The Lonely Man (1957)
Aging gunslinger Jacob Wade hopes to settle down with his estranged son, but his old enemies have other plans for him. Gunslinger Jacob Wade finds his long-abandoned son Riley, now a young man who hates his father but has nowhere else to go. Hoping to settle down, Jacob finds no town will have him. They end at Monolith, the ranch of Jacob's former girlfriend Ada, to whom he had no intention of returning. A mustang hunt finds Riley himself attracted to the shapely Ada...and Jacob having trouble with his eyesight. And his visions of a quiet life are doomed by the re-appearance of enemies from his past...
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*** This review may contain spoilers *** *Plot and ending analyzed* A few scenes come to mind in The Lonely Man (1957), a unique Western. It has Jack Palance, as a misunderstood gunfighter. Jack Palance's physique matches his laconic attitude. We don't know whether he truly is evil at heart, or a killer. We believe it at first, but then, we see that he is nothing but a fragile human who is going blind. He exists in the wild West where men will kill you for nothing. He has merely defended himself.Townspeople want him out of their town, a few rivals want him dead. Anywhere he goes, he is treated like a pariah.Jack Palance wants to find his son (Anthony Perkins) before it is too late. Anthony Perkins doesn't want anything to do with him, but goes with him nonetheless. When they get to a town, Anthony Perkins wants to simply go to eat, but Jack Palance says, "A man first takes care of his horse." That scene to me is stupendous, it is what makes Westerns so good. A cowboy who knows the ways of the West.Elisha Cook Jr., Neville Brand, Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins and Denver Pyle are just a few familiar Western actors in the film. This is a nice character study.
I looked at all the comments made for this film, but I feel I need to mention what's good about it. The acting and characters are first-rate and there are several familiar faces. The black and white cinematography is the best I've ever seen in a western...The location is wonderful--all in all the best looking western ever!!!! These things alone make it worth watching... I agree that the plot has lots of holes and needs some explaining at times, and answers to many questions are never given... But give this film a try...it's still very good!
I found "Lonely Man' in a local library. I can't believe it only has 26 votes on the IMDB. This is not as great as the Anthony Mann films I've studied in grad school. There is one with Anthony Perkins called "The Tin Star" which I would recommend more. But, this is still a good Western which doesn't follow the conventional theme/structure narrative. Worth a look.
Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins give decent performances in this boring western that is filled with meaningless dialog and unbelievable situations. Location in Long Pine California brings some realism even in black and white but I still can not recommend The Lonely Man.