Winchester ’73 is the movie, that separates James Stewart, from many actors. He was an exceptional actor, before this. Stewart gives us the gritty, tough cowboy, in Lin McAdam. It is the type of role, that Stewart played in several collaborations with Anthony Mann. This type of hero, was made famous years later, by Clint Eastwood. Stewart is helped by a good script, written by Borden Chase.
Lin McAdam goes into Dodge City, with his friend, High Spade. They are looking for Dutch Henry Brown. McAdam finds him, when they both enter a shooting contest, on July 4, 1876. The prize is a Winchester rifle, that will be engraved with the winner’s name. The contest is monitored by Wyatt Earp. In an interesting bit of casting, the famous lawman, is played by Will Geer. He later became famous as Grandpa Walton. McAdam and Brown are the two finalists in the contest. Their skills with a rifle are incredible. It comes down to a shot, called by McAdam. Lin McAdam wins, and is presented with the rifle. He is later assaulted in his hotel room, by Brown, who steals the rifle. The prize firearm, is passed among various people from Brown. McAdam is hot on his trail. Along the way, he encounters Indians and a bank robbery. Brown has teamed up with another outlaw, Waco Johnny Dean. Dan Durea plays sociopath Dean, as well as any actor in Hollywood. He nearly steals the show from Stephen Mcnally. His character, loses a showdown with McAdam. Stewart’s character finally catches up with Brown, where they have a shootout in the mountains.
This film jumpstarted James Stewart’s film career. Even though he did films like the exceptional, Its a Wonderful Life, they flopped. He started breaking out of his traditional roles, with Hitchcock’s Rope. Winchester ‘73 made money, and both director and actor found another venue for their considerable skills. Stewart also got into character, practicing for hours, with the Winchester rifle. This allowed for believability in the character. Stewart also developed horsemanship skills, and worked with the same horse, for several years.
Anthony Mann filmed this western on location. This was a new idea at the time. All of the westerns that he filmed with Stewart, were on location. In this movie, he shows Stewart’s face, with grim determination. This is well done during the Indian attack. He shows what Lin McAdam sees during the attack. This gives the film an intensity, with closeups of the attackers. The camera goes back and forth to McAdam’s face and the attackers. Mann also manages to show the tight competition, in the shooting contest, with the targets. The sets also give a realism, to Dodge City and other locales. This film is groundbreaking and should be seen, for an appreciation of the western.