The Lonely Man The Lonely Man Paramount Home Entertainment 1957 / b&w / 1:85 anamorphic 16:9 / 88 min. / Street Date April 22, 2003 / 19.99 Starring Jack Palance, Anthony Perkins, Neville Brand, Robert Middleton, Elisha Cook Jr., Claude Akins, Lee Van Cleef, Harry Shannon, James Bell, Adam Williams, Denver Pyle, John Doucette Cinematography Lionel Lindon Art Direction Roland Anderson, Hal Periera Film Editor William B. Murphy Original Music Van Cleave Written by Harry Essex and Robert Smith Produced by Pat Duggan Directed by Henry Levin
	Reviewed by Glenn Erickson The Lonely Man is a big-studio cheapie Western with a script that belongs in a Golden-Age psychological teleplay. Sure, Jack Palance and newcomer Anthony Perkins are good actors, but the clunker screenplay never puts a strain on either of them, except to generate an overall feeling of mawkishness. This one's for diehard Western buffs only. Synopsis: Outlaw Jacob Wade (Jack Palance) does his darndest to win back the affection of his grown son Riley (Anthony Perkins), a bitter young man who blames his dad for abandoning his ma. Accompanying Jacob on a search for a new home, Riley discovers what it's like to be scorned because of one's reputation, and to be victimized by still-dangerous ex-cronies. Blackburn (Claude Akins) shows up with his gang to cause trouble, and a gunddown occurs. King Fisher (Neville Brand) is obsessed with ambushing Jacob, and arranges for marksman Faro (Lee Van Cleef) to hide off to one side when they cross paths. But Ben Ryerson (Robert Middleton), one outlaw pal who turns out to be loyal and decent, tells Riley the truth about his dad. Riley gains a new respect for how circumstances made Jacob an outlaw, all the while becoming attracted to his father's girlfriend, Ada Marshall (Elaine Aiken). Well, this one's in VistaVision, and is as sharp as a tack, but the blah b&w lighting is nothing to write home about. Henry Levin's flat direction gives the impression that all but a few scenes were carelessly dashed off. Jack Palance is fine, showing an atypical restraint, but the film generates little atmosphere or style to back him up. The colorful cast of B-Movie baddies (see above) are given little to do, and none of them distinguish themselves, not even the always-welcome Lee Van Cleef. Gravel-voiced John Doucette doesn't even have any lines, which is a real waste. Anthony Perkins does well with a theatrical script that requires him to be unreasonably bitter, so that he can mellow out later. We don't buy it, no more than we buy the weak idea that Riley would leave his home to accompany his dad, to remind him of his sins. Also rather obvious is Elaine Aiken's dance-hall-girl turned rancher. She's desperately in love with Palance, and then abruptly attracted to Perkins. It's barely addressed in the script and the triangle never becomes an issue. Palance is never even aware of a problem. It looks like a pure case of a director not addressing the issues implied by the script. On the IMDB we find that the beautiful Aiken made few movies but was notable in New York theater circles. Unlike many 50's blondes in Hollywood, she can really ride a horse - perhaps because she's originally Elena Arizmendi from Andalusia, Spain. In fact, the best part of this stagey film are some sequences chasing a wild horse in the desert. The horse is convincingly wild, and the principals appear to be doing their own riding. In one scene, the stallion escapes from a tight corner by leaping over a boulder and dashing down a dangerous-looking canyon. If only the rest of the show played this well. Production qualities are very uneven. The VistaVision looks good, but there are too many poorly-paced, one-angle scenes. Several short scene-lets end in ugly fadeouts, before people can finish their last dialogue lines. From an editorial point of view, I wonder if the transitions were originally straight cuts, after which someone decreed they all had to be fades, when was too late to recut. It's difficult to tell, but what's on screen is very distracting. This is the only early-career film I've seen of Anthony Perkins than can be described as a failure. Robert Middleton accompanies him from the same year's Friendly Persuasion and again does a good job. Don't confuse this with a similar coming-of-age Western Perkins made the same year, The Tin Star with Henry Fonda. It has Neville Brand as well, but was directed by Anthony Mann and is much better. I'm willing to believe someone over at Paramount is an Anthony Perkins fan, what with this release and Fear Strikes Out, a superior baseball movie from a couple months back. For those looking for every Western under the sun, Paramount's DVD of The Lonely Man will be more than satisfactory, with a clean 16:9 picture and clear audio for the forgettable Tennessee Ernie Ford title tune. There's nothing much else to recommend it; despite what the optimistic liner notes say, it's by no means comparable to classics like The Gunfighter, Shane, or Unforgiven. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, The Lonely Man rates: Movie: Fair Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: May 29, 2003 [Savant Main Page] [Savant Links] [Article Index] [Review Index] [Savant 5 Year Report] DVD Savant Text © Copyright 2007 Glenn Erickson Advertise With Us Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum Copyright © MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use