Although not a classic Western, Winchester 73 is still up there as a movie that's been well directed and has a cast that fits perfectly into a strong story line. Anthony Mann does a great job in bringing the best out of the good guys, Lin McAdam ( James Stewart ) and High Spade ( Millard Mitchell ) and the worst of the bad guys, Dutch Henry Brown ( Stephen McNally) and Waco Johnnie Dean ( Dan Duryea ). McNally plays his character superbly, as the angry brother who always seems to be in control and never out of trouble, and Duryea as he always appears to do in any movie he makes, does the bad guy thing better than most. The two good guy roles are perfect for Stewart and Mitchell as their characters politely go their way from one near disaster to another in the search for the brother and THAT rifle. Their manners were so good it was suprising to see McAdam finally lose his cool when he slammed Waco Johnnie Dean into the bar when he caught up with him in the Saloon and almost throttled him. I mean...excuse me...is this the real Jimmy Stewart?? That scene however was only a warm up for the final shots of the movie when at last the tormented hero gets his man after a shoot out in the desert. This movie was made in the fifties in an era that seemed to be eternally full of Westerns good and bad.....Winchester 73 is one of the good ones.
Review of Winchester '73
