La peine du talion

It begins at the end of the Civil War when a coward massacre takes place , fdealing with two Civil War vets at odds , as two friends return home to Colorado , one an honest marshall (William Holden) , the other a sadistic judge (Glenn Ford) has changed and is now violent and erratic. As two friends go their separate ways after Civil War , one leads an upright life as a sheriff , but the other corrupted by the war engages in a violent campaign to build his own law , and carrying out terrorisation . Colorado's wasn't big enough for both .. when a moan came between them ! .They Turned the West Into a Jungle of Male Killing Male for a Woman!

An odd , old but solid Technicolor Western fare about two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War , but one of them becomes an erratic , disturbing judge with quirky acting by Glenn Ford , while his friend decently acted by William Holden who desperately tries to find a way to help him. It begins as a sluggish , slow-moving Western with long ball scenes but follows to surprise us with complex characters , thrills , breathtaking patches and decent plot about two different friends ; as both of them end up on opposite sides of the law . The simple tale is almost rudimentary though full of clichés , as the engaging script lines too often settle for crude routine , at times . Suspense and tension builds over the time in which the outlaws and the starring await to take the final confrontation . The action is competently made , as when the nasties shoot and hang without remission and even fire a village . The highlights of the film are the scenes in which the strict judge exects his particular justice by hanging and the final facing off . William Holden provides a slighly laborious acting as new Marshal , but his interpretation is really eclipsed by the great Glenn Ford has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more and more insane . They're well accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Ray Collins , Edgar Buchanan , Jerome Courtland , James Millican, Stanley Andrews , among others .

The motion picture was well directed by Henry Levin . Ex-actor ,director Henry Levin was a previous stage player who had a prolific and long career as filmmaker entering the directing in 1943 about every genre over the next 36 years . His heyday was in the 1960s , when he turned out several bright and frothy sex comedies, notably ¨Belles on their toes , Come fly with me , Honeymoon hotel¨ , his greatest films were on the adventure genre as ¨Genghis Khan , The wonderful world of Brothers Grimm , The bandit of Sherwood Forest , The return of Monte Cristo and Journey to the center of the earth¨ . Although Levin's forte was light comedies, one of his most interesting films was a dark, brooding western ¨Lonely man¨ (1957) and ¨Desperados¨ , both of them with Jack Palance. He finished his career piloting made-for-television movies, and died on the final day of shooting Scout's Honor (1980) (TV). If you are looking for Westerns with action , violence but also story and atmospheric scenes The Man from Colorado(1948) should be for you.

Best friends Owen and Del, along with local men, are mustered out of the Union army at Civil War's end. Trouble is Big Ed has grabbed the men's gold-bearing land while the men were gone, and now, as a judge, Owen has to enforce the law in Big Ed's favor. This splits the community into warring factions.

Gritty, character-driven western. We know at outset that Owen (Ford) is a flawed character when his Union detachment shells surrendering Johnny rebs. In fact, Owen hides his killer instinct behind an uptight rendering of authority, whether as a colonel or as a federal judge. Ford plays the authoritarian part so grimly (count the smiles—I stopped at zero), it's hard to see how the charming Caroline would be attracted to him. Nonetheless, the interplay between best-friends Ford and Holden is involving and forms the story's core. Alliances between the various factions are sometimes hard to keep up with, but are more unpredictable than usual. And I especially like that final maneuvering around the bridge that I didn't see coming.

Columbia Studios popped for a lot of extras, along with fine special effects, especially when the burning wall comes down. Funny, though, how mountainous Colorado looks like greater LA. Too bad Columbia didn't pop for sending the crew at least to Lone Pine and the Southern Sierras. All in all, it's a very different kind of horse opera that avoids the usual clichés, with Ford at his absolute grimmest. Clearly, however, he and Holden are on their way up the Hollywood ladder.

Back in the day William Holden and Glenn Ford both had a unique contractual arrangement with Columbia Pictures. When unknown Bill Holden was up for the lead in Golden Boy, Harry Cohn cast him in return for Paramount selling 50% of his services to Columbia. Holden served two studio masters at the time he was making The Man from Colorado and would for another decade.

Glenn Ford was Columbia's bread and butter leading man at the time and right after The Man From Colorado, Cohn sold half of Ford's contract to MGM and Ford also had two studio masters.

What it meant for these two was that all projects had to be cleared through both studios and that Holden and Ford if they did an outside loan out would also have to be cleared from both. Not that their respective studios didn't keep both these guys very busy.

Holden and Ford had done a well received western, Texas, for Columbia back in 1941. Texas was a rather lighthearted film about two cowboys turning to different sides of the law in post Civil War Texas, though it did feature the death of one of them.

The Man from Colorado is also a story about the activities of Union Army war veterans. But The Man from Colorado doesn't have any light moments whatsoever. It's pretty grim tale about one of them developing a real taste for sadism and killing as a result of the war.

Ford's the sadist here, it's one of the few villain parts he ever did and it works I think because he is so against type. He did very few parts like this, Lust for Gold is another, but his public wouldn't accept him in these roles.

Some of the town businessmen led by Ray Collins just look at the war record and decide Ford would make one fine federal judge. A real law and order type. They get a lot more than they bargain for.

In Texas Holden had the showier role of the young cowboy who take the outlaw route. Here however he's the best friend who stands by his former commanding officer even though he both sees the man has issues and Holden loses Ellen Drew to Ford. Holden takes the outlaw path after giving up his marshal's job when Ford starts running roughshod over due process.

The other really standout performance in this film is that of James Milliken who plays one of Ford's former soldiers who turns outlaw and in fact humiliates him in one of the few funny moments in The Man From Colorado. Ford conceives a burning hate for him that results in tragedy all around.

Ford and Holden were considering another joint project in 1981 when Holden died. I would like to have seen that one come to pass.

Try to see The Man From Colorado back to back with Texas.

"The Man From Colorado", filmed in 1948, portrays two men and how the trauma of the Civil War affected them, and those about them. Glenn Ford delivers a truly mesmerizing performance as a Civil War commander who is slowly being gripped by madness due to the violence of the War, while William Holden plays the part of a veteran of the same war, is able to cope with the aftermath, and yet, is unable to prevent his friend from sinking into degenerate madness.

After the war has ended, both men return to the same hometown to resume their lives. Ford is appointed as a federal judge of the territory, and he, in turn, names Holden as federal marshal. Ultimately, Ford's character sinks deeper into violence and glaring errors in carrying out justice, and Holden has to try and stop his former friend.

Don't let the age of the film deceive you, this movie does pack a message that can be applied today. An 8/10 viewing mark

Glenn Ford was as good as anyone playing an intense psychotic, which he does here in this above-average western. Ford, playing "Col.Owen Devereaux," gets elected to the position of "judge" right after his distinguished career in the Civil War. Unfortunately, he has mental problems and this position carries too much weight for an unstable sort such as him to be carrying. His best buddy, "Capt. Del Stewart" (William Holden) sees his friend as he is and tries to reason with him and help him out but winds up being alienated, too, by the paranoid judge whose problems escalate as the story goes on.

There's not a tremendous amount of action in here, but it still moves pretty fast and looks really nice on DVD. This is one of the few color films of the 1940s.

Ellen Drew, Ray Collins and Ed Buchnan provide good supporting help in the story. If you like some of the Anthony Mann-James Stewart westerns of the late '40s/early '50s, you should like this one, too.