The Tin Star

The Tin Star (1957)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Anthony Mann

Starring: Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Neville Brand, John McIntire

From: Paramount

I've mentioned before that I need to watch more Westerns. Late last night on TCM they showed this film, one I wasn't too familiar with beforehand. Each Friday night this month they are playing a bunch of Anthony Perkins movies, and he is one of the two stars; the other is Henry Fonda. The plot was simple enough yet it was pretty entertaining.

Fonda was an ex-sheriff bounty hunter who ends up in a small dusty town to collect a bounty, and he sticks around for a few days; he stays at the house of Betsy Palmer and her half-Indian son and he helps out young neophyte sheriff Perkins. As you'd expect, he was a nervous neurotic awkward character and while he only has the position temporarily, he is poor at the job, so he asks Fonda for help. There's also the likes of Lee Van Cleef and Neville Brand; not to give a spoiler but it was not surprising to me that Brand was one of the villains.

That little kid was pretty annoying at times; otherwise, I have little complaint about this well-filmed movie. It was always enjoyable seeing Perkins learn from a master and be good at his job. It was also good seeing Fonda develop a relationship with both Palmer and her boy, who thankfully was not a mongoloid freak... there is the expected genre moments; plenty of people ride horses and pistols are in fact used to shoot at people. The main roles were cast perfectly... between the inexperienced sheriff, the veteran bounty hunter and the tough mom. That was an asset, along with a rousing final act that was done with patience and care.


This random Western discovery is proof to me that I should delve into the genre more often.