The document provides an introduction to the 1950 western film Winchester '73, directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart. It summarizes the film's plot about Lin McAdam's pursuit of his father's killer that leads him to a shooting contest in Dodge City, where the rare Winchester '73 rifle is the top prize. Though Stewart's character wins the rifle, it is stolen, setting off a chain of events where the rifle and its owners define a period in American history. The introduction notes that while Winchester '73 helped revive the careers of Mann and Stewart, it also had a significant influence on the western genre by bringing a psychological intensity and blurring lines between heroes and villains that was new for westerns.

1. WINCHESTER ’73 (1950) – INTRO
ESSENTIALS 2016
LANSKY
HI THERE, I’M BEN MANKIEWICZ. THIS MONTH ON TCM WE’LL BE HIGHLIGHTING
WESTERNS. TONIGHT WE’LL BE TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT ONE OF THE GENRE’S
PREMIERE PARTNERSHIPS, DIRECTOR ANTHONY MANN AND ACTOR JAMES “JIMMY”
STEWART. WE’LL BE STARTING OFF THE NIGHT WITH THE DUO’S FIRST FILM
TOGETHER, FROM 1950, WINCHESTER ’73. THE STORY OF ROUGH AND TUMBLE LIN
McADAM WHO’S PURSUIT OF HIS FATHER’S KILLER BRINGS HIM TO DODGE CITY,
KANSAS. THE TOWN IS CELEBRATING THE FOURTH OF JULY WITH A SHOOTING
CONTEST. FIRST PRIZE IN THE CONTEST: THE BRAND NEW, IMMENSELY RARE, “ONE-
OF-1000” WINCHESTER ’73 RIFLES. STEWART BESTS HIS RIVAL “DUTCH HENRY
BROWN” AND WINS THE RIFLE BUT HAS IT STOLEN FROM HIM BEFORE LEAVING
TOWN. THE RIFLE, THEREAFTER, CHANGES HANDS AGAIN AND AGAIN WITH McADAM
ALWAYS ONE STEP BEHIND. THE RIFLE AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS ALLOW DIRECTOR
ANTHONY MANN TO SUM UP AN ENTIRE TIME PERIOD IN ONE 90 MINUTE FILM.
WINCHESTER ’73 IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE FIRST “MODERN WESTERN.” DIRECTOR
ANTHONY MANN TOYS WITH THE PARADOX OF THE HERO RESTORING ORDER BY
PLUNGING INTO THE GRUNGY WOLRD OF THE VILLIAN AND HEROES HARBOUR DARK
SECRETS THAT FORCE THEM TO THE EDGE OF INSANITY. WHILE MANN’S HEREOS
HAVE BASIC DECENCY THE LINE BETWEEN HERO AND VILLIAN IS BLURRED. THE FILM
WAS THE CATALYST FOR THE PROLIFIC RELATIONSHIP THAT FOLLOWED WHICH
INCLUDED EIGHT FILMS IN SIX YEARS (FIVE OF WHICH WERE WESTERNS). BUT IT’S
WORTH NOTING THAT IT WAS FRITZ LANG, NOT MANN, WHO WAS ORIGNALLY SLATED
TO DIRECT WINCHESTER ’73. WHEN LANG BACKED OUT AND THE STUDIO NEEDED A
REPLACEMENT, IT WAS STEWART WHO RECOMMENED MANN. THE TWO HAD
WORKED TOGETHER ON “OFF BROADWAY” PRODUCTIONS IN THE 1930S. AND THE
REST, AS THEY SAY, IS HISTORY. FROM UNIVERSAL IN 1950 AND ALSO STARRING
SHELLY WINTERS AND A MAN WHO WOULD ALSO BECOME FAMOUS FOR HIS COWBOY
ROLES, DAN DURYEA, HERE IS “WINCHESTER ’73.”
WINCHESTER ’73 (1950) –OUTRO
WHEN WINCHESTER ’73 WAS RELEASED IN THE SUMMER OF 1950 IT WAS RECEIVED WITH
CRITICAL ACCLAIM, BOX OFFICE SUCCESS, AND HELPED TO REESTABLISH BOTH ANTHONY
MANN AND JAMES STEWART’S CAREER. BOTH OF WHOM HAD BEEN WITNESSING A STEADY
DECLINE IN THEIR POPULARITY UP UNTO THAT POINT. BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, WAS
ITS LONG TERM INFLUENCE ON THE WESTERN GENRE ON THE WHOLE. WINCHESTER ’73
WAS MANN’S FIRST WESTERN. IT WAS A TOTAL BREAK AWAY FROM HIS USUAL FILM NOIR
PROJECTS BUT STILL MAINTAINED THE PSYCHOLOGICAL INTENSITY COMMON IN THE NOIR
GENRE. MANN BROUGHT WHAT HE LEARNED FROM THE FILM NOIR GENRE AND CREATED
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS IN THE WILD WEST. HIS FILMS HAD ALWAYS PORTRAYED AN
ABUNDANCE OF VIOLENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS AND THAT REMAINED THE CASE
AS HE MOVED INTO DIRECING WESTERNS. THE INTESNITY SEEN AND FELT IN WINCHESTER
’73 WAS NEW TO THE WESTERN GENRE WHICH UP UNTIL THAT POINT HAD DEALTH WITH
TAMER SUBJECT MATTERS. THIS WASN’T JUST COWBOY VS. INDIANS ANYMORE, THIS WAS
COWBOYS VS. THERMSELVES…VS. INDIANS. IT WAS GROUNDBREAKING AND LED TO A
NUMBER OF “ADULT WESTERNS” THAT DEALT WITH THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THEIR HEROES
AND CIVILIZATION IN GENERAL. COMING UP, ANOTHER FILM FROM THE MANN/STEWART
DUO: STARRING JAMES STEWART, JANET LEIGH, ROBERT RYAN, AND RALPH MEEKER IT’S
“THE NAKED SPUR,” –NEXT, ON TCM.