''The Tin Star'' is a 1957 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film based on a short story, directed in

VistaVision VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954. Paramount never used anamorphic processes such as 2.55: 1, CinemaScope but refi ...

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. Mann initially started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where ...

and starring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

and

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influentia ...

, in one of Perkins' first roles. The film became one of the few low-budget westerns to be nominated for the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Writing, Story or Screenplay. Since its release, the film has become one of the classics of the genre. The supporting cast features

Betsy Palmer Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress, who was known as a regular supporting film and Broadway actress and television guest star, as a panelist on the game show ''I've Got a Secret' ...

, Neville Brand,

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...

and

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...

Plot

Bounty hunter Morgan Hickman (

) arrives in a small town with the body of an outlaw, seeking the bounty. While the general townsfolk openly abhor Hickman, young sheriff Ben Owens (

), while angry with Morg for not bringing the wanted man in alive, also admires him for taking everything in his stride and knowing how to handle dangerous situations. Owens has a steady girl called Millie. Her father, the previous sheriff, was killed and she refuses to marry Owens unless he quits the job. Owens enjoys the authority and wants to prove himself; he asks Morg to give him some lessons to gain confidence, particularly because he is going to have to face up to the town loudmouth, Bogardus ( Neville Brand). Morg tells the young man that he was once a sheriff himself until a personal loss changed him. He advises Owens to quit and marry his girl but eventually agrees to provide some advice while awaiting the arrival of the bounty money. Due to the community's open hostility toward Morg, he cannot find a place to stay. He befriends Nona Mayfield (

), whose own relationship with most of the citizens has been tense due to her half-Indian son, Kip (

Michel Ray Michel Ray de Carvalho (born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 1944) is a British financier, former Olympic skier and luger, and former child actor in films such as '' The Brave One'', ''The Tin Star'', and ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (u ...

). Morg moves into a room in her house on the edge of town. Matters come to a head after local doctor McCord is murdered. After delivering a baby son to a remote homesteader, McCord is returning home during the night but is waylaid by Ed McGaffey (

). McGaffey demands that the doctor treat his brother's gunshot wound, received when the brothers attacked a stagecoach, killing the guard. After McCord treats the brother, McGaffey decides to kill him because it is apparent the doctor will put two and two together and know the two are responsible for the murder. Dr. McCord's horse and trap re-enter the town on McCord Day: everyone has come out to celebrate the doctor's 75th birthday, offering up a resounding chorus of "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow". It is soon obvious that the doctor is dead. A posse is then assembled to catch the McGaffey brothers. However, the posse splits from Owens – they see him as too soft for insisting the men be brought in alive – and the dangerous Bogardus becomes their leader. Young Kip, fascinated by the posse as they pass his house, rides out after them on the horse Morg has given him as a present. When Morg discovers this, he spurns Owens' pleas to join him in tracking the killers and sets off to find the boy. Owens eventually joins him. When they find Kip they also stumble upon the brothers hiding in a mountain cave. After a gunfight in which Owens receives a bullet graze on the forehead, and a clever ploy by Morg, they successfully capture the brothers and lock them in the town jail. The posse, urged on by Bogardus, is baying for blood and want to lynch the pair. To build the courage to complete the deed, the men get drunk in the saloon. Owens, demonstrating the newfound confidence and strength he has gleaned from Morg, stands against the crowd with a shotgun to defend the McGaffeys' right to a legal trial. Bogardus makes it clear he will face down the sheriff; Owens approaches the man alone after handing the shotgun to the newly-deputized Morg. The mob separates, anticipating a gunfight. Owens confronts Bogardus and slaps him. This seems to take the wind out of the troublemaker and he turns away, appearing to back down. But, after a few steps, he turns and draws. Owens guns him down. At this point, the lynch mob disperses. Owens and Millie, who has decided she will subdue her fear as best she can and marry him, bid goodbye to Morg who is happily leaving town with Nona and Kip.

Cast

as Morgan Hickman *

as Sheriff Ben Owens *

as Nona Mayfield *

as Kip Mayfield * Neville Brand as Bart Bogardus *

as Dr Joseph J. 'Doc' McCord * Mary Webster as Millie Parker *

as Ed McGaffey * Peter Baldwin as Zeke McGaffey * Richard Shannon as Buck Henderson * Howard Petrie as Mayor Harvey King *

Frank Cady Frank Randolph Cady (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012) was an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in three American television series during the 1960s – '' Petticoat Junction'', '' Green Acres'', and ...

as Abe Pickett (uncredited) * Frank McGrath as Jim Clark, the stagecoach driver (uncredited)

Reception

''The Tin Star'' holds an 86% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on seven reviews.https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tin_star

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tin Star, The 1957 films 1957 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Films directed by Anthony Mann Films produced by William Perlberg Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols Paramount Pictures films American black-and-white films 1950s American films 1950s English-language films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links