The Tin Star
Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by Dudley Nichols; story by Joel Kane and Barney Slater
1957/USA
Persea Company
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Morg Hickman: How come they picked you?
Sheriff Ben Owens: I’m only temporary.
Morg Hickman: You’re more temporary than you think.[/box]
Anthony Mann and Henry Fonda both mean quality. Here they are working together with a quality script.
The mayor appointed young Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins) as interim sheriff after his predecessor was killed in the line of duty. He is determined to prove himself and earn the permanent job despite the objections of his girl and the advice of the wise old town doctor.
As the film begins, bounty hunter Morgan Hickman (Fonda) rides into town with a dead outlaw in tow. He does not receive a warm reception, not least because local stable owner and thug Bart Bogardus (Neville Brand) is the dead man’s cousin. His first stop is the sheriff’s office to claim his reward. There he sees that Owens is hopelessly unqualified for his job. When Owens learns that Hickman is a mean hand with a gun and a former sheriff himself, he begs him to teach him the ropes. Hickman takes pity on the boy while continuously advising him to just quit.
Denied a room at the town’s only hotel, Hickman takes up lodging in the home of a widow (Betsy Palmer) and her half-Indian son. He forms a warm relationship with the son and later his mother.
Owen’s mettle is finally tested when some bad guys rob a stagecoach, kill the driver, and then eliminate a witness. He must control a posse that is intent on bringing the brothers in dead rather than alive. When the widow’s son decides to get in on the action, Hickman is reluctantly brought into the inevitable confrontation. With Lee Van Cleef as one of the brothers.
For some reason I thought this would be another High Noon rip-off but fortunately it is not. The plot is somewhat cliched but everything is done so well that it is totally enjoyable. I spent much of the film pondering the greatness that was Henry Fonda but the staging of the thing is fantastic as well. Recommended for Western fans.
The Tin Star was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen.
Trailer
