The Far Country

A western set in the north during the gold rush. Jeff drives cattle. He brings his herd from Wyoming to Alaska and plans to sell it there. He takes no partners. His only friend is old Ben and their plan is simple; make the money and buy a ranch in Utah. They reach Skagway. One man runs the town. Gannon is judge, sheriff and executioner. He makes the law himself, hears the cases himself, and seizes the herd. Jeff steals it back and crosses the border. From there the film moves to Dawson. A new town, a new crowd, and the same disorder. The town asks Jeff for help. The people want a sheriff and they look to him. He refuses. Nobody else's trouble concerns him, and he repeats that in every scene. What the narrative is interested in is not gold but responsibility: the whole matter of the film is whether a man has an obligation to a community and when he will accept it. Ben's line is the turning point. What happens to the old man changes Jeff, and it is the film's only moment of change. James Stewart is playing against his usual part in this period. The character is hard, selfish and unpleasant; that is the common vein of the westerns he and this director made. The landscape is part of the narrative. It was shot in the mountains and an avalanche is the film's best known section. James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet and Walter Brennan are in the cast. Anthony Mann directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes 1950s westerns and hard-edged heroes. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a warm central character; Jeff helps nobody for most of the film.