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IMDbPro

The Far Country

  • 19541954
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 37m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
7.7K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
15,290
1,395
James Stewart and Ruth Roman in The Far Country (1954)
RomanceWestern
A self-minded adventurer locks horns with a crooked lawman while driving cattle to Dawson.A self-minded adventurer locks horns with a crooked lawman while driving cattle to Dawson.A self-minded adventurer locks horns with a crooked lawman while driving cattle to Dawson.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
7.7K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
15,290
1,395
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Anthony Mann
    • Writer
      • Borden Chase(story and screenplay)
    • Stars
      • James Stewart
      • Ruth Roman
      • Corinne Calvet
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Anthony Mann
    • Writer
      • Borden Chase(story and screenplay)
    • Stars
      • James Stewart
      • Ruth Roman
      • Corinne Calvet
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 65User reviews
    • 50Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Photos48

    James Stewart in The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart in The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart in The Far Country (1954)
    The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart and John McIntire in The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart, Steve Brodie, and Ruth Roman in The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart, Jack Elam, Corinne Calvet, Jay C. Flippen, and Ruth Roman in The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart, Walter Brennan, Steve Brodie, and Jay C. Flippen in The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart in The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart and Walter Brennan in The Far Country (1954)
    The Far Country (1954)
    James Stewart, Walter Brennan, and Jay C. Flippen in The Far Country (1954)

    Top cast

    Edit
    James Stewart
    James Stewart
    • Jeff Webster
    Ruth Roman
    Ruth Roman
    • Ronda Castle
    Corinne Calvet
    Corinne Calvet
    • Renee Vallon
    Walter Brennan
    Walter Brennan
    • Ben Tatum
    John McIntire
    John McIntire
    • Gannon
    Jay C. Flippen
    Jay C. Flippen
    • Rube
    Harry Morgan
    Harry Morgan
    • Ketchum
    • (as Henry Morgan)
    Steve Brodie
    Steve Brodie
    • Ives
    Connie Gilchrist
    Connie Gilchrist
    • Hominy
    Robert J. Wilke
    Robert J. Wilke
    • Madden
    • (as Robert Wilke)
    Chubby Johnson
    Chubby Johnson
    • Dusty
    Royal Dano
    Royal Dano
    • Luke
    Jack Elam
    Jack Elam
    • Frank Newberry
    Kathleen Freeman
    Kathleen Freeman
    • Grits
    Connie Van
    • Molasses
    Emile Avery
    • Miner
    • (uncredited)
    Sam Bagley
    • Miner
    • (uncredited)
    Al Bain
    Al Bain
    • Miner
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Anthony Mann
    • Writer
      • Borden Chase(story and screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Although Calgary and Edmonton are the closest major cities to Athabaska Glacier, the term "close" is subjective. Calgary is 312 km (194 miles) and Edmonton is 440 km (273 miles).
    • Goofs
      The populace of Dawson City (or any Canadian city) never elected a U.S.-style marshal with tin star to police the city. The Mounted Police were present in the Yukon in large numbers before and during the Klondike gold rush to enforce the law.
    • Quotes

      [after Gannon fines Jeff his entire cattle herd for disturbing the peace, Jeff steals the herd back]

      Jeff Webster: Is there somethin' you want, Mr. Gannon?

      Skagway Sheriff Gannon: Yeah, mostly I want you. I also want that herd - it's government property.

      Jeff Webster: Yeah, well, I'm sorry. I reversed your decision.

    • Crazy credits
      After "The End" a title card reads: We gratefully acknowledge the splendid cooperation extended to "The Far Country" cast and crew by all concerned at Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
    • Connections
      Featured in Mirror for Our Dreams: Experience and Meaning (1968)
    • Soundtracks
      PRETTY LITTLE PRIMROSE
      (uncredited)

      Music by Milton Rosen

      Lyrics by Frederick Herbert

      Performed by Connie Gilchrist, Kathleen Freeman and Connie Van

    User reviews65

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    The best Western movie I've ever seen.
    Now, admittedly, I'm no ardent student of the genre. As a matter of fact, I've tended always to shy away from Westerns because, in spite of all their critical cachet as America's primal stories (or whatever), they seem to me to forever devolve into tiresome retreads of either "shoot up the Injuns," "the big gunfight," or "Hey, let's form a posse!" In other words, it always seemed to me a genre so rooted in and tied to convention, that it left precious little room for surprise or originality. (And yes, I HAVE seen at least some of the so-called "greats", and unapologetically lump them into this negative assessment - including Stagecoach, Rio Bravo, My Darling Clementine, and of course the infamous [but profoundly dull] Clint Eastwood-Sergio Leone teamups in the '60s.)

    But when I saw this movie on TV - as part of a commemorative Jimmy Stewart weekend upon his death - I finally GOT IT: I understood, at least in theory, what the Western mythos has to offer as a serious thematic preoccupation (aside from just action and thrills). It is the push-pull between lawlessness and order; the American West represented freedom, but also the prospect of the wild, the untamed. Respectable folk could get hurt out there. Which, of course, meant that perhaps - just perhaps - it wasn't meant for respectable folk, and that the only residents should be the amoral and the shifty, those who dispensed justice strictly from the barrel of their revolvers, and where kill or be killed would ever be the law of the land. In such an environment, of course, the true heroes are the ones who are ornery and free-spirited enough to be out there in the first place (and so reject "society," at least as it manifested itself on the Eastern seaboard), and yet have enough sense of justice to believe that a society based on chaos and fear just IS NOT RIGHT. Catching and examining that disparity between law and disorder IN THE MAIN CHARACTER HIMSELF is, I believe (after seeing this movie), the highest and truest goal of any Western. Sadly, it is so often not the case, as the white hats are completely white, the black ones completely black (and let's not even get started talking about the Indians, ok) and there is precious little shades of gray in between.

    Not in this one. Jimmy Stewart plays a blatant fortune hunter who follows the trail of miners before him into the Alaskan wilderness to prospect for gold. He is joined in this by his lifelong buddy, played by Walter Brennan (perhaps the Western cliché character to end them all - but nevertheless enjoyable here, as always) - and no one else. Pointedly, they are out for themselves, and while Stewart displays his patented charm (come on, we could never really dislike the guy, now could we?), we are left with little doubt that his is basically a self-centered, self-interested character: none of his "Gosh" or "Oh golly gee" humanism is allowed to come through. Or, rather, it has to be EARNED, by the end of the picture, in the way I described above. He must confront the lawlessness in himself, and weigh it against the need for order and justice which are so blatantly lacking in the border town which serves as the miners' starting point on their gold dust trail. This town is ruled tightly by its wicked sheriff, Mr. Gannon, played by John McIntire in one of the best "bad guy" performances I've ever seen. He comes on with so much charm and humor, and has such a relaxed and interesting rapport with Stewart, that it actually takes awhile to recognize that he *is* the bad guy - so that when it finally sinks in, it does so with double force. Further, by establishing a type of breezy (if necessarily guarded) camaraderie between McIntire and Stewart, the film plays up the notion of how close in temperament they really are - and so how far a moral distance Stewart must walk by the end of the film.

    I won't go through all the twists and turns the plot takes - see those for yourself (as well as the rugged and gorgeous Alaskan scenery - filmed on location, mind you, not cheap painted stills that the studio made up). What's key here is how much this story focuses upon character, with great dialogue and character interaction substituting for gunplay much of the time - although the film has just enough action and adventure to prevent it from ever being static (read: "talky"). Definitely one of the greatest performances I've seen from Stewart, showing he could play the renegade, the "man's man" just as convincingly as the decent and upright guy next door. If anything, in fact, his "everyman" qualities lend greater strength to his characterization, making him seem less mythic or overblown - -like, say, Eastwood or John Wayne - and more a three-dimensional personage. His relationship with Brennan is well-played: understated, but nevertheless touching (with a faint suggestion of George and Lenny from "Of Mice and Men" - an altogether different type of "western").

    I certainly have more Westerns to see, but this is for now my favorite, and the yardstick by which I will necessarily judge all the others. It deserves to be much better known and appreciated than it is.
    helpful•18
    12
    • krumski
    • May 12, 2000

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 20, 1954 (Denmark)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Daleka zamlja
    • Filming locations
      • Athabasca Glacier, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
    • Production company
      • Universal International Pictures (UI)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,500,000
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 37 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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