Posted by Written by Jeff DeLany
Anthony Mann: Finding His Voice in the Western
The three criteria for the auteur theory as described by Andrew Sarris are: 1) the “technical competence of a director”; 2) the “distinguishable personality of the director”, and; 3) the director must insert “interior meaning”[i] into his films. In addition to these three criteria, it is important to consider the change the director has on the genre. This paper will consider Mann’s work and how it fits into Sarris’ understanding of auteur theory using The Man from Laramie[ii]. Additionally, it will examine the deeper meanings that Mann sought to bring out of the material he worked with. Consideration will also be given to the way he used the settings of his films to create his version of the West.
Alexander Astruc stated that “[t]here is always an avant-garde when something new takes place…”.[iii] If that’s the case, Anthony Mann became part of the avant-garde when he took on the Western genre. During his nearly 30-year career Anthony Mann directed 43 films, three for which he was uncredited.[iv] He began with “B” pictures before moving onto other genres, including film noir. Towards the end of his career he was presented with the challenge of epics like El Cid and The Fall of the Roman Empire. The central part of his career is when he rediscovered the Western for his audiences. During this period of his career Mann cemented his legacy and entered the ranks of auteur. Writer Jeremy Carr states:
[T]o know Anthony Mann the filmmaker is to know the Anthony Mann Western. For without having found the genre within which he could most evidently express his stylistic and thematic concerns, Mann may not have developed into the unique filmic artist he became, and the Western as an ever evolving form would not have entered one of its key transitional phases as it did.[v]
From 1950 to 1958, Mann crafted ten Western. Five of these films paired Mann with screen legend James Stewart. These five films expertly utilized the conventions of the genre all while adding a layer of psychology that had previously been unseen.
In 1955 the Columbia Pictures film The Man from Laramie[vi] was released in theaters. The script was written by Philip Yordan and Frank Burt, adapted from a Thomas T. Flynn serial that had been published in The Saturday Evening Post. This film was shot in Technicolor and was one of the first Westerns shot in the CinemaScope format. It features an incredible cast that includes Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O’Donnell, and of course, James Stewart. This was the fifth and final collaboration between Mann and Stewart and serves as an excellent example of Mann’s unique vision within the Western genre.
As Sarris states, “a badly directed or undirected film has no importance in a critical scale of values.”[vii] Fortunately, The Man from Laramie is a film that features excellent production work. While film making is a collaborative process, this film features a similar visual styling to all of the other Mann and Stewart Westerns despite each of the five films featuring the work of four different cinematographers, four different editors, and four different art direction teams. Additionally, these films are based on material from five different writers. While none of this can be used to draw a specific conclusion, it’s important since it shows that Mann was in charge of the film making process. Accepting that the first aspect of auteur theory is the technical competence of the director[viii], Anthony Mann appears to have passed the test.
Moreover, it is significant that these five films are generally praised by the critics. While this isn’t a necessary element to the auteur theory, it is good to see these films succeed on both levels. While the praise from critics of the day centered on Stewart and his performances, later analysis has credited Mann and his unique vision. This vision didn’t just establish Mann’s place in film history. It also gave Stewart’s career new life. Stewart stated, “I wasn’t under contract to any studio, and I made about seven pictures that just didn’t go. Then somebody introduced me to Mann… and we hadn’t been filming for long before I knew this man had sort of brought things together for me.”[ix] This is high praise from an Oscar-winning actor.
The Man from Laramie, like this other Westerns, also display Mann’s ability to work within the conventions of the Western genre. While his approach was unique, he utilized the imagery of the West as well as any other master of the genre. Carr stated it this way:
He [Mann] knew what made a Western—what individual features defined it and what one associated with its traditional appearance—and he used this to his advantage, to clearly indicate an allegiance to the genre and to distinguish himself as one who knowingly implemented these key characteristics.[x]
Carr noted that even the titles of Mann’s Westerns utilized the symbols common to the genre. With titles like Tin Star, The Naked Spur, Bend of the River, and Winchester ’73 Mann was focusing on the props and tools present in the Western genre. Once he established the genre, Mann was able to create his own unique approach with great success.
To some degree the second premise of auteur theory has already been addressed: the distinguishable personality of the director.[xi] In understanding Mann’s personality, it’s important to look at the work he did before The Man from Laramie. Even before the Westerns of the fifties, Mann was working on films that dealt with the psychology of the characters. In films like Desperate,[xii] Mann addresses the complex emotions of a character caught between good and bad. That film focuses on a man running from criminals and the law, all while caring for his pregnant wife. Another one of his films, Raw Deal[xiii], focuses on a man who is double-crossed by criminal partners who want him dead. He struggles with his desire for revenge while falling for the woman who has taken him in. These stories are just a few examples of Mann’s interest in the thought processes of his protagonists. Their motivations are not pure or altruistic, and they tend to be motivated largely by self-interest until something shakes their conscience. These same themes would emerge in The Man from Laramie, as well as the four other Mann-Stewart Westerns.
The Man from Laramie presents a particularly interesting protagonist in Stewart’s Will Lockhart. Here we see a man driven by revenge and rage over the death of his younger brother. He arrives in the small town of Coronado seeking out the people who sold guns to the American Indians who killed his brother. Stewart plays the role with a sense of subdued rage that always seems to be close to boiling over. When he’s pushed, this rage explodes onto the screen. This also means that Lockhart makes the people he comes into contact with uneasy. Alec Waggoman, played by Donald Crisp, tells Lockhart at their first meeting, “I don’t know you, but I knew you were coming.”. It’s an ominous statement and there is a sense that Waggoman can see into Lockhart’s mind. Lockhart is a man committed to his own desires and much of his character can be understood when he states, “I belong where I am.”.
Each of Stewart’s characters in the Mann Westerns have a built-in distrust that seems almost insurmountable. Sometimes it’s augmented by their greed or need for revenge. Other times it is unexplained. Throughout the five films there is rarely a partner or companion that isn’t kept at arm’s length by Stewart’s protagonist. In The Man from Laramie, Lockhart keeps Barbara Waggoman at a distance once he discovers that she’s related to the man who shot his mules and assaulted him. He also questions every helping hand offered to him throughout the movie.
The Man from Laramie also dives into the psychology of the antagonists. Alex Nicol’s Dave Waggoman expresses his insecurity with violence and reckless behavior as he seeks to prove himself to his father. This insecurity also serves to hide his cowardice. The young Dave also struggles to maintain a position of superiority over Vic Hansbro, played by Arthur Kennedy, the man that the elder Waggoman has taken on as a surrogate son due to his sound judgment and maturity. Dave’s downfall comes as a direct consequence of the decisions he makes while trying to overcome his failings and insecurities. Insecurity also drives the decisions of Vic Hansbro. Early in the film he is shown as a man desperate for the love and respect of a man he sees as his father. This same desperation soon leads him to his own demise.
Psychology plays an important part of The Man from Laramie. Anthony Mann allows the film to hesitate at just the right moments to allow the consequences of actions sink in. This is especially true when it comes to violence. There is a sense of respect given to mortality. The Man from Laramie opens the film showing Will Lockhart quietly taking in the spot where his brother had died. Donald Crisp displays a silent pain when his son’s body is delivered to him strapped over the saddle of a horse. Later, Arthur Kennedy is given a long moment to quietly display the inner turmoil he feels about the life he has taken. These moments are up close and personal, forcing the audience to reflect the thoughts and feelings of the man on the screen.
Another important aspect of the psychology behind Mann’s characters is the punishment that he gives to his protagonists. In The Man from Laramie, Will Lockhart is dragged behind a horse and his mules are shot just because a local rancher’s son takes issue with his appearance. In an instance when most people would leave town, Lockhart remains to continue his search for vengeance. This assault only adds to his anger and desire for retribution. This decision to stay leads to further indignity when he is shot through the hand with his own gun. All of this becomes motivation for Lockhart, fueling his desire for revenge that initially brought him to the small town.
The third element of Sarris’ auteur theory is the interior meaning. In other words, what Mann injected into The Man from Laramie through the tension between his personality and the material he was working with. Sarris[xiv] seemed unable to verbalize what this means in any broad sense. Instead, he focused on one moment from La Regle du Jeu. This moment seemed to embody something deeper in the work of Jean Renoir. When considering the Mann-Stewart Westerns it seems to come out when the protist is forced to face up to the wages of their sins. As stated earlier, Mann seemed to understand the need to consider consequence. Each of these Westerns has a moment of reflection that reminds the audience that the there is a cost associated with the revenge and greed motivating the protagonists.
One of the best examples is The Naked Spur. There we see James Stewart’s Howard Kemp hesitate as he looks across a field littered with the bodies of American Indians. These Indians died because they presented themselves as an obstacle. It’s a silent and poignant moment that reminds the audience that innocent people have been caught in the midst of something out of their control. The Man from Laramie presents the audience with several opportunities for this type of thinking. Even the senseless slaughter of Lockhart’s mules is followed by a moment where we see the carnage all around him. It feels like a complete waste, carried out by a senselessly violent man.
Early Westerns had been about a man in a white hat coming to the rescue of helpless people, normally against a man in a black hat. This kind of over-simplified storytelling left little room for questions about motivation. It also left no room for the hero to be flawed. If anything, he became a beacon of virtue in a lawless place, a symbol of all that men should want to be. Anthony Mann rejected this way of thinking and presented us with heroes who are complex, flawed, and often just as dangerous as the villains., Will Lockhart in The Man from Laramie is determined to get his form of justice and revenge. He has a distrust of the local law enforcement and seems reluctant to acknowledge that he was once a member of the military. The disconnection from the military is more interesting given the period of time when this film was made. Following World War II Stewart was looking to redefine his career and he was very reluctant to talk about his own military service. So, it’s not surprising that Mann used this reluctance to bring out the feelings of his character. This hesitation goes beyond military service, and blends into every aspect of Lockhart’s life. He’s reluctant to connect to the world around him, giving the impression that he has been through some unknown trauma preceding the events in the film.
It’s interesting that James Stewart was the chosen actor for Mann’s films. In 1950 genre films were dominated by familiar faces. John Wayne, Fred Astair, James Cagny, and Humphrey Bogart were largely known for their work within a specific genre. At the time of their first collaboration James Stewart had been working on films like Malaya and The Stratton Story. These kinds of movies seemed built to leverage Stewart’s pre-war persona. Casting Stewart gave Mann a chance to change that imagery and tap into the turmoil that Stewart carried following his experience as a bomber pilot in World War II.
Anthony Mann might have seen some of himself in his protagonists as well. Throughout his career, Mann never signed the kind of contract that left him obligated to one studio. He was free to work with whatever studio he wanted, and he did. Over the thirty years he worked as a director Mann worked for RKO Pictures, Eagle-Lion Films, Columbia, Universal, and MGM just to name a few. This constant movement also gave him opportunities to work in a number of different genres. It’s possible that he understood what Will Lockhart meant when he said “I belong where I am.”[xv].
The Man from Laramie is a great example of Anthony Mann’s work as a true auteur. Alexander Astruc said “[the] fundamental problem of the cinema is how to express thought.”[xvi] The evidence presented has shown that this was an essential part of Mann’s process. He sought out complex characters and told stories that were not about good versus evil as much as they’re about man versus himself. In Winchester ’73 Mann pushes this to the extreme, pitting James Stewart’s character against his brother. In this moment we see two men who are similar in numerous ways. At some point they took divergent paths, but eventually they found themselves face to face in a battle to the death. While The Man from Laramie is not this explicit, it does show us a man who is at war with himself over his desire to see justice done in the way he believes it should be.
One additional hallmark of Mann’s work in the Western genre is his use of the terrain in his films. In each of the Stewart films Mann shoots the film in a way that highlights the isolation the characters must feel in the setting. In many cases these moments happen at a moment of danger or actions, where the terrain becomes an obstacle for the protagonist. In The Naked Spur[xvii] the antagonist is first introduced as he hides atop a rocky hill and pushes boulders down towards the protagonist. In the climax of that film we see Stewart’s character fighting against the natural environment to try and secure his prize. In Winchester ’73[xviii] the climax of the film finds two men battling on a rocky hillside.
In The Man from Laramie the characters often point out the isolated nature of the small town where Will Lockhart has arrived. The early action in the film shows the difficulty caused by the rocky hillsides. Throughout this film there are also quiet moments when the camera pans to show a barren and harsh landscape. By utilizing the locations this way Mann created a vastly different world from many other Westerns of the era. The terrain becomes an enemy to everyone in the film. Antagonists and protagonists both fall victim to the dangers it presents.
Anthony Mann was more than competent when it came to the production of his films. Despite the changing personnel around him, there’s a consistent quality to the Westerns he made. One of the few constants was James Stewart, and Mann helped to revitalize his career through his skilled directing. It’s also interesting that Mann chose Stewart to create these films. Never before was someone cast against type the way that Stewart was. The pre-war image of Stewart was associated with films like The Philadelphia Story and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In Mann’s films Stewart shed the blind optimism and cheerful personality for characters who are suffering. In The Man from Laramie Stewart’s “Lockhart is told, ‘Hate’s unbecoming in a man like you,’ and surely such a statement applies to the atypical nature of Stewart in these films as well, yet to the contrary of being unbecoming, it actually gives the Hollywood luminary a chance to operate in a wholly different tenor.”[xix]
By the time Stewart and Mann came together Mann had developed a distinct vision and he injected that vision into the Westerns they made. While he accepted the iconography of the genre, he chose to use it in ways not before seen in film. He also rejected the simplicity of the genre, opting for complicated stories with complicated characters.
Anthony Mann also sought to understand and express the psychology of the people in these stories he told. He encouraged the audience to consider the consequences facing these men for the actions they take in their quest for their goals. He also showed how innocent people sometimes suffered for the actions of others. Mann created a world where the setting could be an antagonist in its own right. Instead of the graceful open plains, or the massive beauty of Monument Valley, Mann presented an isolating and unforgiving wilderness where characters struggled to survive. Anthony Mann’s work stands as a major turning point in the Western cinematic genre. It’s impossible to disconnect his work from the Westerns that followed. Directors like Sam Peckinpah, Sergio Leone, and Clint Eastwood all contributed their own flawed and complicated protagonists to the genre.
[i] Sarris, A. (2019). Notes on the Auteur Theory In 1962. [online] Dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu. Available at: https://dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2011/06/Sarris-Notes-on-the-Auteur-Theory.pdf [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[ii] The Man from Laramie. (1955). [film] Directed by A. Ma. United States: Columbia Pictures.
[iii] Astruc, A. (2019). La Camera Stylo – Alexandre Astruc. [online] Newwavefilm.com. Available at: http://www.newwavefilm.com/about/camera-stylo-astruc.shtml [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[iv] En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Anthony Mann. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Mann#Complete_filmography [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
[v] Carr, J. (2019). ‘Art and the theory of art’: “The Man from Laramie” and the Anthony Mann Western on Notebook. [online] MUBI. Available at: https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/art-and-the-theory-of-art-the-man-from-laramie-and-the-anthony-mann-western [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[vi] The Man from Laramie. (1955). [film] Directed by A. Ma. United States: Columbia Pictures.
[vii] Sarris, A. (2019). Notes on the Auteur Theory In 1962. [online] Dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu. Available at: https://dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2011/06/Sarris-Notes-on-the-Auteur-Theory.pdf [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[viii] Sarris, A. (2019). Notes on the Auteur Theory In 1962. [online] Dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu. Available at: https://dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2011/06/Sarris-Notes-on-the-Auteur-Theory.pdf [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[ix] Ebert, R. (2019). James Stewart: The Man from Laramie rides the high country of Telluride | Festivals & Awards | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals-and-awards/james-stewart-the-man-from-laramie-rides-the-high-country-of-telluride [Accessed 30 Sep. 2019].
[x] Carr, J. (2019). ‘Art and the theory of art’: “The Man from Laramie” and the Anthony Mann Western on Notebook. [online] MUBI. Available at: https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/art-and-the-theory-of-art-the-man-from-laramie-and-the-anthony-mann-western [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[xi] Sarris, A. (2019). Notes on the Auteur Theory In 1962. [online] Dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu. Available at: https://dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2011/06/Sarris-Notes-on-the-Auteur-Theory.pdf [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[xii] Desperate. (1947). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: RKO Pictures.
[xiii] Raw Deal. (1948). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: Eagle-Lion Films.
[xiv] Sarris, A. (2019). Notes on the Auteur Theory In 1962. [online] Dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu. Available at: https://dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2011/06/Sarris-Notes-on-the-Auteur-Theory.pdf [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[xv] The Man from Laramie. (1955). [film] Directed by A. Ma. United States: Columbia Pictures.
[xvi] Astruc, A. (2019). La Camera Stylo – Alexandre Astruc. [online] Newwavefilm.com. Available at: http://www.newwavefilm.com/about/camera-stylo-astruc.shtml [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
[xvii] The Naked Spur. (1953). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
[xviii] Winchester ’73. (1950). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: Universal Pictures.
[xix] Carr, J. (2019). ‘Art and the theory of art’: “The Man from Laramie” and the Anthony Mann Western on Notebook. [online] MUBI. Available at: https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/art-and-the-theory-of-art-the-man-from-laramie-and-the-anthony-mann-western [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
FILMOGRAPHY
Dr. Broadway (1942)
Moonlight in Havana (1942)
Nobody’s Darling (1943)
My Best Gal (1944)
Strangers in the Night (1944)
Sing Your Way Home (1945)
The Great Flamarion (1945)
Two O’Clock Courage (1945)
Strange Impersonation (1946)
The Bamboo Blonde (1946)
T-Men (1947)
Railroaded! (1947)
Desperate (1947)
He Walked by Night (1948) – director (uncredited), together with Alfred L. Werker
Raw Deal (1948)
Border Incident (1949)
Reign of Terror (1949)
Follow Me Quietly (1949) – director (uncredited), together with Richard Fleischer
The Furies (1950)
*Winchester ’73 (1950)
Side Street (1950)
Devil’s Doorway (1950)
Quo Vadis – second-unit director (uncredited) (1951)
The Tall Target (1951)
*Bend of the River (1953)
*Thunder Bay (1953)
*The Naked Spur (1953)
*The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
*The Far Country (1954)
The Last Frontier (1955)
*The Man from Laramie (1955)
*Strategic Air Command (1955)
Serenade (1956)
The Tin Star (1957)
Men in War (1957)
Man of the West (1958)
God’s Little Acre (1958)
Cimarron (1960)
El Cid (1961)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
A Dandy in Aspic (1968)
*Films including James Stewart.
WORKS CITED
Sarris, A. (2019). Notes on the Auteur Theory In 1962. [online] Dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu. Available at: https://dramaandfilm.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2011/06/Sarris-Notes-on-the-Auteur-Theory.pdf [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
The Man from Laramie. (1955). [film] Directed by A. Ma. United States: Columbia Pictures.
Astruc, A. (2019). La Camera Stylo – Alexandre Astruc. [online] Newwavefilm.com. Available at: http://www.newwavefilm.com/about/camera-stylo-astruc.shtml [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Anthony Mann. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Mann#Complete_filmography [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
Carr, J. (2019). ‘Art and the theory of art’: “The Man from Laramie” and the Anthony Mann Western on Notebook. [online] MUBI. Available at: https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/art-and-the-theory-of-art-the-man-from-laramie-and-the-anthony-mann-western [Accessed 28 Sep. 2019].
Ebert, R. (2019). James Stewart: The Man from Laramie rides the high country of Telluride | Festivals & Awards | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals-and-awards/james-stewart-the-man-from-laramie-rides-the-high-country-of-telluride [Accessed 30 Sep. 2019].
Desperate. (1947). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: RKO Pictures.
Raw Deal. (1948). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: Eagle-Lion Films.
The Naked Spur. (1953). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Winchester ’73. (1950). [film] Directed by A. Mann. United States: Universal Pictures.
Did You See That One? 