silverscreen888 Review of A Man Alone

A Man Alone (1955)

Underrated; Ray Milland-Directed Noir Western; Taut, Well-Acted

[8/10 · 25 July 2005]

"A Man Alone", adroitly directed by Ray Milland, starred himself as a gunfighter who happens upon a stage robbery, where several people have been slain, while he has been stranded in the desert. He takes one of the horses he finds, and heads to town to report the crime. He is instead accused of the crime himself. He flees and hides in the town's bank. There, he overhears the gang responsible for the deaths talking over the robbery. Another banker is shot in the back, and again Wes (Milland) is made to look guilty of the murder. He stumbles into the sheriff's cellar during a sandstorm,still trying to evade capture; and the next morning, while he is trying to leave, he is confronted by the sheriffs daughter, Nadine. He can't leave; and they become unwilling companions. The sheriff (Ward Bond) is sick with yellow fever. He finds her asleep, exhausted by taking care of her father, and puts her to bed. Their whole relationship changes; she knows he is a good man; but when the sheriff wake he feels he must go. She wants him to stay, they embrace and from then on the situation changes, again. The sheriff wants security for his daughter; and he has sold his soul to the bad element in town to get it. he confronts Raymond Burr, the real killer; they fight and he is wounded. He stumbles back to the house, where he passes out. Nadine, by now in love with him, fetches the doctor to help him. The sheriff finds him there and is livid, saying that he has compromised their home. Days pass; in the meanwhile, seeing what he has become by his own fear, the sheriff decides to let Wes, the gunfighter, go free. The townsmen still thinking that Wes is the murderer go after the sheriff when he has done so; but Wes returns to save the day. This is a tense, dramatic film with good dialogue and a fine silent portion at the film's outset that is superior storytelling with a camera. This film represents an unusual achievement by Milland both as actor and director. The production is in color which is well-used and unobtrusive; cinematography was done by Lionel Linton. The screenplay by John Tucker Battle I find to be taut and well-fashioned; the music by Victor Young served the story-line very well. Art direction was by Walter E. Keller, costumes by Adele Palmer and the important set decorations were supplied by Fay Babcock and John McCarthy, Jr. Among the other actors in this fine cast who made an unusual impression were Raymond Burr as the nefarious banker, Mary Murphy as Nadine, Ward Bond as the embittered sheriff, Grandon Rhodes and Lee Van Cleef, powerful Arthur Space as the doctor, Thomas Browne Henry as the newspaper man, Douglas Spencer, Alan Hale Jr. as the luckless acting sheriff. and Minerva Urecal. This is a tense film, from start to finish; and the pace was never neglected. Much of its action takes place in darkness or shadows, heightening its power on the mind of the viewer. The underlying theme in a semi-wilderness noir situation (where the central character cannot rely on the law to aid him) is strongly demonstrated, namely "to do what is important and be prepared to admit a mistake". This is a narrative about men and women alone on the frontier in a dangerous situation where the only certainties are to be found in one's own courage, character and self-reliant judgment. By my standards, it is a well-directed and very good and unusual story.