''Man Without a Star'' is a 1955 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 starring

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in ''Pinky (film), Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films ''In the Meantime, Da ...

, Claire Trevor, William Campbell,

Richard Boone Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel''. Early lif ...

, Mara Corday, and Myrna Hansen. Directed by

King Vidor King Wallis Vidor ( ; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...

, it is based on the novel of the same name, published in 1952, by Dee Linford (1915–1971). A remake was made for television in 1968 entitled '' A Man Called Gannon''. In February 2020, the film was shown at the

70th Berlin International Film Festival The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival board: business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director ...

, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.

Plot

On a train from

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, the

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The advent of through brakes, brakes on every wagon which could be controlled by the driver, made this role r ...

throws Jeff Jimson off for freighthopping and he is saved from being run over by Dempsey Rae. Later that night, Dempsey and Jeff watch as another train hopper kills the brakeman. When the authorities try to arrest Jeff for the crime, Dempsey proves the other man was guilty. He is given half of the $100 reward for finding the murderer. Dempsey has a female acquaintance, Idonee, in town and both men decide to stay, after being hired to work (as alleged fellow-Texans) by Strap Davis, on a 10,000 head ranch for its new owner Reed Bowman. Dempsey tells Jeff that many men follow a star to set their destination. When asked by Jeff what star he follows, Dempsey tells him that he follows no particular star. Dempsey teaches Jeff how to shoot, rope, ride, and herd cattle. When Bowman finally arrives, Dempsey is surprised to find that he has been working for a very attractive woman, Reed Bowman. Bowman has plans to triple the size of her herd, which will crowd out the other ranchers on the available range. Dempsey falls for her, but the inevitable range war Bowman creates prompts him to defect to the other side. He has a deep hatred for

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

, but he finds that there is no clear moral side to the fight. After being estranged from his protégé, Dempsey finally comes to peace with Jeff before riding off to a new life.

Cast

as Dempsey Rae *

as Reed Bowman * Claire Trevor as Idonee * William Campbell as Jeff "Texas" Jimson *

as Steve Miles *

Jay C. Flippen John Constantine Flippen Jr. (J.C. or Jay C.) (March 6, 1899 – February 3, 1971) was an American character actor who often played crusty sergeants, police officers or weary criminals in many 1940s and 1950s pictures, particularly in film noir ...

as Strap Davis * Myrna Hansen as Tess Cassidy * Mara Corday as Moccasin Mary * Eddy C. Waller as Tom Cassidy *

Sheb Wooley Shelby Fredrick Wooley (April 10, 1921 – September 16, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He recorded a series of novelty songs, including the 1958 hit rock-and-roll comedy single "The Purple People Eater", and under the name ...

as Latigo *

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

as Tom Carter *Frank Chase as Little Waco * Paul Birch as Mark Toliver * Roy Barcroft as Sheriff Olson * William Challee as Brick Gooder * Malcolm Atterbury as Fancy Joe Toole *

Jack Elam William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920 – October 20, 2003) was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villaino ...

appears (uncredited) as a ruffian who kills the train guard early in the movie. *

Jack Ingram (actor) John Samuel Ingram (November 15, 1902 – February 20, 1969) was an American film and television actor. He appeared in many serials and Westerns between 1935 and 1966. Biography Ingram served in the U.S. Army in France. After leaving the m ...

as Jessup (uncredited)

Production

Filming

In the scenes where Kirk Douglas's character is standing next to the cattle train, the car's identification marks state it was built in December 1923 (BLT 12-23) which was well after the film's late 1800s time period (there were no railroads Out West in 1823).

Reception

Douglas later estimated he made over a million dollars from the film.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Without A Star 1955 films 1955 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels Universal Pictures films Films directed by King Vidor 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films