Product Details

• Actors: Jack Palance, Anthony Perkins, Neville Brand, Robert Middleton, Elisha Cook Jr.
• Directors: Henry Levin
• Writers: Harry Essex, Robert Smith
• Producers: Pat Duggan
• Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: April 22, 2003
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008CMR2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,394 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Lonely Man" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Apart from the inherent clarity and richness of its black-and-white VistaVision--a wonderful format--The Lonely Man could be mistaken for a mediocre "adult Western" episode from '50s TV. The sets look like sets, not living spaces, and people trade ponderous, pause-laden dialogue instead of talking. Jack Palance plays an ex-gunslinger--a papier-mâché death's head--trying to reconnect with son Anthony Perkins, who's grown up (or not grown up) hating him. Meanwhile, gambler Neville Brand, once shot by Palance, waits for henchman Elisha Cook to pick up Palance's trail so other henchman Lee Van Cleef can kill him (got that?). The backstory is so weakly imagined, and the scenes so wanly directed, we have no idea how many years of history the characters have shared, or how many miles separate them as they move toward showdown. Elaine Aiken, a curiously hard-faced blonde "introduced" here, was scarcely seen on screen again. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jack Palance at his best!, June 19, 2001

By 

Kit Young (Salt Lake City, Ut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Man [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In this western, the only real format to aficianados, Jack Palance displays every ability expected of the finest actors. He is gracious, honest, even having been one of the bad guys. He is courageous to a fault, facing down a number of bad people at once at terrible odds. He even rates a traitors loyalty.

This movie is a must-see if you liked "SHANE", and are tired of "RIO BRAVO" reruns, but like the genre.

Someone in those days actually knew all the classic elements of a good story, and it's obvious when you see this flick. Todays special effects, with bullets whizzing by, would be the only possible improvement for this film. Don't miss it if you like westerns!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Like Henry King's "The Gunfighter," Levin equates victory with redemption..., November 5, 2006

By 

Roberto Frangie "Robert" (Leon, Gto. Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lonely Man (DVD)

Jacob Wade (Jack Palance) used to be a celebrated shootist just stepping into middle age and mortally weary of having to be asked to leave every town he rides into... To make matters worse, a few notorious outlaws, led by the vile King (Neville Brand), are also out to take him down...

Now he tries to do something for his boy Riley (Anthony Perkins) by catching and breaking mustangs in Echo Canyon, the best wild horse country in the territory...

Complicating the situations further is Jacob's bad relationship with a kid who hates him, and Ada Marshall (Elaine Aiken), a young woman whom Jacob met in a gambling hall, and shot a man on account of her...

Here is a thinking person's Western that deals with one ex-gunman who also is unable to shake his past and whose ultimate goal for taking root again is by lynching...

Levin shows a dark, depressing, and sadly realistic face of the west... In fact, the entire movie is a drama of characters... But watching the film, you would be able to feel how Levin equates victory with redemption...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Palance Western, February 10, 2005

By 

Terence Allen (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lonely Man (DVD)

When we think of Jack Palance today, we often think of him as a bad guy, like in Batman or Shane. But back in the Fifties, he played a variety of roles, quite a few of them sympathetically.

And one of his best starring roles came in this film, about a gunfighter trying to live down his past, and build a relationship with his estranged son, played by Anthony Perkins. To complicate matters, Palance is going blind, which he keeps a secret from almost everyone, and he is also being pursued by a revenge-minded gambler, played by Neville Brand, who was shot by Palance some time back.

This is a beautifully filmed, poignant Western that deserves to be seen.