Man of the West

This is a much grittier western than I am used to from Anthony Mann; giving Gary Cooper much more to get his teeth into than the usual, simple, gun-slinging fayre. He plays a reformed outlaw who is caught up in a train ambush. "Link" escapes with two other passengers and makes his way to an old homestead - only to find it occupied by the men who attacked the train; and that they are his former gang. His uncle "Dock" - Lee J. Cobb - is determined to lead him back down the path of violence. The psychological nature of this gives it a little more depth - sadly, though, neither Cobb, Cooper nor Julie London as "Billie" really gel together or engage convincingly, the dialogue is a bit stodgy and the ending, though quite violent, is poorly predictable. The photography is suitably grand and it's quite excitingly scored, but this is still not the best.