The Far Country (1954)

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely Fantastic

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

From Universal-international a breathtaking as well as rip-snorting Western that shows the greatness , the glory , the fury of the untamed Northwest frontier . Stars a tough , hardened adventurer guide who leads his herd challenging the gold-rich glory that was the Yukon full of white with snow , scarlet with sin , yellow with the dust that lured him on . As a self-minded , haunted cowboy (Jeff Webster) leads his herd to the Yukón , through Seattle , Scagway , Alaska , in hopes of huge profits accompanied by veterans Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan) and Rube (J.C.Flippen) transport cows by boat when they arrive in Scagway , subsequently to sell it them in Dawson City . While driving cattle to Dawson and in Scagway they have to escape from nasty land baron/judge Gannon (John McIntire) who carries out his peculiar justice acting as judge , jury and executioner . Jeff and his colleagues end up having herd back from the villain lawman . At last , they arrive in Dawson City , a bustling little town fiiled with prospectors and usual saloons : ¨Hash house¨ run by Grits (Kathleen Freeman) and ¨Hudson castle¨ run by Ronda Castle (Ruth Roman) . There takes place strong confrontations and Jeff , ultimately , avenging the deaths of his partners . One of a series made by star Stewart with director Anthony Mann , it features splendid Western vistas , fierce gun-play and fist-play , impressively busy crowd sequences and many other things . Adventure western movie in which a two-fisted cowboy leads his herd through Seattle , Scagway to Dawson , Yukón territory , pitting himself against the wilderness , bandits , mean prospectors , and an ambitious , corrupt lawman . The film is divided in two parts , the first one describes on rout to destination , Yukón , and second part dealing with the little town Dawson city . Set late XIX Century , 1898, it shows the moral obligation to build a civilized community and need to a collective effort , joining individuals against corrupt and selfish people . Interesting and stirring screenplay based on the novel by Ernest Haycox titled ¨Alder Gulch¨. Sympathetic as well as brave acting by the great James Stewart as the stubborn Webster who must fight frontier lawlessness and locks horns with a crooked judge , a top-hatted nasty , magnificently played by John McIntire . Stewart has top grade character written all over it . Nice Ruth Roman as the good-bad girl who must be forgiven in the end . Support cast is frankly extraordinary with a large plethora of illustrious names , such as : Chubby Johnson , Harry Morgan , Robert J. Wilke , Royal Dano , John Doucette , Steve Brodie , Jack Elam , Kathleen Freeman and special mention for Jay C. Flippen as the grizzled westerner and a show-stealing acting by the always great Walter Brennan. Lyric and moving musical score by Hans J. Salter , Frank Skinner , Henry Mancini , and Herman Stein , all of them uncredited . Colorful cinematography in Technicolor William H. Daniels , Greta Garbo's usual cameraman , and the Yukón sets takes it out of the ordinary Western scenarios , being shot in Canada , mostly in Jasper National Park . The motion picture was stunningly directed by Anthony Mann and premiered Febrery 1 , 1955 . Being made during Mann's best period of work . The film forms a stunning diptych along with ¨Bend the river¨ by the awesome quartet : Anthony Mann , screenwriter Borden Chase , producer Aaron Rosenberg and James Stewart who made a great number of top-drawer films . This is another superbly powerful triumph from Anthony Mann who realized various Western masterpieces such as ¨The furies¨ , ¨Devil's doorway¨ , ¨Tin star¨ , ¨Man of the West¨ and several with his habitual star, James Stewart, as ¨Winchester 73¨ , ¨Bend the river¨ , ¨The far country¨ , ¨Man from Laramie¨ , ¨Colorado Jim¨ , ¨Thunder Bay¨ , ¨The Glenn Miller story¨. Rating : Above average ; it is probably one of the best Western in the fifties . Well worth watching .

This being the northern I enjoyed most, it doesn't prompt me to analyze it (which remains a trustworthy criterion for an accomplished work, because its accomplishment and exquisiteness make needless the explanations and generalities, one doesn't analyze works this good). However, it requires thought; the 1st experience has been awesome. Made by the best director of westerns, written by B. Chase, a lavish work, lovingly and exquisitely crafted, it has a dependable cast: Brennan, Flippen, even Elam in a bit role (none of them as convincing as the less famous guy who plays the villain), and exquisite northern landscapes; it certainly is unfair to deem it a genre movie, but it's an adventure movie.The man from Wyoming's tale has the bitterness that the director accustomed us to, with life in the west, or north, being rough; and thus while some things allude to the crushing burden of life, others belong to the tropes of a conventional tale, with altruism and respect, though those characters die or succumb or drown. The unpredictability of Stewart's character comes not from his being mysterious, but on the contrary, from being ordinary, unglamorous; he's not written as a mysterious guy, but as an ordinary, shrewd and grumpy cowboy from Wyoming. But it also comes from Stewart's style, which allowed him to set a chilling undertone, and to give his '50s roles a chilling romanticism. Stewart's acting gets moments of eeriness, and others of lyrical emotion (as when discussing with the freckled girl); the result being an ordinary guy, played as a striking one, with a chilling, uncanny glamor, so that ordinary actions get a lyrical twist, reminding us of Hopkins' words about Brando playing a cowboy …. None of the characters is a hypocrite. Even the scary ones have a plainness and thoroughness.

Well I have to say, the little bell on Jeff Webster's (Jimmy Stewart) saddle kept distracting me each time I heard it, thinking some new angel in heaven just got his wings. Of course that picture came out almost eight years earlier so I had to wonder if there was some subliminal homage being paid here to "It's a Wonderful Life". Not the worst idea but it might have been more effective if not so repetitive.The idea of Jimmy Stewart playing an unlikeable saddle tramp doesn't seem to be a lot of viewers' favorite idea but I think he made it work in the story. I like it when an actor plays against type and shows that it can be done effectively. It works to advance the theme expressed by Corinne Calvet's French teenage character Renee more than once, that if you don't like people they won't like you. Not that Webster had any problems with people not liking him, it was just his way, take it or leave it.The other aspect of Webster's character that satisfied this viewer was his resolve to go back to Skagway and retrieve his stolen cattle from town villain Gannon (John McIntire). At this point, Webster was still in it for the money and wasn't going to let anyone bully him out of his hard earned trail payload. In fact, money talks throughout the picture as we see once Webster's trail crew makes it into Dawson and a two dollar per pound on the hoof bid ekes out the fair folk of the Dawson Hash House.Though the true sentiment of Webster's character is never in doubt if you've seen enough of these older Westerns, it's interesting the way the story gets you there. Jeff saves his pal Rube (Jay C. Flippen) from facing off against Gannon henchman Madden (Robert J. Wilke), but in so doing causes him to lose face with the town folk. With sidekick Ben (Walter Brennan) already taken out by the bad guys, Webster's inner voice lets him know it was time to take it to the outlaw bunch, with a town full of citizens finally finding the courage to back him up once and for all. It was a defining moment for the town of Dawson, guided by the spirit of their better angels.

If the classic Western myth is the rugged individual battling the threats of Man and Nature, The Far Country is a film that subtly undermines that myth in both form and function. It doesn't seek to demolish the Western archetype, but it clearly suggests that people distinguish between the fantasy and reality.Set in Seattle and the wilds of Alaska in the mid to late 1890s, this movie focuses on a couple of cowboys. Jeff Webster (James Stewart) prides himself on not needing anything from anyone, except his old trail buddy Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan). They're looking to drive some cattle up to a Canadian gold mining camp named Dawson to sell the beef for top dollar to hungry miners. Along the way, they run into trouble from Gannon (John McIntire), the sheriff who rules the Alaskan town that's the only gateway to the Canadian wilderness. Gannon seizes Jeff and Ben's cattle for himself, forcing the two to take jobs from Ronda Castle (Corinne Calvet). She's a local businesswoman who needs someone to lead a caravan up to Dawson so she can set up her own saloon there. After stealing their cattle back from Gannon, Jeff and Ben lead their whole company into Dawson, only to find the locals have no interest in letting Castle move in and take over their camp. And things get even worse when the smilingly evil Gannon arrives, looking to set himself up as the equivalent of a feudal lord and squash any dreams of Dawson becoming a real town. But unlike other Westerns where the story is all about the good guy riding into town and solving every problem with his quick draw and his six gun, The Far Country is all about the need of people to work together to face their challenges and make the world a better place.This is a pretty entertaining film, most notably for the performances of James Stewart and John McIntire and for the story's take on the closing of the frontier. Stewart and McIntire play characters with a remarkably modern sensibility, standing out from the somewhat corny and cheesy acting typical of the 1950s Western. Stewart appears to relish the misanthropic aspects of Jeff Webster and McIntire plays Gannon as the sort of bad man who's perfectly capable of doing something good as long as it amuses him. The movie is also effective at showing how the days of the Wild West are ending. Strong men like Jeff Webster can no longer make their way in the world alone, uncaring and uncompromising. The trappings of civilization have become too strong, even in little mining camps for that. It's men like Gannon, who cloak themselves in the law and authority, that are seizing control and it takes more than any one man to stand up to them.The Far Country is a Western grappling with the end of an era without wanting to demystify it. Throw in some great Canadian scenery, plenty of likable characters and a chance to see Walter Brennan in his classic fatherly sidekick role and you've got a good movie.