The Man From Colorado

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The Man From Colorado 1948.......2007-06-30

Glenn Ford (1916-2006) Delivers a mesmerish performance as Owen Devereux , a sadistic civil war veteran who has deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experience during the war . William Holden (1918-1981) is oustanding as Del Stewart , Devereux's marshal and ex-army pal who tries to restrain the judge's violent nature . When Devereux's psyhotic behaviour force the town's people to take up arms against him , the former friend are pitted against each other in a brutal conflict with fatal consequences . The suspense never falters in acclaimed director Henry Levin (1908-1980) tighly woven tale which delves into devastating psycohological effects of war .

Very good, early Ford/Holden western.......2007-03-28

Moody western set in post Civil War Colorado. Glenn Ford stars as the tightly wound Union colonel who, immediately after the war ends, returns home and is elected judge for his corner of Colorado. Ford's first official action is to appoint best friend William Holden a federal marshal.

THE MAN FROM COLORADO begins a little before these happy ceremonies take place, though. The movie opens with Colonel Ford forming his men into line of battle against a small contingent of whipped confederates. At least we in the audience, and Ford with his field glasses, know they're whipped - we both see them waving the white flag of surrender. Even so, Ford orders the cannons to open fire, and the enemy forces are annihilated. Okay, so Ford ISN'T going to play the hero in this one. The likelier candidate, Ford's aide Holden, finds the white cloth tied to the end of a bayonet after the `battle', puts two and two together, and promptly buries the evidence before anyone else can see it. All this happens in the movie's first five minutes, so these aren't spoilers.

The emotional core of the movie is the Holden/Ford relationship. Holden's friendship with and loyalty to his old commander, and life long friend, is severely tested by Ford's increasingly erratic, and violence prone, behavior. The movie's engine can be found in a secondary plot thread. After mustering out, the enlisted men in Ford's old regiment find their gold claims have been - legally but unethically - taken over by a big mining concern. The mine owners have grown fat and rich while the men were off fighting, and the owners attempt to use the law, through their newly appointed judge, to hold and retain their ill-gotten pelf. There's fodder enough in that situation for two western's worth of violent conflict, and the movie delivers plot-wise.

I liked THE MAN FROM COLORADO, but I don't think it's a classic, and I'm not going to put it into the heavy rotation, Must Rewatch file. It's probably more than an interesting coincidence that this movie about displaced and cheated Civil War veterans was made and released four short years after the end of World War II. The movie stops just short of endorsing the violent and illegal acts committed by the mis-used vets. Plus there's something brave, or courageous, about a movie from that era that'll set up a plot with a scene of a war crime committed by an officer in the US Army, a crime the officer is never brought to justice for committing. Another of the movie's strength is Holden's character, who moves from wary loyalty to disillusionment and beyond, is well conceived and wholly credible. The weakest link in this movie is also its boldest creation played by, arguably, the movie's best actor. Don't get me wrong, Glenn Ford was very good at playing moody, introspective characters, and he IS very convincing playing someone trying to keep a lid on his explosively violent temper. The problem he is that's ALL he plays. The movie spends no time showing Ford at ease, so it's up to Holden and Ellen Drew (wasted here as Ford's bride and underdeveloped triangle love interest of Holden) - it's up to these two to tell Ford "he's changed" and for us to believe them. Blah - the movie's in the showing, not the telling. As interesting as villains can be, they usually aren't when their kettle's on the boil 24/7. The movie tells us, rather than shows us, that the Ford character went bad and the war done it to him. As fine an actor as Ford was, he can't escape a tediously imagined character. Granted, it's a quibble to complain about Ford's character's one-dimensionality, but with so many other pieces in place it's a frustrating disappointment. Instead of great, THE MAN FROM COLORADO is just very good.

Unconventional Western.......2006-09-11

Henry Levin's post-Civil War western, shot in Techincolor, features real-life best friends Glenn Ford and William Holden (both RIP) as former Union officers who find themselves on opposite sides after Owen Devereaux (Ford) becomes town judge, and who begins to abuse his power to punish anyone who opposes him. Del Stewart (Holden) is made town marshal but he sees that his friend is slipping more and more into insanity (which today would be referred to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), brought on by his experiences during the war. Enemy lines are drawn more strongly as Devereaux marries Carolyn (Ellen Drew), with whom Stewart is also in love. As Owen's mind deteriorates and his madness intensifies, the town is thrown into a uproar and his sadistic, murderous tendencies only grow. Of course, there has to be a showdown that only one man can win.

Ford's son has referred to this film as "an oddball production", perhaps because it was a rarity of the time, a psychological western. As Ford served in WW2, he had many of his own experiences to draw from; as offbeat of a role this is for him (similar to his Don Jose in "The Loves Of Carmen" of the same year, he sports the same longer hairstyle, but the gray on his temples here doesn't quite give the distinguished effect that was intended), he portrays a tortured, jealous man quite well, never more evident in the scenes paranoia sets in, thinking that his wife loves Del and not him. Ellen Drew is effective in her role, although I find her much easier to believe as Holden's love interest, but after seeing Ford with Rita Hayworth, the chemistry would be hard to compare. Different but compellingly watchable, and interesting to see these lifelong friends on screen together for the second and last time (they previously costarred in "Texas", in 1941), in another worthy addition to the Columbia Classics collection. With the recent passing of Glenn Ford, this is another film that adds richness and variety to his legacy.

In Glenn Ford' s memory!.......2006-09-03

With the sensible departure of Glenn Ford, also has extinguished the last exponent of an actors' generation gifted of the interpretative versatility per excellence.

Glenn Ford will be always reminded due his kaleidoscopic histrionic skills, to feature since the everlasting loser-winner in Gilda, the brutal appointed Federal judge who will take on the territory a dictatorial domain, or the most irreverent of the detectives in one of the most chilling films of the Noir Film genre as Big Heat was, and also as one of the most representative actors in the genre of the easy going genre of the light comedy.

Supported by a well elaborated script and the firm dir4ection of Henry Levin, a talented director who loved the Westerns.

In memoriam.

Great Psychological Western With Ford and Holden.......2006-05-05

The late forties saw an interesting subgenre of the Western appear-the psychological Western, which emphasized characters' thoughts and emotions as much, if not more, than action.

The Man From Colorado is one such psychological Western, and is a very good film made even better by its two stars, Glenn Ford and William Holden. Ford and Holden play men who soldier together during the Civil War, and come back to a home town struggling with lawlessness. Holden becomes a marshal, but Ford becomes the town judge. Unfortunately, Ford is suffering from what would now be called post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition gaining attention during the time that this film was made due to the prevalence of World War II soldiers who were diagnosed with this condition. Ford, who had been losing his grip on reality toward the end of the war, now loses it fully under the weight of his responsibilities, putting him on a collision course with his former friend Holden.

The Man From Colorado is a very good film with a subject that still resonates today - how does one learn to put wartime experiences in perspective and lead a normal life?

The Great American Western, Volume 27: Rawhide / Colorado / The Carson City Kid / Man From Hell's Edges

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The Great American Western, Volume 27: Rawhide / Colorado / The Carson City Kid / Man From Hell's Edges
Starring: Smith Ballew , Lou Gehrig , Evelyn Knapp , Arthur Loft , and Carl Stockdale
Director: Ray Taylor , Joseph Kane , and Robert North Bradbury
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0002S64HI
Release Date: 2004-08-17

16 Movies Set, Over 15 Hours - Rawhide / Colorado/ Carson City Kid / Man From Hell's Edges / Round-up Time in Texas / Springtime in the Sierras / Branded a Coward / Rip Roarin' Buckaroo / Home in Oklahoma / & Many More...

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16 Movies Set, Over 15 Hours - Rawhide / Colorado/ Carson City Kid / Man From Hell's Edges / Round-up Time in Texas / Springtime in the Sierras / Branded a Coward / Rip Roarin' Buckaroo / Home in Oklahoma / & Many More...

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

ALSO INCLUDES: BAD MEN OF DEADWOOD, STAGE COACH OUTLAWS, SUNSET SERENADE, FUZZY SETTLES DOWN, THE LIGHTS OF OLD SANTA FE, ARIZONA DAYS, SHERIFF OF TOMBSTONE ***DIGITALLY MASTERED, INTERACTIVE MENUS, CHAPTER SELECTIONS. ENHANCED AUDIO 5.1

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