Winchester '73 (1950)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

Robert L. Richards (screenplay) &
Borden Chase (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

12 July 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

In a marksmanship contest, Lin McAdam wins a prized Winchester rifle, which is immediately stolen by the runner-up...

Plot Keywords:

Rifle | Prize | Shooting | Contest | Brother

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Stewart	...	Lin McAdam
Shelley Winters	...	Lola Manners
Dan Duryea	...	Waco Johnnie Dean
Stephen McNally	...	Dutch Henry Brown
Millard Mitchell	...	High Spade Frankie Wilson
Charles Drake	...	Steve Miller
John McIntire	...	Joe Lamont
Will Geer	...	Wyatt Earp
Jay C. Flippen	...	Sgt. Wilkes
Rock Hudson	...	Young Bull
John Alexander	...	Jack Riker
Steve Brodie	...	Wesley
James Millican	...	Wheeler
Abner Biberman	...	Latigo Means
Tony Curtis	...	Doan (as Anthony Curtis)
James Best	...	Crater
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Anderson	...	Basset (uncredited)
Mel Archer	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Ray Bennett	...	Charles Bender (uncredited)
Frank Chase	...	Cavalryman (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Target watcher (uncredited)
Frank Conlan	...	Contest clerk in saloon (uncredited)
Tex Cooper	...	Shooting Contestant (uncredited)
Jack Curtis	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Steve Darrell	...	Bat Masterson (uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Roan Daley (uncredited)
Bonnie Kay Eddy	...	Bonnie Jameson (uncredited)
Jimmy Hawkins	...	Boy at store window (first speech in film) (uncredited)
Timmy Hawkins	...	Boy at Rifle Shoot (uncredited)
Carol Henry	...	Dudeen (uncredited)
Gary Jackson	...	Gary Jameson (uncredited)
Norman Kent	...	Buffalo hunter (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	Station master (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Gregg Martell	...	Mossman (cavalryman) (uncredited)
Bill McKenzie	...	Boy at rifle shoot (uncredited)
Jennings Miles	...	Stagecoach driver (uncredited)
Virginia Mullen	...	Mrs. Jameson (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Norman Ollestad	...	Stable boy (uncredited)
Larry Olsen	...	Boy at rifle shoot (uncredited)
Bud Osborne	...	Man (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Long Tom (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Forrest Taylor	...	Voice of target clerk (uncredited)
Tony Taylor	...	Boy (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Marshall Noonan (uncredited)
John War Eagle	...	Indian interpreter (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Virgil Earp (uncredited)
Duke York	...	Man #1 (uncredited)
Chief Yowlachie	...	Indian at rifle shoot (uncredited)

Directed by
Anthony Mann

Writing credits
Robert L. Richards		(screenplay) &
Borden Chase		(screenplay)
Stuart N. Lake		(story)

Produced by
Aaron Rosenberg	....	producer

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(director of photography) (as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Edward Curtiss

Art Direction by
Bernard Herzbrun
Nathan Juran

Set Decoration by
A. Roland Fields
Russell A. Gausman

Costume Design by
Yvonne Wood		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Joan St. Oegger	....	hair stylist
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist
Jack Kevan	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Merle Reeves	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Dewey Starkey	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jesse Hibbs	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Leslie I. Carey	....	sound
Richard DeWeese	....	sound (as Richard De Weese)

Stunts
Polly Burson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carol Henry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Slim Talbot	....	stunts (uncredited)
Duke York	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack N. Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sherman Clark	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Ben Hawkins	....	grip (uncredited)
Lloyd Hill	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Bill Johnson	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Joseph Gershenson	....	musical director
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Charles Previn	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Milton Rosen	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Paul Sawtell	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Walter Scharf	....	composer: title music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Leith Stevens	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Connie Clark	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal International Pictures (UI) (presents) (as Universal - International)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Väinän Filmi (1951) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (VHS) (reissue)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• ClassicLine (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

Montana Winchester (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:12 (nf) | Australia:G | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #14546) | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Mescal, Arizona, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

At the time of filming, Stewart was anxious to appear in more challenging roles as he was worried that the general perception was of him as a limited actor. He found his director Anthony Mann very helpful in breaking that perception.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the final shootout scene, billboards and a highway are visible in the far distance on the upper left of the screen.

Quotes:

Sgt. Wilkes: You're a man after my stamp. Wish we'd have had you with us at Bull Run. We might not have run so fast.
Lin McAdam: Well, I wanna tell you somethin'. I was with you at Bull Run. So was High-Spade.
High-Spade Frankie Wilson: Only we was on the other side.

Movie Connections:

Featured in MacArthur (1977)

The start of a beautiful partnership

My favorite movie genre is the western, it's really the only movie genre that is of American origin. And despite Sergio Leone, no one does them quite like Americans.

Right at the top of my list of ten favorites westerns is Winchester 73. It was the first pairing and only black and white film of the partnership of director Anthony Mann and actor James Stewart. It was also a landmark film in which Stewart opted for a percentage of the profits instead of a straight salary from Universal. Many such deals followed for players, making them as rich as the moguls who employed them.

Anthony Mann up to this point had done mostly B pictures, noir type stuff with no real budgets. Just before Winchester 73 Mann had done a fine western with Robert Taylor, Devil's Doorway, that never gets enough praise. I'm sure James Stewart must have seen it and decided Mann was the person he decided to partner with.

In this film Mann also developed a mini stock company the way John Ford was legendary for. Besides Stewart others in the cast like Millard Mitchell, Steve Brodie, Dan Duryea, John McIntire, Jay C. Flippen and Rock Hudson would appear in future Mann films.

It's a simple plot, James Stewart is obsessed with finding a man named Dutch Henry Brown and killing him. Why I won't say, but up to this point we had never seen such cold fury out of James Stewart on screen. Anthony Mann reached into Jimmy Stewart's soul and dragged out some demons all of us are afraid we have.

The hate is aptly demonstrated in a great moment towards the beginning of the film. After Stewart and sidekick Millard Mitchell are disarmed by Wyatt Earp played by Will Geer because guns aren't carried in Earp's Dodge City. There's a shooting contest for a Winchester rifle in Dodge City and the betting favorite is Dutch Henry Brown, played with menace by Stephen McNally. Stewart, Mitchell and Geer go into the saloon and Stewart and McNally spot each other at the same instant and reach to draw for weapons that aren't there. Look at the closeups of Stewart and McNally, they say more than 10 pages of dialog.

Another character Stewart runs into in the film is Waco Johnny Dean played by Dan Duryea who almost steals the film. This may have been Duryea's finest moment on screen. He's a psychopathic outlaw killer who's deadly as a left handed draw even though he sports two six guns.

Another person Stewart meets is Shelley Winters who's fiancé is goaded into a showdown by Duryea and killed. Her best scenes are with Duryea who's taken a fancy to her. She plays for time until she can safely get away from him. Guess who she ultimately winds up with?

There are some wonderful performances in some small roles, there ain't a sour note in the cast. John McIntire as a shifty Indian trader, Jay C. Flippen as the grizzled army sergeant and Rock Hudson got his first real notice as a young Indian chief. Even John Alexander, best known as 'Theodore Roosevelt' in Arsenic and Old Lace has a brief, but impressive role as the owner of a trading post where both McNally and Stewart stop at different times.

Mann and Stewart did eight films together, five of them westerns, and were ready to do a sixth western, Night Passage when they quarreled and Mann walked off the set. The end of a beautiful partnership that produced some quality films.