Tonight's Movie: A Man Alone (1955) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Last year I shared the great news that one of my favorite Westerns, A MAN ALONE (1955), would be coming out on Blu-ray and DVD in 2018.

That time has now arrived, with the recent release of a beautiful print of the movie by Kino Lorber. It's described on the Kino Lorber site as a "new HD master from a 4K scan of the original Trucolor negative and positive separations."

As I wrote in my 2014 review of SADDLE TRAMP (1950), that film and A MAN ALONE were two Westerns I discovered and watched repeatedly when growing up. These relatively lesser-known films played a key role, alongside John Ford classics, in cementing my early love for the Western genre.

Although A MAN ALONE was a TV staple when I was a child, I went many years without seeing it. A used VHS tape purchased in 2005 proved to be such a poor print it was almost unwatchable. A much better print surfaced nearly a decade ago on the Encore Westerns Channel; in fact, that film's presence in the listings was a key factor which induced me to subscribe to that cable package. That's how much I love this film, a personal favorite over the decades.

Happily Kino Lorber's new Blu-ray is even better; I've never seen the film look so good! The Blu-ray print does an especially nice job showing off the lamplit scenes filmed by Lionel Lindon.

A MAN ALONE was star Ray Milland's directorial debut, and a number of historians I've read agree that it's also the best of the five feature films he directed. (I recently reviewed his second directing effort, 1956's LISBON, which is also newly available from Kino Lorber.) A MAN ALONE is a well-paced 96-minute film which takes place in three distinct acts, with the first half hour of the film being as close to a silent movie as one could come in 1955.

Milland plays gunslinger Wes Steele, who's stranded in the desert after his horse breaks a leg. He happens upon the scene of a horrific stagecoach massacre, and when he rides one of the stagecoach horses into the nearest town to report it, he's repaid for his help by being forced to shoot the trigger-happy deputy sheriff (Alan Hale Jr.) in self-defense.

The town banker, Stanley (Raymond Burr) -- who is the man actually responsible for the murders, as part of a robbery plot -- accuses Wes of the murders. Escaping the posse during a dust storm, Wes takes refuge in a cellar which happens to be the home of Sheriff Gil Corrigan (Ward Bond). The choice is fortuitous as the house is under quarantine due to the sheriff being ill with yellow fever.

Wes meets the sheriff's charming daughter, Nadine (Mary Murphy), and while she's naturally wary of the stranger who's appeared in her home, they gradually establish a rapport. The middle third of the film is basically a two-person character study as Wes and Nadine get to know one another and reveal much about each of their characters. When Wes misses a chance to escape in the night in order to help the exhausted Nadine tend her sick father, she realizes he's spoken the truth and is not a murderer.

The interplay of Milland and Murphy in this section of the film is quite delightful, as they each size the other up; Nadine is torn between seeing Wes as the rumored killer or the chivalrous man he actually reveals himself to be. There's an age difference between the two actors, but it's somewhat less pronounced on screen than one might assume from the actual numbers, and in the context of discussions Wes and Nadine have, the age difference and mutual attraction both fit and have always worked for me.

The last third of the film finds Milland confronting Stanley and fighting for his life and a future with Nadine. There's a beautifully filmed scene where Wes confronts Stanley late at night in the shadowy church.

The performances are uniformly excellent, including longtime character actor Arthur Space as the doctor. Milland's nonverbal performance in the first third of the film is particularly impressive; I've always been tremendously touched by his reaction when he finds a murdered mother and child at the stagecoach massacre site. Murphy is both sweet and spunky, and Bond is perfect as always as the sheriff.

A MAN ALONE's solid screenplay was written by John Tucker Battle, from a story by Mort Briskin. Filming took place on the Republic lot, with location shooting in Utah and Arizona.

For more on the film, my 2009 review may be found here.

The extras are led by a typically fine commentary by Toby Roan. (Character actress Minerva Urecal created her last name in tribute to her hometown of Eureka, California. Who knew?!) A trailer gallery for five additional Westerns available from Kino Lorber is also included.

Fans of Westerns and Ray Milland should make haste to snap up this release, as should those who simply enjoy exploring good little movies which aren't that well known today. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.