Too much of everything

Sorry, this movie sucks

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A lot of fun.

WINCHESTER '73 is one of the earlier western pairings between director Anthony Mann and star James Stewart. It's a well-made and professional-looking movie full of great twists and turns and fine action sequences; in essence, a film which it's difficult to criticise. The film's main interest comes from the atypical storyline, which follows the journey of a prize rifle as it goes through the hands of various characters, most of them up to no good.Stewart is fine as the dedicated hero in a role that offers him a bit more complexity than most standard western hero parts. He gets the chance to act, in other words, and unsurprisingly he does a fine job of it. However, Stewart is just one of many solid actors in this film, many of whom stand out: Dan Duryea as the amoral 'Waco'; Stephen McNally as the ruthless 'Dutch'; Charles Drake as the cowardly Steve. Heck, you even get Will Geer playing Wyatt Earp, Rock Hudson as a Native American, and Tony Curtis as a cavalryman.Still, even though the cast is very good, it's Mann himself who is the real most valuable participant here. He makes WINCHESTER '73 into a great looking western which utilises black and white cinematography to make a fine-looking picture. There's a fast pace, lots of suspense, some shocking moments, and exciting action. Only Shelley Winters feels like a let down in an extraneous role. Otherwise, it's all good...

Good western, with a few tweaks to the classical western formula. We have character development, a mysterious backstory between the lead hero and lead villain, and a less than conventional damsel-in-distress.The story of the how the gun changes hands, the hands it goes through and how many people it kills is also interesting. A sort-of circle of life, for a weapon.Good action scenes. Plot is decent, though it has some moments and scenes where not everything gels, and it feels contrived.Good performance by James Stewart in the lead role. Shelly Winters, as the wisecracking damsel-in-distress, is interesting. Certainly not your conventional female character in a western, who are normally seen rather than heard (not saying I agree with that convention, by the way). Initially her one-liners are at odds with the drama of the movie, and jar a little, but her character grows on you and eventually her jokes are a pleasant distraction.Good supporting cast which includes Rock Hudson, in one of his earliest roles, as a young Indian leader (!). Tony Curtis, also early in his career, has a very minor part.

Based on a short story, WINCHESTER 73 is the story of a famous rifle and those who end up using it. The plot is fairly straightforward, involving good (personified by James Stewart) versus evil (Stephen McNally, Dan Duryea) with good triumphing in the end. What renders this movie so entertaining is the stunning outdoor photography (by William H. Daniels) and Anthony Mann's taut direction, that keeps the plot rattling along at a brisk pace. There are distinct Biblical overtones to the plot, with seven competitors participating in the competition in Dodge City, to see who can win the rifle in the first place (including Stewart and McNally), but a Cain and Abel-like coda to the film, where it is revealed that Stewart and McNally are not only sworn enemies but blood brothers; McNally the Cain-like brother who turned to crime and shot their father in the back. For this 'unethical' crime alone, he deserves everything he gets. Stewart gets the chance to extend his acting range in this film; the sequence where he forces Waco Johnny Dean (Duryea) to submit to his will reveals just how violent he can be, if necessary. Shelley Winters turns in a good supporting cameo as a singer caught up in this elemental conflict, who can take care of herself (fortunately). Not an absolute classic, but a really good western nonetheless.

This was the first movie in which a major star eschewed any salary, settling instead for a take of the nut. It was also the first collaboration between Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann in Westerns, in which Mann was to draw out the rage behind Stewart's amiable presentation of self, of which heretofore there had only been prodromal symptoms.Stewart is Lin McAdam and Stephen McNally is Dutch Henry Brown in the post Civil War West. They are at odds with each other. You can tell long before the final reveal which one is the instigator because Lin McAdam is a "good" name while "Dutch Henry Brown" sounds like the color scheme of some camouflage pattern designed for use in combat that takes place in fertilizer warehouses. In case there's any doubt, McNally is dressed in sloppy clothes that don't look simply dusty but actually black with grease, as if he'd just crawled out from beneath a car. He needs a shave too.Stewart wins a prize Winchester at a shooting match in Dodge City but McNally bops him over the head and takes off with the rifle. The movie consists of watching Stewart pursue McNally's bad guy all over the Southwest, and of watching the rifle change hands multiple times.There is a foiled bank robbery in Tascosa, Texas, which is now a ghost town. (Be sure to visit the ghostly court house.) Actually it was filmed amid the crumbling adobe, the saguaro and ocotillo of Old Tucson, Arizona. The final, inevitable shoot out between Lin and Dutch Henry takes place among high, rocky crags. A ton of lead is exchanged between the two expert rifle shots. You have never seen so many bullets fly between two men. And the misses are extremely close, sometimes only an inch or two. You may wonder how this illusion is achieved. It's done by a man just out of camera range shooting what looks like a child's toy gun, loaded with pellets made of dust.The supporting cast is made up of names and faces that are now easily recognized if they weren't before. Black and white photography can be extremely expressive in the right hands, used for the right movies, but this isn't one of them. William Daniels has done good work elsewhere but this should have been in color.