The Tin Star

Summary

“You made a mistake pulling that gun on me”

I love watching a good Western every now and then. In the Blu-ray age we have been spoiled with great releases of films by John Ford, Anthony Mann, Sergio Leone, and other masters of the genre. It has been a group effort amongst distributors with strong releases by Warner, Criterion, Arrow, Paramount, Twilight Time, and others bringing a steady stream of classic films to the format. Anthony Mann was one of the finest directors of the Western genre, so I was excited to check out Arrow Video’s release of The Tin Star. Shot in the widescreen VistaVision format in Black and White, the 1957 film stars Henry Fonda, Neville Brand, and a young Anthony Perkins. The film is a lesson in economic storytelling. It manages to craft a solid storyline with well considered characters in just under ninety minutes. I watched the film the other night.

As the film begins, Morgan Hickman (Henry Fonda) rides his horse into town trailing another horse behind him by a rope. On the horse behind him is a dead body in a bag. Morgan makes his way through the town as the townspeople look on and approaches the Sheriff’s office. Young and inexperienced Sheriff Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins) has only recently become sheriff due to the death of Sheriff Parker. He had been killed in a holdup. Ben feels like the position is only temporary until the town can find a better candidate, but his fiancee Millie (Mary Webster) doesn’t want Ben to do the job at all. She is justifiably worried that he will die in the line of duty. Morgan is a bounty hunter. He has come to town to collect on the reward for a man named Jameson whom he has brought back dead. A group of concerned citizens arrive at the Sheriff’s office. Hickman is told by the mayor that it is a “law and order town” and to collect his money and leave. It will take a little while to send off the necessary paperwork to receive the funds, so Hickman is forced to get a room for at least a night. At the local hotel – the only hotel in town- he is turned away by the innkeeper. At the local stablery, planning to stable his horse, he meets Bart Bogardis (Neville Brand) who was kin to Jameson. Morgan is told off again. Morgan also meets a young dark haired boy named Kip who he gives a ride on his horse back to Kip’s house in the edge of town. The mother (Betsy Palmer) is kind enough to allow Hickman a place to stay if he is okay staying in the same room with his son. While in conversation with Kip’s mother, Morgan finds out her name is Nona Mayfield and is taken aback because the child looked like he was part Mexican. She explains that the boy was part Indian, and that he is free to go the next day. Hickman goes to the Sheriff the next morning. All that is needed is a signature for him to receive his funds. Just then, Bart bursts out of the local saloon and shoots an Indian to death in the street. Sheriff Owens walks into the street without signing the reward and intervenes to disarm Bart. Bart claims that it was self defense and refuses to give over his pistols. Just as Bart is about to draw down on the Sheriff, Hickman shoots the gun out of Bart’s hand. Hickman asks for him to sign his claim and also tells him everything he had done wrong in his approach to Bart. After discovering that Hickman had also been a Sheriff, he approaches him for advice. News comes that Bart Bargodis was simply fined $50 for resisting arrest by the judge. The young Sheriff leans on Morgan to help him to learn how to survive while wearing the tin star.

While the film is somewhat paint-by-numbers in terms of the beats of its plot, it is such a good example of this type of story that it largely transcends the cliches. The dialogue in particular never fails to deliver short but clever exchanges. It is not difficult to predict the ways in which the apprentice and master storyline will play out or how the film will end, but the construction of the story is airtight. The film manages to do everything it sets out to do in ninety minutes without wasting any time. There is no fluff. The characters are well drawn and likable. The character exposition is economic and effective. The film also has a strong anti-racist viewpoint which particularly disapproved of the ways in which Indian lives were basically disposable in the time in which the film was set. Screenwriter Dudley Nichols was nominated for best original screenplay for his work on the picture, which shows that the film was well considered at the time of its release. The storyline is engaging, even if it is a little bit forgettable compared to some other Westerns.

The cast of the picture is great. Henry Fonda was a reliably good leading man in Westerns, and he brings to life the bounty hunter with a hard past. A lot of what Fonda brings to the film is in his body language, but he delivers all of his dialogue convincingly. Anthony Perkins is a good choice for the role of the inexperienced Ben Perkins.  This is an early role for Perkins before his role in Psycho made his name synonymous with the character of Norman Bates for the rest of his life. Betsy Palmer would later be known for her role as Jason Voorhees’s mother in Friday the 13th, but here she is a well meaning mother. Neville Brand is solidly cast as an intimidating racist with a mean streak. A young Lee Van Cleef also shows up in a small role.

Director Anthony Mann shot the film beautifully. Working with cinematographer Loyal Griggs, Mann mapped out some truly remarkable shots. The tracking shots in particular are exceptional and they occur frequently. The VistaVision widescreen black and white format captured a tremendous amount of detail onto film, which means that the film looks terrific on the Blu-ray format. I had enjoyed watching Anthony Mann’s film The Man from Laramie, and watching The Tin Star made me excited to see more of his work. Thankfully, that wait will not be long for me because Warner has another one of his films coming to Blu-ray in the next month. It is also worth pointing out that the film has a wonderful score by iconic composer Elmer Bernstein.

If you enjoy Westerns, I would definitely recommend checking The Tin Star out. It is very well made, and, while the film’s plot is slightly forgettable, the script is as economic and well constructed as can be done in such a short time frame.

Video

I don’t think this transfer could have looked any better in this format. It’s essentially perfect. Fine detail is exceptional. Compression never shows itself. The grain is as well resolved as I have seen in a black and white film on Blu-ray. Fans will be elated. As I mentioned above, VistaVision was remarkable at keeping a number of things in focus at the same time, meaning that the widescreen shots capture a tremendous amount of detail on film. It looks fantastic on Blu-ray.

Audio

Arrow Video has provided numerous options for The Tin Star with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track, a stereo track, and a Mono track. Obviously, some purists will hesitate to enjoy the film in anything but Mono, but I personally enjoyed how much the surround track brought out the best elements in Elmer Bernstein’s well written score. Fans should be very pleased to see that Arrow Video has given three solid options for audiophiles.

Supplements:

Audio Commentary by Toby Roan – Tony gives a good amount of background info on the careers of the key players in the film while also discussing a number of aspects of the production. I really enjoyed the discussion of VistaVision in particular.

Apprenticing a Master – author and critic Neil Sinyard discusses the expertly crafted structure of the film which earned the film an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay. He discusses screenwriter Dudley Nichols (whom he considers somewhat underrated,) and he also discusses the numerous western pictures that Anthony Mann made in the Fifties.

Beyond the Score – this interview with Elmer Bernstein’s son Peter is extremely informative about Bernstein’s personality and process from someone who knew him best. Peter followed his father’s footsteps and became a musician and he obviously enjoys talking about his father’s work. A really good piece.

Theatrical Trailer 

Image Galleries

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.25/5

The Tin Star is a very well constructed Western that benefits from Anthony Mann’s excellent direction and VistaVision black and white cinematography. The film is slightly forgettable just because the beats of its plot have been done a number of times, but the script itself is a lesson in economic screenwriting. It is very tightly written and well constructed. Henry Fonda is great in the lead role and Anthony Perkins is well cast as the inexperienced Sheriff. Arrow Video’s release is a fantastic way to experience the film thanks to a perfect video presentation, solid audio, and great supplements. Fans of Westerns will definitely find a lot to enjoy about this release.