Product Details

• Actors: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell, Alex Nicol
• Directors: Anthony Mann
• Writers: Frank Burt, Philip Yordan, Thomas T. Flynn
• Producers: William Goetz
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 3.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, Thai
• Dubbed: English, Spanish
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 8, 2000
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000031EGW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,631 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Man from Laramie" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Only John Ford excelled Anthony Mann as a purveyor of eye-filling Western imagery, and Mann's best films are second to no one's when it comes to the fusion of dynamic action, rugged landscapes, and fierce psychological intensity. The Man from Laramie is the last of five remarkable Westerns the director made with James Stewart (starting with Winchester '73 and peaking with The Naked Spur). This collaboration marked virtually a whole new career for Stewart, whose characters are all haunted by the past and driven by obsession--here, to find whoever set his cavalry-officer brother in the path of warlike Indians.

The Man from Laramie aspires to an epic grandeur beyond its predecessors. It's the only one in CinemaScope, and Stewart's personal quest is subsumed in a larger drama--nothing less than a sagebrush version of King Lear, with a range baron on the verge of blindness (Donald Crisp), his weak and therefore vicious son (Alex Nicol), and another, apparently more solid "son," his Edmund-like foreman (Arthur Kennedy). There are a few too many subsidiary characters, and the reach for thematic complexity occasionally diminishes the impact. But no one will ever forget the scene on the salt flats between Nicol and Stewart--climaxing in the single most shocking act of violence in '50s cinema--or the final, mountaintop confrontation.

For decades, the film has been seen only in washed-out, pan-and-scan videos, with the characters playing visual hopscotch from one panel of the original composition to another. It's great to have this glorious DVD--razor-sharp, fully saturated (or as saturated as '50s Eastmancolor could be), and breathtaking in its CinemaScope sweep. --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

This 104 minute feature film is a DVD starring James Stewa rt, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, and Cathy O'Donnell.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The summit of an absolutely superb series of Westerns April 4, 2005

By Robert Moore HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

One of the reasons that Jimmy Stewart is one of the truly great movie stars in Hollywood history was his ability to reinvent himself. Early in his career, he excelled as a light comedian, though he could expand that into more complex comedic roles such as MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. But mainly, he was nice. He was never mean, never rough, never rugged. But in the 1950s he was wonderfully utilized in differing ways by two very different directors: Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann. The latter in particular offered Stewart roles that would be the darkest, most complex of his career. When we think of the great actor of the 1950s, Stewart is not usually the first actor of whom we think, but the fact is that from 1950 with the films WINCHESTER 73 (with Mann), BROKEN ARROW, and HARVEY (for which he received an Oscar nomination) to 1959 with ANATOMY OF A MURDER, Stewart was the most prolific star of the decade, with a resume that no other actor can match. Not least his success depended on the string of eight films he made with Anthony Mann: WINCHESTER 73, BEND OF THE RIVER, THE NAKED SPUR, THUNDER BAY, THE GLENN MILLER STORY, THE FAR COUNTRY, STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND, and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE. The five Westerns of this collaboration stand comparison with any series of Westerns ever made, excluding only those of John Ford and John Wayne.

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is probably the finest Western that Stewart and Mann made together, though it gets serious competition from THE NAKED SPUR. Unlike Clint Eastwood, who pretty much played variations on the Man With No Name even in Westerns in which his character had a name, each of Stewart's Western characters are strikingly different from one another. Howard Kemp in THE NAKED SPUR is a man so obsessed in his task that he borders on insanity. Will Lockhart in THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, while angry, is self-contained, deliberate, and calculating. He is a man on a mission-a U.S. Army captain going undercover to learn who was selling repeating rifles to the Apaches who ambushed a squad of soldiers, one of whom was his brother. Unlike Howard Kemp, Will Lockhart is the epitome of sanity. And unlike some of his other roles under Mann, Stewart's Lockhart is never driven to action by his circumstances. In BEND IN THE RIVER and THE FAR COUNTRY, Stewart's characters respond to trouble, but they don't seek it out. Lockhart knew he was stepping into trouble from the start.

One of the reasons that THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is so outstanding is the presence both of a very strong cast (with a couple of notable exceptions) and finely conceived characters. Next to Stewart's Lockhart, Arthur Kennedy's Vic Hansboro is marvelous as an almost tragic figure-the foreman of a huge ranch who is the glue who holds everything together, but knows that the irresponsible, incompetent, hotheaded son of the owner is destined to inherit all. He is in an impossible situation, and this is brought out by a series of accidents that he finds himself in the middle of. Always good in anything he was in, this is one of the finest roles of Kennedy's career. The other stellar performance is by the always reliable and enormously versatile Donald Crisp as cattle mogul Alec Waggoman. I love his role because Waggoman is never reduced to a one-dimensional stereotype. Unfortunately, the film is brought down somewhat by the lackluster Cathy O'Donnell as the film's love interest and by Alex Nicol. Although he was memorable in two powerful scenes in which he first ropes Jimmy Stewart after burning his wagons and shooting his mules and then later shoots him in the hand after his men holds him, he overall lacks any kind of subtlety in his performance. Had the film had a more gifted actor in the role, this would have been an even better film.

Like all of the Stewart-Mann Westerns, this one was filmed on location, though each film sports a different one. THE MAN FROM LARAMIE was primarily shot around Santa Fe and Taos, and one of the joys of each of these films is the unique look the locations create.

On a negative note, the dreadful song that graces the beginning and end of the film stands as one of the worst in the history of the Hollywood Western. One can only speculate what led to the selection of this song as the theme.

Turner Classic Movies has a series called The Essentials, a series dedicated to some of the finest films in the history of American cinema. If a similar series were created for the Western, all five of the Stewart-Mann films would be included. And of that series, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE might be the finest of the bunch.

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I don't come from anywhere... July 11, 2000

By Mr. S. Carlin

Format:DVD

Some men arrive with provisions for a store, most of them will return from whence they came. One man, portrayed by James Stewart, may have come from Laramie but its not his home and does not intend to return until he finds out who supplied the rifles to the Apache - rifles which were used to kill a cavalry troop, among them his brother.

His quest brings him into conflict with a local landowner who has dreamt that a man would one day come to kill his son. Is it the man from Laramie?

James Stewart and Anthony Mann made some great films together - this was the last, and by no means the least. I have said it before and I'll say it again - James Stewart was the finest actor ever and this film features another fine performance.

The DVD transfer (anamorphic) is excellent - picture quality and sound are excellent. My only complaint is the lack of features. Trailers for the other Stewart/Mann films at least would have been a worthy addition.

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves more attention December 12, 2002

By Ghenghis

Format:DVD

Hard to believe I missed this jewel before. Just an outstanding collaboration by Stewart/Mann. I really don't see the brutality here that so many people are quick to scream these days, and who cares about King Lear? This is just a great Western in the classic sense. Jimmy Stewart was always his best in the "I'm gonna get you sucka'" role and he is terrific here. The story outweighs some casting issues but you won't care. Cathy O'Donnell is exactly like Stewart describes her..."beautiful", a fragile genuine treasure.

The DVD transfer is nothing but spectacular. I've never seen colors like this anywhere and there's plenty of scenery to "wow" at. Amazing actually but that's an Anthony Mann trademark. Just jumped into my top five all time list. 5 mules, still standing.