Man of the West
This late-career Western from Anthony Mann doesn't quite stand shoulder to shoulder with his classics of the genre (The Naked Spur, Winchester ’73), but Man of the West does showcase the director's prowess in balancing light and dark, both literally and metaphorically. The tale is pretty standard Western fare, with a reformed outlaw (Gary Cooper) getting robbed on his way to hire a schoolteacher and being sucked back into his criminal ways when he stumbles across his old gang in hiding.
Cooper’s performance may be a little formulaic at times but the same cannot be said of the superb Lee J. Cobb, whose drunken gang leader is a masterclass in bitterness. Shot in CinemaScope, it also has a scenic granduer that's finely captured on this new transfer. Despite its flaws, Man of the West remains a must-have for Western buffs; also included is a 15-minute documentary narrated by noted film historian Douglas Pye.