Un homme traqué

I was surprised about how good this was since Ray Milland didn't star in hardly any westerns and this was the only western he directed. Milland plays a gunfighter who's horse dies in the desert and starts to walk when he comes across a carriage full of dead people and he takes a horse and goes into the nearest town. As soon as gets into town, Milland shoots a deputy who thought he was the killer and the whole town is after him. Milland winds up hiding in the basement of the sheriff and his daughter and the daughter winds up falling in love with him. Ward Bond plays the sheriff who was sick and when he wakes up doesn't know what's going on. It's a good western that isn't very well known.

Ray Milland makes use of his silent film experience to play the first half of this movie virtually without speaking. He plays the title character, a lonely man in ever sense as he finds a group of slain stagecoach passengers, is forced to kill the sheriff (Hale, Jr.), sees another man shot before his eyes, and ends up a man wanted for all the killings.

A good commentary on human weakness in the "psychological" tradition, but it gets to talky and melodramatic in the second half.

Good supporting cast headed by Burr, Murphy, and Bond hold up well to Milland's straightforward playing and direction.

A stark, fairly convincing western.

Ray Milland's early career was in mostly light romantic fluff but he did have Oscar success in The Lost Weekend. He and Ginger Rogers were fun in The Major And The Minor. He was properly creepy in Dial M For Murder. His later years were lost in terrible monster flicks and bit parts. In the midst of the lousy movies, he did make a Western that stood out. This one. He was actually pretty good in it and as his directorial debut it wasn't bad either. It's a shame that the director's best assets weren't better utilized. He kept one of my very favorite character actors in bed for most of the movie (Ward Bond) and Raymond Burr isn't on screen long enough for my liking. This role was one of many villains that Burr so splendidly played for many years until we see him as Perry Mason in 1957. Another great bad guy that gets some close-ups is Lee Van Cleef. In the 60's and 70's, we'll see lots of him in many Leone or Gemma "spaghetti" Westerns. His face says so much without saying a word.....an absolute necessity when you don't speak Italian. I guess that's why Eastwood did so well in spaghetti Westerns...he wasn't much of an actor back then. In this movie, Ray Milland plays an aging gunfighter (he's on foot) who comes upon the murdered victims of a stagecoach holdup. He rides one of the the stagecoach horses into town to get help. The nervous deputy (a younger Alan Hale, Jr) is summoned (after seeing Milland ride in on the stagecoach horse) and shoots at Milland as he dismounts. Milland shoots back and wounds the deputy. Thereafter, they hunt for him high and low and block all exits out of town. Milland unknowingly takes refuge in the sick sheriff's home (under quarantine) where his daughter is nursing him back to health. The scenes between Milland and the sheriff's daughter are well done. The outcome is not decided until the final minutes of the movie. It's a good movie for Ray Milland fans and if you like good bad guys and good character actors...this is a good one for you, too.

Wes Steele is a gunman, his reputation follows him where ever he goes. Then one day he happens upon a dreadful scene, a stagecoach has been attacked and five people have been murdered, including a woman and a child. This sickens Steele who takes up a horse and rides to the nearest town with the best intentions, but no sooner is he there, he quickly becomes a target for blame and hostility. Taking refuge at the home of yellow fever struck Sheriff Gil Corrigan and his daughter Nadine, Steele proves to have a tender side as he helps to aid the ailing sheriff. But an angry mob is out for Steele's neck and when Gil comes around, will he believe that Steele is not responsible for the recent turn of events?

Ray Milland's westerns are a mixed bunch, ranging from the mundane (Bugles in the Afternoon), the watchable (California) to the very good - here with A Man Alone. Making his directorial debut, star Milland has managed to craft a genuine mood piece out of a well trodden, and often filmed, story. Milland, utilising his silent feature experience, sets the disquiet tone within the first quarter, where as he comes upon the horror scene, it's played out without dialogue, the mood is set for the next part of the journey, the town.

This is an ugly town, corruption and underhand tactics are the order of the day, so much so that when Steele blows into town (literally during a sandstorm) one would think that with his reputation, it would be ideal for him. But things can quickly turn around. Thanks to Milland's portrayal of Steele, it's apparent to us that Steele is weary of the life he has led, his yearning to cast off his burdens evident as his relationship with the Corrigan's starts to blossom. Yet it's funny how quick the milk can turn sour, because seemingly normal people can become a mob, an angry mob intent on justice regardless of the truth. For here there is no truth as the lies have been cast and mud nearly always sticks...

Milland is aided in the cast by the always solid Ward Bond (Gil), Raymond Burr (purple suited and black eyed nastiness as town villain Stanley), Lee Van Cleef (Stanley's thug muscle Clanton) and Mary Murphy (bright eyed and bushy tailed Nadine). Shot on location at Snow Canyon in Utah, it's a shame that location work is very much sparse because of the town set plot. However, in a film calling for an oppressive and pot boiling feel, this is something that is easily forgivable. A Man Alone is a very good Western, yes the story has been done far better (re: The Ox Bow Incident for example), but Milland's film deserves your time, and hopefully come the end, also your respect. 7.5/10

Notorious gunman Ray Milland comes upon the scene of a stagecoach massacre. Outlaws had robbed the stage and killed six people, including a mother and child. Milland frees the horses and rides one of them into town for help during a sandstorm.

The sheriff is laid up and a lout of a deputy, Alan Hale Jr., comes at Milland gun in hand without identifying himself. Milland starts shooting and wounds the deputy. After that it's a hunt for Milland in the town.

Of course he takes refuge in the one place no one is going to look, the house of the sheriff, Ward Bond and his daughter Mary Murphy. The house is under quarantine because Bond is down with yellow fever.

Milland helps Murphy nurse Bond back to health. During which news of the stagecoach massacre reaches town. And the hunt is renewed.

Milland gives a fine performance in this very grim western of a man on the run, mostly due to his bad reputation. Ray Milland also directed this film for Republic Pictures in its last days. Director Milland got some good performances out of such in the cast as Raymond Burr, Lee Van Cleef, Arthur Space, and Thomas Brown Henry.

A Man Alone has similar plot premises to both The Oxbow Incident and John Payne's Silver Lode that came out the year before. All three had to do with the terrible consequences of mob violence when due process is abandoned. Very telling stuff indeed coming out as it did at the tail end of the McCarthy era.

The film holds up very well after over 50 years and is recommended for western and other movie fans.