Gary Cooper is Link Jones, a quiet townsman from Good Hope on his way to Fort Worth to hire a school teacher with money saved by his friends and neighbors.
On the train, he meets two shysters — saloon singer Billie Ellis (Julie London) and gambler Sam Beasley.
When outlaws try to rob the train, all three find themselves left behind.
The outlaws fail to get the bankroll the train is carrying, but they do make off with Jones’ money.
Turns out, Jones is familiar with the countryside. He guides his new acquaintances to an old shack.
Inside, he finds the man who raised him, the man who taught him how to rob and kill, the man he abandoned years earlier because he tired of the outlaw life, the man who now welcomes him back with open arms — Dock Tobin (Lee J. Cobb).
Jones, now married and with two kids, has no interest in rejoining Tobin’s now-sorry gang of hoodlums.
But he has to play along in hopes of keeping Beasley alive and Billie from being savagely raped.
So he begins helping Dock plan a holdup of the bank in the nearby mining town Lassoo, all the while trying to figure out a way to escape the demented old man’s clutches without reverting to the killer he’s buried as part of his past.
Gary Cooper as Link Jones, ready for the inevitable showdown in Man of the West (1958)
Lee J. Cobb as Dock Tobin, the aging outlaw leader in Man of the West (1958)
Review:
Wonderfully different and beautifully filmed Western with Lee J. Cobb nearly stealing the show as the aging and addled outlaw. He’s thrilled to have his adopted son, Link Jones, back in his gang’s fold. With Link back, he imagines the gang can recapture its glory days.
His gang includes Coaley (Jack Lord in his pre-TV star days) and Claude (John Dehner), who loves “that old man.” They’re cousins to Link; they also suspect he isn’t sincere in his desire to resume his role as a member of Tobin’s outlaw gang.
Among the best scenes, Coaley forcing Billie to strip, holding a knife to Link’s throat to entice her (Link has told the gang she’s his woman). And Link later getting even by goading Coaley into a fistfight, then forcefully removing his clothing piece by piece once he’s won.
As for that Lassoo bank that Dock Tobin has dreamed of robbing for years. Once the gang completes its journey; it turns out Lassoo is now a ghost town.
Julie London as Billie Ellis, stripping at an outlaw’s command in Man of the West (1958)
Jack Lord as Coaley, the would-be tough among Dock Tobin’s gang in Man of the West (1958)
Directed by:
Anthony Mann
Cast:
Gary Cooper … Link Jones
Julie London … Billie Ellis
Lee J. Cobb … Dock Tobin
Arthur O’Connell … Sam Beasley
Jack Lord … Coaley
John Dehner … Claude
Royal Dano … Trout
Robert Wilke … Ponch
Runtime: 95 min.
John Dehner as Claude (right), suspicious of Link as Coaley (Jack Lord) looks on in Man of the West (1958)
Royal Dano as Trout, a mute member of Dock Tobin’s gang in Man of the West (1958)
Memorable lines:
Billie, after she, Link and Sam have been left behind by the train: “I bet you’re glad you’ve got company.”
Link: “I wouldn’t say that.”
Billie: “Oh, we’ll be a comfort to you. I’ll sing ‘Tent in the Night’ a little off key and Sam here can teach you how to deal off the bottom of the deck. You’ll be a richer and happier man.”
Link to Billie, talking about the Tobin gang: “I used to be like them. Then I grew up. A man either grows up or he rots, like that lot.”
Billie, noticing Link and Sam Beasley staring at her as they walk down the railroad tracks: “What are you looking at?”
Link: “Your shoes.”
Billie: “My shoes. Well, that makes the trip worthwhile. You’re the first man to look at that part of me since I was 14.”
Robert Wilke as Ponch a member of Dock Tobin’s gang in Man of the West (1958)
Gary Cooper as Link Jones with the sheriff of Crosscut (Frank Ferguson) as he prepares to board the train in Man of the West (1958)
Dock Tobin to Link: “I remember the day you left me. Ho-ho, lord, do I remember. You were my right arm. You ran off and left me. God have mercy on my black blooded soul. I was so mad. I could take and push your guts right out through your back. And I would’ve done it too. So help me, if you’d a been standin’ there. I’d of opened you up wide. My right arm. Trained by me. Oh, I put a piece of work into you. Every last idea that shot through your head was mine. I remember every bloody minute of it.”
Link: “You know what I feel inside of me? I feel like killing. Like a sickness come back. I want to kill every last one of those Tobins, and that makes me just like they are — what I busted my back all those years trying not to be.”
Claude to Link: “Years ago, nobody could have done to him (Tobin) what you’re trying to do now. Not even you. He would have known it in 10 seconds and blown your head off in 20.”
Link to Doc: “You’ve outlived your kind and you’ve outlived your time. And I’m coming to get you.”
Lee J. Cobb as Dock Tobin, running his fingers through the hair of Billie Ellis (Julie London) in Man of the West (1958)
Julie London as Billie Ellis and Arthur O’Connell as Sam Beasley, at Dock Tobin’s hideout in Man of the West (1958)
Jack Lord as Coaley, holding a knife to Link’s throat to force Billie to undress in Man of the West (1958)
Julie London as Billie Ellis and Gary Cooper as Link Jones, figuring out how to survive Dock Tobin in Man of the West (1958)
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