Running Time: 1:32
Rated: NR
Cast: James Stewart, Shelley WInters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Millard Mitchell, Charles Drake
Director: Anthony Mann
Written By: Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards
1950 was right in the midst of America's love affair with the Western. Shows like Rawhide had dominated on radio and made their way onto the small screen with much success. The Lone Ranger with his silver bullet and trusty sidekick was already one season into its run and holding strong in the ratings. John Wayne was making his films and bringing in audiences. America couldn't seem to get enough of this genre. It wasn't much of a gamble to put together a stellar cast and make a western. Winchester '73 was slated to enter into that arena, make a descent amount of money, and then disappear into the slew of other such films. The producers were so convinced of that that they made a deal with lead actor James Stewart for two pictures, this one and Harvey, that gave him a percentage of the profits. This eventually paid out about $600,000.
At first glance the story is relatively simple and straightforward. Lin McAdam (Stewart) rides into Dodge City with his partner Frank Wilson (Millard Mitchell) to compete in a shooting contest for a brand new Winchester '73 known as the one-in-a-thousand because it is considered to be perfect in every way. They are also in pursuit of 'Dutch Henry' Brown (Stephen McNalley), a man who has a past with Lin that isn't revealed until nearly the end of the film. Lin wins the contest but shortly afterwards is robbed of his new gun by 'Dutch Henry'. Henry in turn loses the gun shortly afterwards while trying to win money for more guns by playing cards. From there the gun makes it's way into several other hands, meanwhile Lin pursues Henry, assists a calvary being besieged by Indians, and assists a woman (Shelley Winters) being escorted by a coward.
The story plays out as a series of vignettes following the gun with the through story of Lin and his pursuit of 'Dutch Henry'. This allows for the focus of the film to shift around from Lin to Henry to a group of Indians and then back to Lin again. While James Stewart is definitely the star of the film he is absent from it for long stretches of time. This actually aids this film as he is given very little as a character. His partner is given even less and would have seriously hampered this film were they in it more. Then again more screen time might have given them more time to establish themselves as real characters and not a couple of generic cowboys. Only the sheer magnetism of James Stewart elevates this character over that roadblock. Likewise Stephen McNalley has little more to do than scowl and shoot at people.
This story is a little deceptive, though. It contains threads of a moral throughout the film, rewarding goodness with life and taking the lives of those who do bad things. This is most evident in the section dealing with Lola Manners (Shelley Winters) and her escort and fiance Steve Miller (Charles Drake). When these two travelers are first attacked by a band of Indians Steve abandons Lola and rides off leaving her to her fate. Only the sight of a nearby Calvary gives him the courage to turn around and help her also escape. His cowardice will come back to haunt him later when the Winchester ends up in his hands for a short while. Similar fates await just about everyone else who gains possession of this weapon. This film is about greed and the punishment meted out for said greed. It is a morality tale that is anything but subtle, yet it works and at no time feels preachy or cumbersome.
This film was successful when it was released back in 1950, so much so that James Stewart walked away with three times the salary he had originally asked for at the time. It's not hard to see why this film resonated with audiences of the day. It was short, clocking in at barely 90 minutes, and light in tone. It had a message that anyone could see and understand, and it had charismatic actors that could elevate the material given them and make characters out of one-note written parts. It played well at the time and still does more than sixty years later.
