Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

weezeralfalfa This largely unique western deals with coming of age as a young sheriff, the somewhat controversial topic of vigilante justice, and hatred toward Native Americans by many whites on the frontier. We have 3 men or pair of men who are regarded by many in a small western town as murderers. Firstly, there's bounty hunter Morgan Hickman(Henry Fonda),who brings the body of a supposed fugitive into town, expecting a reward. We aren't told the crime committed by the fugitive, but presumably it didn't involve murder of a respected citizen. Most of the town people seemed to consider this murder a crime equal to or exceeding that of the crime committed by the fugitive, even though it was legal. Hence, he was shunned by most of the town people. However, he found an accepting soul in the form of a beautiful and charming widow and her rambunctious half-breed son(Betsy Palmer, as Nona, and Michael Ray as Kip). They tentatively accept Hickman as a roomer, but when he seems upset by Nona's revelation that her murdered husband was a Native American, she's about ready to throw him out. However, he apologizes and calms down her ruffled feathers sufficiently to stay, and eventually form a romantic relationship with her. Like Hickman, Nona and Kim are treated by most regionals as outcasts, she because she consorted with a Native American, and he because he's a half-breed. The second character considered a murderer by some is Bart Bogardus, a bully who runs the livery stable. He shoots down a Native American in the street, claiming self defense, with minimal supporting evidence. Many of the townies are not upset by this murder, as Native Americans were widely regarded as subhuman vermin, to be exterminated. Sheriff Ben, considering him a trigger-happy bully, asks for his gun. But Bogardus resists, pulls his gun on Ben, and Hickman shoots the gun out of his hand. Apparently, Bogardus is not prosecuted for this apparent murder. He heads up a posse going to look for the murderers of Doc McCord. Frustrated that they don't find them at their home, the posse burns their house and other buildings. Miffed that the team of Ben and Hickman capture them alive, Bogardus heads a vigilante group intent on lynching them right away. Ben stands in the way of this mob. Ben talks Bogardus down, but Bordardus tries to shoot Ben on the sly. Ben is a faster draw. The third murderers in the screenplay are the McGaffey brothers, who are charged with the murder of Doc McCord(John McIntire), who treated a bullet wound of one of them, acquired when they held up the stage, killing the driver. After these murders, they decided to hide in a cave in a canyon behind their house. Ben and Hickman serendipitously discover them there. Although Hickman, as an ex-sheriff, has advised Ben to shoot to kill, Ben wants to take them alive, if possible. Hackman helps him toward the goal. But, as mentioned, many townies want to see them hanged as soon as possible, without a trial.. Henry Fonda had witnessed a lynching when young, and found it revolting. Hence, he was keen to do a couple of films talking up the dangers of lynchings. He had been involved in a lynching in the previous movie "The Oxbow Incident", back in 1943. The earlier film "The Silver Whip" has a very similar plot to the present film, involving a thwarted lynching and a young man faced with the challenge of becoming a stage driver, as well as a sheriff's deputy. I regard that film, as well as the present film, as being more interesting and significant than "High Noon" or "The Searchers". The present film is quite possibly Anthony Mann's most significant western.I thought Fonda and McIntire did great jobs in their respective roles. Anthony Perkins' character comes across as too immature to be even a believable temporary sheriff, until toward the end, when Fonda's instructions paid off.Here is a good place to discuss some philosophy relating to vigilantism. From a moral(not necessarily legal) viewpoint, is vigilantism ever justified? If the judicial system is quite corrupt or otherwise ineffective, and you are very positive you have identified the guilty and they have perpetrated a crime of sufficient magnitude, vigilantism may be justified.Distinguishing between self-defense, vigilantism, duels and murder can be difficult. If a person is licensed as a bounty hunter, he is not a vigilante, technically, as long as his job description allows him to kill the fugitive. In the formal duels of the early 19th century, for example, usually one challenged another for a perceived deed or slight. They can be considered a duel between a vigilante(challenger) and one acting in self-defense(the challenged). If there is a mutual agreement to settle a dispute by a formal duel, both may be considered vigilantes.

tieman64 Anthony Mann could direct the hell out of a western. "The Tin Star" is one of his underrated ones, though like most films in the genre, there's also something sleazy about the whole plot.The film stars the always lovable Henry Fonda as an embittered bounty hunter who rides into town to find a young sheriff, played by a well-cast Anthony Perkins, struggling to maintain law and order. As he was himself once a sheriff, Fonda decides to hang around town and help the young gun. Much of the film's best moments involve Fonda dispensing wisdom, offering advice, teaching Perkins to shoot, disarm men, shell out justice and keep the citizenry safe.The film is impeccably shot, with Mann's usual plays on perspective, symmetry (the film opens and closes with the same shot, but from different angles) and "depths of field". It's Mann's sense of slow, mounting tension, and his interesting compositional work (lots of low angles, forced perspectives and shots which stress a kind of three dimensional depth) which would influence Leone's style when shooting duels, showdowns and gunfights. The sheriff's office in the film, with its expansive windows which offer massive widescreen views of the film's town, is also special.The film has a subplot about racism, the mistreatment of Native American Indians and the ostracising of "half breeds", a trend which began to filter into westerns only in the 1950s. See "Broken Lance" for another early example. The westerns of Mann and other auteurs were always ahead of Ford in this respect. Still, the film's subplots about racism and outsiders "trying to belong" are undermined by the psychic ripples of its very Wild West mentality, in which we're made to grin with glee when cartoon bad guys push our buttons and are summarily gunned down. The film's climactic gunfight practically baits you into lusting after murder, and like most Westerns the film hinges on false choices; either a lawless, anarchic violence perpetuated by psychopaths, or tough guy justice, in which its the white man's burden to keep order with barrels and bullets. Shoot to kill, always, Fonda schools us, because then Chaos comes knocking. By the 60s, Westerns would evolve into fare like "Shenandoah" (starring Mann-Western regular, Jimmy Stewart), which is openly anti-interventionism, anti-combat, before the blood and guts pop-nihilism of the Leone, Peckinpah era, with their oh-so-attractive mixture of dumb nostalgia (a mourning for the passing of those "olden days") and mindless, purgative violence."The Tim Star's" score was by the great Elmer Bernstein. It's regarded by hard-core Western-fans as Mann's last classic Western.7.5/10 – Worth one viewing.

Spikeopath The Tin Star is directed by Anthony Mann and the screenplay written by Dudley Nichols who adapts from a story by Joel Kane & Barney Slater. It stars Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Neville Brand, John McIntire and Lee Van Cleef. Loyal Griggs is on black and white photography duty and Elmer Bernstein scores the music.Bounty hunter Morgan Hickman (Fonda) rides into a small American town with a dead outlaw for company. He's here to claim the reward money put up but finds that most of the town despise him for what he does. However, Ben Owens (Perkins), the town's young greenhorn sheriff, sees something in Morgan that he greatly admires. When Morgan comes to Ben's aid during a run in with the town bully, Bart Bogardus (Brand), it's the start of a friendship that could alter the rest of their lives.Based on a short story and with no great budget behind it, it was something of a surprise that The Tin Star was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Writing Category (it lost out to Designing Woman - George Wells). Tho classy as a character study, the film has often been criticised for being over talky and preachy into the bargain. This was Mann's first Western movie after leaving behind actor James Stewart and writer Borden Chase after a run of genre defining classics. Here it finds the great director playing safe, producing a Western more in the traditional mould than the psychologically tough edged one he helped to shape. True enough it is didactic, across the humanistic board, and there's no getting away from the fact that the film reeks with predictability. But Mann still crafts his story well whilst giving it the odd visual flourish; even if it only truly feels like a Mann picture once Ben and Morgan hit the mountains in pursuit of criminals and a wandering boy.It can be argued that The Tin Star is guilty by association with so many similar Westerns of its ilk. It's galling that Mann felt a need to shift from where he was at in the genre to, what? Be accepted? Luckily for Western fans Budd Boetticher was plugging the gap left by the Mann/Stewart fall out with the excellent movies made with Randolph Scott. While Mann returned to arguably great form with Man Of The West (Garry Cooper in the saddle) 2 years later. Fonda here is iconic and every inch the Western dude, eyes like chips of ice and a stubbled face that's home to a mouth that can tell sad tales and impart pearls of wisdom. Perkins is twitchy, amiable and easy to side with as he searches for the skills to solidify his backbone. I don't buy the criticism's of the pair, that they are dressage cowboys, they have a warmth to their pairing, and it proves to be a most engaging father & son like relationship.Away from the leads, Brand is his customary gravel voiced ball of machismo, revelling in playing another snarly villain. Palmer and Mary Webster aren't asked to do much in the two main female roles, but both are on cue and easy on the eye. While Cleef is only in a small support role but he leaves a marker for better things to come. It 's John McIntire who takes the acting honours as the town doctor, it's a critical role, the catalyst role in fact (I promise you will remember his whole birthday sequence). His turn is a classy bit of glue binding the narrative together. Be it eloquently holding court with common sense chatter, or commanding in his surgical saw bones manner, it's a fine performance from a great American character actor.I enjoy the film very much, and find on revisits that it has aged better than many other similar themed Oaters. Far from perfect, and certainly miles away from being in the top section of a best of list of Anthony Mann Western's, it's still, however, a film that leaves a favourable mark once the film has reached its memorable conclusion. 7/10

BigBobFoonman I'm really not trying to be recalcitrant, but this was the worst big name western I've ever seen. A blatant "Shane" knockoff, with 2 male stars, Fonda and Perkins, who basically "phoned-in" their lines. They both looked like they'd had rather been anywhere but on that set. The action was tepid to non-existent, the acting TV-like and bland, with the exception of John McIntyre as "Doc"--he seemed fully engaged. Also, the excellent Lee Van Cleef, perpetually undercast, was locked in well to the bad-guy role. Neville Brand was given a terrible bully character to play, and seemed to be coasting. Strangely, they gave Brand a beautiful white horse to ride, while everybody else rode the usual TV-Land gaggle of stunt-ponies and quarter horses. The climactic scene was awkward, almost comical, and "anti"-climactic. The only interesting scene was the Doc riding home from fixing up somebody, in the dead of the night, using his old faithful buggy-horse as a precursor to cruise control...