The Man from Laramie (1955)

James Stewart plays Will Lockhart, a freighter who rides into Coronado with an ulterior motive.

Somewhere in these parts, there’s a white man selling repeating rifles to the Indians. Lockhart plans to find that man. He blames that man for the death of his brother, a cavalry officer killed by Indians at a place called Dutch Creek.

Lockhart almost immediately finds himself at odds with the locals. He and his men are digging in salt mines when Dave Waggoman (Alex Nicol), the son of the local cattle baron, rides up and accuses them of stealing.

He has Lockhart roped and dragged. He has his wagons burned and his mules shot. Only the intervention of Vic Hansbro (Arthur Kennedy) saves Lockhart’s life.

And so Lockhart’s entanglement with the Waggomans begins. Alec (Donald Crisp) is the cattle baron, a man who has built an empire, but who is going blind and is uncertain if his sadistic son is capable of holding the ranch together.

Hansbro is the man Alec adopted as a second son; his job, to keep Dave out of trouble.

Dave, meanwhile, thinks it’s time he gave the orders at the Waggoman ranch. He’s tired of playing second fiddle to Hansbro.

As for Hansbro, he hangs around because the old man has promised him half of the ranch, and that’s the equivalent of a fortune for a man who owns nothing else.

Lockhart’s presence in Coronado stirs the kettle, though few know his real intent.

Review:

James Stewart made better, more entertaining Westerns, but this one is noteable for a few powerful scenes likely to stick with you.

First, there’s the aforementioned destruction of Stewart’s freight wagons and mule teams, all over a load of salt. Later, Dave Waggoman tries to dry gulch Lockhart and winds up with a hand wound. So he has his men hold Lockhart in place while he fires a bullet into the man’s hand at point blank range.

A deep and talented cast also helps. As the mad son, Nicol turns on one of his better performances in a Western. Crisp s solid as the aging man haunted by dreams that someone like Lockhart will show up to unravel all he’s accomplished Aline MacMahan is also excellent as the aging rival female rancher once engaged to Waggoman.

The love interest is provided by Cathy O’Donnell as Barbara Waggoman, niece of the cattle king. She’s engaged to Hansbro and tries to convince him to leave Coronado. The stranger Lockhart takes an almost immediate interest in her. But unlike so many Westerns, their affection for one another is given time to develop in this film.

This also marked the last of five films director Anthony Mann and Stewart made together. The quintet began with “Winchester ’73” (1950) and also included “Bend of the River,” “The Naked Spur” and “The Far Country.”

Directed by:
Anthony Mann

Cast:
James Stewart … Will Lockhart
Arthur Kennedy … Vic Hansbro
Donald Crisp … Alec Waggoman
Cathy O’Donnell … Barbara Waggoman
Alex Nicol … Dave Waggoman
Aline MacMahan … Kate Canady
Wallace Ford … Charley O’Leary
Jack Elam … Chris Boldt
John War Eagle … Frank Darrah
James Millican … Tom Quigby
Gregg Barton … Fritz
Boyd Stockman … Spud Oxton
Frank DeKova … Padre

Runtime: 104 min.

Title tune: “The Man from Laramie”

Memorable lines:

Barbara Waggoman: “You’re a bachelor, aren’t you, Mr. Lockhart?”
Will Lockhart: “How do you know that?”
Barbara: “Only a lonely man could find pleasure in watching a woman unpack bolts of cotton.”

Barbara Waggoman: “I want to be your wife, Vic. But if I can’t get you to leave with my, I’m not going to stay around to become your widow.”
Vic Hansbro, laughing: “I don’t die so quick.”

Alec Waggoman to foreman Vic Hansboro: “I like you. I’ve always liked you. But Dave’s my blood. Him I love. And liking and loving ain’t the same.”
Vic: “Alec, you ought not push me. I don’t like to be pushed.”
Alec: “I’d push you right off the earth if I thought it would help Dave.”

Alec Waggoman: “When they know the old man can’t see, the wolves will close in on this place and tear it to pieces.”
Vic Hansbro: “Don’t you worry, Alec. Anyone crossing our boundaries will grab only enough land to bury themself in.”

Lockhart: “I’m not running away from something I didn’t do.”

Alex Nicol as Dave Waggoman and Arthur Kennedy as Vic Hansbro, disagreeing over who should be giving orders in The Man from Laramie (1955)

James Stewart as Will Lockhart and Cathy O’Donnell as Barbara Waggonman with the priest in Coronado (Frank DeKova) in The Man from Laramie (1955)

Wallace Ford as Charley O’Leary, Will Lockart’s partner in the freighting business in The Man from Laramie (1955)

Jack Elam as Chris Boldt, the town drunk who sells information to the highest bidder in The Man from Laramie (1955)

Arthur Kennedy as Vic Hansbro and Cathy O’Donnell as Barbara Waggoman, disagreeing on whether Alec Waggoman can be trusted to keep his word in The Man from Laramie (1955)

James Stewart as Will Lockhart, confronted by Tom Quigby (James Millican), the sheriff Alec Waggoman controls in The Man from Laramie (1955)

Donald Crisp as Alec Waggoman, pleading with Vic Hansbro to keep his son out of harm’s way in The Man from Laramie (1955)

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