The Far Country **** (1954, James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan, John McIntire, Steve Brodie) – Classic Movie Review 2048

Director Anthony Mann’s sterling 1954 Western is one of the finest results of his fruitful five-movie collaboration with James Stewart, who stars as strong-minded, self-obsessed adventurer Jeff Webster. It is notable as one of the few Westerns, along with The Spoilers and North to Alaska to be set (though not filmed) in Alaska.

In  1896, Webster sees the Klondike gold rush as a chance to make a fortune through beef, so he drives his cattle herd from Wyoming to Seattle, by ship to Skagway, and through the mountains to Dawson City, pursued by villainous Ives (Steve Brodie). On the trail, there’s a bit of a ruckus and delay caused by locking horns with crooked town boss Judge Gannon (John McIntire). And, once settled in Dawson, he and his partner Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan) join the gold business too. Webster may be a miserable son of a gun, but he’s soon got two lovely women falling for him, bad girl Ronda Castle (Ruth Roman) and good girl Renée Vallon (Corinne Calvet).

Mann, in his fourth movie with Stewart, directs a particularly gritty and lively Western, with their smoothly crafted work hiding the effort that went into ensuring that’s one of their best movies together. It is especially remarkable for the star’s tough and rugged performance as a not-too-sympathetic independent loner, the old-time Western character cast (Jay C Flippen, Harry Morgan, Connie Gilchrist, Robert J Wilke, Chubby Johnson, Royal Dano, Jack Elam, Kathleen Freeman), Borden Chase’s intelligent story and screenplay, and the stunning Rockies scenery lovingly filmed by cinematographer William H Daniels in glorious Technicolor. It was filmed at Athabasca Glacier and Jasper National Park, both in Alberta, Canada.

The character actor cast also includes Connie Van, Eugene Borden, Paul Bryar, John Doucette, John Halloran, Robert Foulk, Robert Bice, Paul Savage, Stuart Randall, Jack Williams and Damian O’Flynn.

Gannon is thought to be based on Soapy Smith, a confidence artist and gang leader who ran the town of Skagway during the Alaska Gold Rush. [Spoiler alert] He was killed in a gunfight, although not in the way Gannon is in the movie.

Mann’s five films with James Stewart are Winchester ’73 (1950), Bend of the River (1952), The Naked Spur (1953), The Far Country (1955) and The Man from Laramie (1955).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2048

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