen and Dutch and his gang fleeing. McAdam and Wilson set off after him and along the way our protagonists meet Native Americans, including Young Bull (Rock Hudson), soldiers (including an early part for Tony Curtis), outlaw Waco Johnny Dean (a particularly slimy Dan Duryea), and former saloon girl Lola Manners (Shelley Winters) and her fiancé Steve Miller (Charles Drake).

There’s so much that’s special about Winchester ’73; firstly, a tight script that packs in a lot of players but is always very easy to follow and at its heart a chase film, with McAdam and Wilson trying to track down Dutch, and all three getting sidetracked along the way by the other characters they meet. It’s got some noir and psychological elements too and gives us a West full of antiheroes and villains. It’s also a love story, but not one involving two humans, but love for the Winchester rifle: from the moment we’re introduced to the prize in the competition in Dodge City, everyone who lays eyes on it falls for its snake-like mesmerising charms and wants it. The gun seduces, it corrupts, it passes from character to character, causes death and it’s what we see in both the opening and closing shots. The film is called Winchester ’73 for a reason.

Set pieces include the aforementioned competition for the gun which sees McAdam and Dutch pretty much equally matched, and features some striking scenes of the coins being shot out of the air. There’s also an exhilarating chase involving Native Americans who are after Shelley Winters, who is frantically driving a horse and cart, with her character’s fiancé on a horse alongside her, an assault by Native Americans on a group of cavalry soldiers, and a separate assault on a house which is set ablaze. The finale is also excellent and sees Stewart’s McAdam and McNally’s Dutch involved in a shootout where their true relationship and reason for the pursuit is finally revealed. It’s a fabulous and incredibly memorable finale.

Then there’s the actors. This is first and foremost James Stewart’s film; a role that was darker, edgier, and more nuanced and noir-esque than others he was known for, and it’s a role that would shape his career for the next decade or so where he’d take risks and much darker parts, like his starring role in Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo. But it isn’t just Stewart’s movie. Large stretches play out in the company of the other characters and there are fine roles for Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Millard Mitchell and Stephen McNally, who make up the majority of the major players.

There are also early roles for Rock Hudson, in what now feels very problematic as the white American playing a Native American, and Tony Curtis, billed as Anthony Curtis, who pops up in a few scenes as a soldier. The film feels ahead of its time in many ways but occasionally its treatment of race and women, such as the then-commonplace practice of a white person appearing as a Native American, definitely feel of their time and are blemishes on what’s otherwise a phenomenal piece of cinema.

Finally, no review of the film would be complete without mentioning the astonishing cinematography by director of photography William Daniels. There are some outstanding shots throughout the picture, from the opening images of two men on horseback on a hill in the distance as the credits play, to several vistas showcasing the scenery, and some inspired framing of characters by rocks and other environments. It’s a rich feast for the eyes and the imagery is a real highlight.

In closing, I really enjoyed what was my first viewing of the classic Winchester ’73. It’s a landmark western for a reason, was a surprise hit and sparked a total of eight collaborations between director Mann and star Stewart, as well as helping to take the western genre into the 1950s in style. It’s a fantastic and incredibly entertaining story, filled with great actors, a gripping finale and some very fine cinematography.

Film:

Winchester ’73 is released on dual format 4K and Blu-ray and a separate Blu-ray edition on 3rd February 2024 by the Criterion Collection. The new 4K digital restoration is a revelation, the ink-like black and white cinematography looking simply outstanding, those vistas looking remarkable, shadows coming through strong and detail rich and fine. The audio is also very good.

Special Edition features:

Audio commentary featuring actor James Stewart and film historian Paul Lindenschmidt

New interview with film programmer Adam Piron on the portrayal of Native Americans in the western genre

Forces of Nature: Anthony Mann at Universal, a program on a key chapter in the director’s career

Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1951

Trailer

Essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith

The audio commentary dates from 1989 and sees star James Stewart in conversation with film historian Paul Lindenschmidt. Stewart is on fine form giving his views on the western genre, how Mann sold him on the film, and his memories of the director and working with him. There’s some neat behind the scenes anecdotes, and of his change in image and the style of parts he took in the 1950s. The duo also look at the imagery, radio adaptations, some of the other actors in the film like Rock Hudson, superstitions, the studio contract system and much more. A very welcome inclusion.

Adam Piron’s piece uses the prosthetic worn by Rock Hudson in the film as a gateway into the representation of Native Americans in the film and wider Hollywood movies. The 18-minute piece is fantastic, and covers the famed touring Buffalo Bill shows and early films featuring Native Americans. Film programmer Piron, director of the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Programme, looks at the subgenre of silent films featuring Native Americans and early photos which introduced the image of a Native American to a wider audience. Piron also provides background to how non-Native American actors portrayed these roles. It’s a detailed and utterly fascinating overview.

Forces of Nature: Anthony Mann at Universal is a short documentary on the director’s work at the film studio, which was a pivotal chapter in his career. The 47-minute piece is fascinating. Mann directed 11 Westerns in the 1950s and is described as an enigma as he did very little promotional work or interviews. The documentary provides a really good sense of the director and what made him such a great one. You get a good amount of background to Mann, the person, and Mann, the director. We hear about his early and troubled childhood, his theatre work and non-western films. We also get some background on James Stewart before his work with Mann and with the director. On Stewart we hear about the hat he wore and how he continued to use it in other films, and the horse Pie that he worked with in westerns for 20 years. There’s a decent amount of time spent on Winchester ‘73 before a run through Mann and Stewart’s other westerns together, as well as their hugely successful collaboration on The Glenn Miller Story. It’s a really strong extra.

The Lux Radio Theatre adaptation is from 1951 and sees Stewart reprise his role from the film. It runs for an hour and, like all of these adaptations that pop up on numerous discs, is a nostalgic and very welcome inclusion.

The trailer does a good job of selling the film.

I wasn’t provided with the essay leaflet, but I assume it’s the one from Imogen Sara Smith that can be found on the Winchester ’73 page on the Criterion website here: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8708-winchester-73-under-the-gun. It’s a fabulous essay which gives a good overview of the film.

Criterion’s release of Winchester ’73 delivers a classic western and landmark collaboration between director Anthony Mann and actor James Stewart in style, with a phenomenal new 4K restoration, a brilliant archival commentary and an hour of informative and insightful video extras. The film itself is one of the best of the western genre and of the Mann/ Stewart collaborations and it’s fantastic to see it get the Criterion treatment in the UK.

Disc/ Package: [Rating 4.5/5]

Winchester ‘73 - Criterion
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