Der Stern des Gesetzes

1957 was a good year for movies and amongst all the strong contenders, The Tin Star still managed to get Oscar nominated for best original screenplay, by the same screenwriter that brought that real trail- blazing classic, Stagecoach, to life.

Anthony Mann's black & white Western isn't a long, sprawling John Ford epic, nor does it feature Ford's often comical characters but at a fairly concise 92 mins it feels like a real book - a story that's never hurried and which includes proper characterisation and dialogue. Those wanting John Wayne spitting into the dust and cowboys and Indians need look elsewhere...

I've always liked Henry Fonda - and whilst many have pointed out that Mann's main man had previously been James Stewart, Fonda takes that slim thoughtfulness that Stewart eschewed and added dignity as well as grit - maybe somewhere between a Wayne and Stewart mix. You can never take your eyes off Henry Fonda - tall, dark and brooding if there ever was one. Anthony Perkins is (of course) very different to Norman Bates in Psycho and for those of us who saw him in that long before this earlier work, will not be disappointed. Fonda plays the older, wiser but now turned to bounty hunter ex lawman, who helps out rookie sheriff Perkins, both strategically but morally, too, when an outlaw gang terrorise the town.

The near-silent ending is as tense as you'll find anywhere within any Western - and you will be both too - silent AND tense...

Radio Times gives Tin Star a rare five stars - and you won't see this undervalued and under-known western on TV very often. It does get onto Sky Movies Classics once in a while but I don't recall it ever being on terrestrial TV, at least recently, so the DVD does make good sense. If you like the western genre and not yet seen The Tin Star, you really should...

...and that's saying a lot when you consider that he was in Fort Apache, My Darling Clementine, and The Ox-Box Incident. But this western, directed by the always dependable Anthony Mann, is a good example of a good story told without a lot of smoke and mirrors. The acting is dead-on, enough to convey character and emotion, but not too much to cheapen or overwhelm the story.

Great performances by Fonda as the grizzled veteran lawman/bounty hunter, Tony Perkins as the green, inexperienced town sheriff, John McIntyre as the town's doctor, and Neville Brand as the town bully. It is thoughtful and powerful, and displays a sense of right and wrong that is strong and uncompromising.

¨This is the story of the ex-sheriff who'd worn it -till he'd faced one gun too many...the young , novice sheriff he had to teach to wear it- or watch to die and the boy who lived only to wear one of his own ! .. and 40 dollars a month -that's what they gave you for protecting people who ran like rabbits when the going got roguish ! ¨ . The picture deals with a beginner young marshal ( Anthony Perkins ) who persuades veteran bounty hunter (Henry Fonda) to help him to rid a little town of bandits . Meanhile the old gunslinger falls in love with a widow (sensitive acting by Betsy Palmer) who has a half-breed son (agreeable Michael Ray) .

This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot , a love story , shootouts and is quite entertaining . This outstanding Mann Western balances action , suspense and drama . It's a classic recounting about teaching an unexperienced marshal in charge of an older veteran ex-sheriff . The highlights of the film are the climatic showdowns , the educating scenes between master and pupil along the river and when the medic's carriage- very well performed by John McIntire- rattles back into little town while the citizens are waiting his arrival . Top-notch Henry Fonda as embittered gunfighter and magnificent Perkins as green lawman . The traditional story and exciting screenplay by Dudley Nichols won Academy Award nominations . Wonderful cinematography in black-and-white is superbly caught by cameraman Loyal Griggs . Atmospheric and lively musical score by the classic Elmer Berstein .

This is another superbly powerful triumph from Perberg and George Seaton , producers of ¨The country girl¨ and ¨The proud and profane ¨. The motion picture is masterfully directed by Anthony Mann who realized various Western masterpieces such as ¨The furies , Devil's doorway and Man of the West ¨ and several with his habitual star, James Stewart, as ¨Winchester 73 , Bend the river , The far country , Man of the West ¨. Rating : Above average ; in spite of absence his ordinary star , Stewart, being perfectly replaced by Fonda , ¨Tin star ¨ is probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . Well worth watching and it will appeal to Anthony Perkins and Henry Fonda fans .

This film is a classic. Henry Fonda as the lone bounty hunter,

Anthony Perkins as the tyro Sheriff. Fonda plays this one close to the chest, minimal dialog, maximum emotional effect. Only Jimmy Stewart underplays a western tough guy as well as Fonda.

We have all the necessary ingredients for a fine screenplay. We have greed, hate, violence, racism, ignorance, and just plain human decency all exposed on screen with an even pace to measure the morals meted out by Fonda's character as the plot unfolds.

You want both to be a character in this story and yet stay as far away from it as possible.

So it fails as a fairy tale, but succeeds in taking our souls for a walk outside our values and qualifies as a fine tale of human endeavor.

See this film, the western context only enhances the plot line.

I highly recommend it.

Anthony Mann made this superlative western after completing the last of the Jimmy Stewart westerns, ("The Man from Laramie"), and before he made the Gary Cooper starring "Man of the West" and somehow it got lost along the way despite having been nominated for a BAFTA Best Film award. Instead of either Stewart or Cooper, Mann cast Henry Fonda as the laconic, decent bounty hunter who take a greenhorn young sheriff, (a beautifully cast Anthony Perkins), under his wing.

It's a very simple, traditional piece, shot in black and white by Loyal Griggs and dealing very much in black and white issues. It is a movie with straightforward heroes and villains, (Neville Brand is principal among the bad guys), a strong heroine, (Betsy Palmer), and even a sweet, likable kid, (Michael Ray). If it lacks the psychological undercurrents of other Mann westerns it more than makes up for it in good old-fashioned action and suspense and of all his westerns this may be the most underrated.