Five fat (as opposed to fatuous) reviews from Savant tonight, with a trio of top Western titles from the Anthony Mann - James Stewart collaboration of the 1950s:

Anthony Mann traded Noirish G-Men for neurotic cowpokes with Winchester '73, his first in a series of highly successful teamings with profit-participant James Stewart. This first b&w entry has a clever story device that spins enough action for four westerns into a circular revenge tale, with a fancy show rifle at its center. Bend of the River is a Technicolor followup that is just as exciting, but adds a strange streak of kindergarten moralizing. Will ex-outlaw Stewart withstand a trail of violence in the Oregon territory, or will he succumb to becoming another bad apple in the barrel? Arthur Kennedy provides top support in this well-remembered Wagon Train saga. The Far Country caps the collaboration with an engaging duel between cynicism and civic duty on the snowy trail between Skagway and Dawson up Canada way. Stewart would like to be a normal guy, dang it, but scurvy hanging judge John McIntire and other crooks force him to steal his own cattle, shoot uncooperative drovers, and guide unsuspecting troublemakers into the path of an avalanche. It's tough being an independent frontiersman when there's so much Evil afoot. Walter Brennan & Ruth Roman enliven this entertaining thriller, beautifully shot on location.

Cary Grant 's farewell role is in the unheralded Walk, Don't Run, an unassuming and quiet little screwball comedy set in the Tokyo housing shortage during the 1964 Olympics. Samantha Eggar tries to resist Grant's romantic foisting upon her of Yank hunk Jim Hutton, but to no avail. It's charming just the same.

And finally, Bryan Forbes scores a hit with the cynical, incisive King Rat, a bleak prison tale where Black Marketeer George Segal's schemes and corruption get totally out of hand. A superior drama with a top cast: James Fox, Tom Courtenay, John Mills, etc.

Savant wishes to remind occasional readers that the turnover on the illustrated 'new reviews' below is pretty brisk these days, so please look lower on the page for recent titles - some get pushed off the top row after only a couple of days. And don't forget tomorrow night's AMC (remember that channel?) cable premiere of the restored, 3 hour The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, which I understand will be shown only once letterboxed without commercials. The details, if you missed them, are in this Savant article. More reviews coming! Thanks, Glenn Erickson Posted by DVD Savant at May 09, 2003 11:13 AM