Man of the West

Man of the West
Directed byAnthony Mann
Screenplay byReginald Rose
Based onThe Border Jumpers
1955 novel
by Will C. Brown
Produced byWalter Mirisch
StarringGary Cooper
Julie London
Lee J. Cobb
Arthur O'Connell
CinematographyErnest Haller
Edited byVictor Heerman
Richard V. Heermance
Music byLeigh Harline
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • October 1, 1958 (1958-10-01)
Running time
100 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.5 million[1]
Box office$1.75 million[2]

Man of the West is a 1958 American Western film noir[3] film starring Gary Cooper and directed by Anthony Mann, produced by Walter Mirisch and distributed by United Artists. The screenplay, written by Reginald Rose, is based on the 1955 novel The Border Jumpers, by Will C. Brown. Julie London, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Lord, and Arthur O'Connell co-star with John Dehner, Robert J. Wilke, and Royal Dano in supporting roles. The film is one of Cooper's final Westerns.

The film premiered on October 1, 1958. At the time of release, the film was largely panned by American critics, but it was praised by Jean-Luc Godard, who, before he became a director, was a film critic. Godard claimed that Man of the West was the best film of the year. Decades after the film's release, it has gained a cult following and greater acclaim, with film historian Philip French claiming the film to be Anthony Mann's masterpiece, containing Cooper's finest performance.

  1. ^ Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 169
  2. ^ "Top Grossers of 1958". Variety. January 7, 1959. p. 48. Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to distributors as opposed to theatre gross
  3. ^ Ward, Elizabeth; Silver, Alain, eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.