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The Man from Laramie (1955)
- 1. THE MAN FROMLARAMIE (1955) – INTRO ESSENTIALS 2016 LANSKY HI EVERYBODY, AND WELCOME TO TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES. I’M YOUR HOST, KEITH CARRADINE. THIS MONTH WE’RE TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT WESTERNS AND TONIGHT WE’VE BEEN EXPLORING FILMS STARRING JAMES STEWART AND DIRECTED BY ANTHONY MANN. UP NEXT WE HAVE THE FIFTH AND FINAL WESTERN STEWART AND MANN WOULD MAKE TOGETHER, FROM 1955, IT’S “THE MAN FROM LARAMIE.” IN THE 1950S, AFTER HIS PERFORMANCE IN “WINCHESTER ’73,” JIMMY STEWART BECAME A HOT COMMODITY THROUGHOUT HOLLYWOOD, DIRECTORS WANTED TO WORK WITH HIM AND STUDIOS WANTED TO HIRE HIM, BELIEVING SIMPLY HAVING STEWART WOULD DRAW A CROWD. BUT STEWART WASN’T WILLING TO WORK WITH JUST ANYBODY. IT WAS ANTHONY MANN THAT STEWART CHOSE TO WORK WITH IN “WINCHESTER ’73,” IT WAS ANTHONY MANN WHO STEWART CHOSE TO WORK WITH IN “THE NAKED SPUR,” AND HERE AGAIN IN “THE MAN FROM LARAMIE.” THE MAN FROM LARAMIE WAS THE DUO’S FIFTH WESTERN IN A SIX-YEAR SPAN. STEWART’S WILLINGNESS TO PERFORM MANY OF HIS OWN STUNTS (AND OFTEN VOLUNTEERING FOR SAID STUNTS) MADE HIM A POPULAR CANDIDATE FOR ANY WESTERN SHOT AT THE TIME, BUT IT WAS THE LAST OF THESE MANN/STEWART FILMS THAT REALLY PROVIDED STEWART WITH AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO SERIOUSLY INJURE HIMSELF. THE STUNT (AS YOU WILL SEE) CALLED FOR STEWART TO BE LASSOED AND PULLED HEADFIRST THROUGH A CAMPFIRE. THERE WAS OBVIOUSLY NO CGI, NO SPECIAL EFFECTS, AND NO STUNT DOUBLES. BUT THAT WASN’T EXACTLY THE PLAN THAT WAS INITIALLY DRAWN UP. MANN HAD DECIDED THE STUNT WAS TO RISKY AND CALLED APON ONE OF HIS STUNTMEN, BUT STEWART COULD NOT BE TURNED AWAY SO EASILY. STEWART ARGUED TO DO THE STUNT AND EVENTUALLY GOT HIS WAY, THE STUNTMAN WAS RELIEVED OF HIS DUTIES AND JIMMY STEWART WAS…WELL…LASSOED AND PULLED HEADFIRST THROUGH A FIRE. OUTRO AS WAS THE CASE WITH MANN’S OTHER WESTERN FILMS, “THE MAN FROM LARAMIE’S” NARRATIVE STRUCTURE AND THE STORIES IN AND OF ITSELF ARE TOLD THROUGH THE USE OF THE RUGGED, SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE. THE LANDSCAPES AND TERRAIN WERE AS BRUTAL AND UNFORGIVING AS THE CHARACTERS THEMSELVES. AND WHILE MANN’S CONTEMPORARIES WERE MAKING FILMS WHERE VIOLENCE AND FIGHTING WERE INNOCENT AND SOMEWHAT NON-THREATENING THIS WAS A SHARP CONTRAST FROM MANN’S FILMS WHICH HAD JETTISONED FAR FROM THIS SENSE OF INNOCENT VIOLENCE, IT WAS NEVER GLORIFIED BUT RATHER WAS GRUESOME AND UGLY, DISTURBING, AND AT TIMES, DIFFICULT TO WATCH. IT WAS ADMINISTERED BY VILLAINS AND HEROES ALIKE AND INFLUENCED LEGENDS LIKE CLINT EASTWOOD, WHO AS AN UP-AND-COMING ACTOR, WOULD STUDY STEWART IN EACH OF HIS WESTERN FILMS. THE FILM ITSELF WAS A REVENGE TALE, AS WAS COMMONPLACE FOR A MANN FILM. STEWART SEEKS OUT THE GUNRUNNER WHOSE SUPPLY OF WEAPONARY TO THE APACHE PUT A BULLET IN HIS BROTHER AND LEAD TO HIS DEATH. “Never go indoors unless you have to” Mann