Along with vampire movies, westerns are another genre that I have watched more of during this challenge. Aside from The Man With No Name trilogy and Unforgiven I never really got into westerns, but I've liked the ones I've seen in the past couple months and am definitely warming up to the genre.
Winchester '73 stars my homeboy James Stewart, a sentimental favorite of mine known for his honest good guy roles. (I think Harvey is one of the sweetest and most endearing movies ever.) He did, however, star in a bunch of westerns where he toted guns and shot at Indians so he wasn't above being a bad-ass, a good natured one, but a bad-ass nonetheless.
The film begins with Lin McAdam (Stewart) and his sidekick High-Spade riding into Dodge City for a shooting contest where the grand prize is a "One of a Thousand" Winchester rifle, the finest gun ever made. The real reason Lin is there though is to find someone he knows will show up for the contest. He finds the man he is looking for, Dutch Henry Brown, and immediately you can sense an animosity and hidden history between them. Naturally they square off against each other in the finals with Lin edging Dutch Henry and winning the rifle. Dutch Henry ends up stealing the rifle and flees town with his gang with Lin and High-Spade in hot pursuit.
For the most part this film can be seen as a revenge flick. Lin's vendetta against Dutch Henry is revealed slowly but surely and by the end I was totally hooked into the story. There are also lots of side stories as well as we follow Lin and his exploits. The other side stories include Dutch Henry and his gang, a heart of gold frontier woman Lola, an Indian raid inspired by Crazy Horse's rout of Custer, and a group of bandits led by Waco Johnny. One of the threads that link the stories together is the Winchester '73 rifle as it changes hands multiple times. Also, of course Lin and Dutch Henry's intertwined fates.
The story started off a little light and a little slow, but it ends up being rich in character and story and has a big action sequence in the middle. Naturally it is a bunch of Indians getting shot down but that comes with the territory in a mid century western. I really liked James Stewart's character as he shows a cold determination to hunt down Dutch Henry yet still retains his aw shucks charm that he is known for. The inevitable showdown between Lin and Dutch Henry is great and uniquely set in a rugged and jagged mountain side. I wish I came up with this on my own as it is a perfect description of the scene: "The final shoot-out remains a classic study in mise-en-scene, as Mann transforms a jagged landscape into a highly charged psychological battleground." (Dave Kehr)
I never heard of Winchester '73 before today but am glad I watched it. Finding new stuff that you end up really liking is what watching movies are all about.
Grade: B+
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