Anthony
Mann began as a genre director for television and film before finding his
vocation as an auteur upon discovering the American Western picture. Evocative and grandiose with particular
emphasis on the Western landscapes as both backdrop and expression of the
central protagonist’s personality, Mann quickly became a masterful practitioner
of the genre spoken of the same cinematic breath as John Ford. Across five of these Westerns, Mann would team
up with one of his personal favorite collaborators, the great Jimmy Stewart, with
the 1954 Alaskan set Western The Far Country among the duo’s most
celebrated pairings.
Visually
epic in scope with astonishing locations of distant snow-covered mountain peaks
and towering icy glaciers The Far Country introduces Jeff Webster (Jimmy
Stewart), a protagonist as chilly as his wintry surroundings. Accompanied by sidekick Ben Tatum (Walter
Brennan), the duo finds their cattle snatched up and in the clutches of villainous
lawman Judge Gannon (John McIntire) and his corrupt henchman. Coupled with seductive bartender Ronda Castle
(Ruth Roman) and Renee Vallon (Corinne Calvet) fighting for the stoic Jeff’s
romantic interests and offset by the treacherous Alaskan terrain, The Far
Country functions as a traditional ensemble Western as well as a probing
character study of a complicated leading antihero.
The
first thing one notices immediately is the strikingly rich Technicolor
cinematography by Academy Award winning industry veteran William H. Daniels,
whose own mastery of the moving image landing him a three-year tenure as
President of the American Society of Cinematographers. Daniels was no stranger to Mann’s
pictographic outlook on the American west having previously collaborated on The
Glenn Miller Story. Precise in
framing with a keen balance between the sprawling landscapes and neatly
composed intimacy with the actors, The Far Country coupled with Mann’s
own command of the medium achieves a rare kind of visual perfection in its
representation of the far North American west.
The
Mann western wouldn’t exist, however, without the enormous screen presence and
talent of Jimmy Stewart who casts aside his comic persona in favor of a more
mercurial distant gaze and touch of nihilism.
John McIntire makes for a strong villain in the role of Judge Gannon,
whose cheerful disposition only amplifies his deviousness and amorality. Special attention should be given to Ruth
Roman as the sassy bad girl and Corrine Calvet as a tomboy cowgirl with a heart
of gold, playing almost like an angel vs devil tug of war on Stewart’s
shoulders. Mostly though, the picture
rests on Stewart and Mann’s direction, using the terrain as a means to figure
out what makes a character like Jeff Webster tick.
Like
most of Mann’s efforts, critical reception was lukewarm upon initial
release. The film proved to be
financially successful but the film establishment didn’t immediately embrace
what European critics would go on to call ‘the most ambitious of Mann’s successful
westerns’. Seen now, the scale of the
picture is towering and the parallels between the face of the location and the
face of it’s leading man are unmistakable to even the most inexperienced of
newcomers. There’s a certain pedigree to
the film’s commitment to the characters rather than serving up a broadly
appealing entertainment. At the
epicenter of The Far Country is an evocative character study of a deeply
flawed antihero deftly fashioned by one of the western genre’s most iconic purveyors.
--Andrew Kotwicki
