Product Description

A man tracks his prize repeating rifle back round to a man who has stolen it. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/22/2006 Starring: James Stewart Millard Mitchell Run time: 92 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Anthony Mann

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8880 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 2003-05-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Winchester '73 is the first in a remarkable string of five classic westerns that James Stewart made with Anthony Mann in the 1950s (followed by Bend of the River, The Man from Laramie, The Naked Spur, and The Far Country). It is also distinguished for having helped revive the Western at the box office, and for being the first film in which the star forsook a huge up-front salary in favor of a share of the profits--a strategy that made Stewart rich and forever changed the way that Hollywood does business. The movie itself is pretty darned impressive, too. Stewart traces a stolen Winchester rifle through several owners until he finds the man he's looking for. The final spectacular shootout in craggy, mountainous terrain is justly famous. --Jim Emerson

DVD features
You can't always judge a DVD extra by its description. On the DVD debut of Anthony Mann's touchstone Western, the only extras listed are "Theatrical Trailer" and "Jimmy Stewart Interview." The latter would lead one to believe there is a short interview with the star. However, when you select the bonus feature, the movie starts again, this time with a full-length commentary by Stewart interviewed by Paul Lindenschmidt as they watched the film at Universal Studios. Recorded in 1989 for the laserdisc release of the movie, the Q&A session covers the movie, Stewart's career in general, and his place in the Western genre in particular. It's a lovely 90 minutes with Stewart; one just wonders why the commentary isn't properly advertised as such. The print is the same as the laserdisc--very good, but not spectacular. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

First Stewart/Mann Teaming a CLASSIC!
Winchester '73 is one of the most enduring and popular films of James Stewart's career, for several reasons; it was the first of five teamings with brilliant, underrated director Anthony Mann, who retooled Stewart's drawling, 'aw-shucks' persona into a laconic, edgier, more flawed hero; it featured a brilliant cast, including Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, John McIntyre, and, in VERY early appearances, Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis; visually, it is spectacular, one of the most beautiful Black and White films ever made, with deep-focus photography highlighting rugged Arizona settings that literally leap from the screen; and, most of all, it is a terrific variation of 'Cain and Abel', told through the premise of the search for a 'one-of-a-kind' rifle Stewart wins in a competition, then loses through treachery. It's the kind of film that offers new insights each time you view it, as the actions and motivations of 'good' brother Stewart and 'bad' brother McNally become better understood.

What truly makes this DVD an 'essential', though, is the bonus track...Described as an 'interview' with Stewart, it is actually an audio commentary that runs through the film, offering not only his reflections about the making of Winchester '73, but insights about his career, working with John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, and his great friends Henry Fonda and John Wayne, even a nice story about his long-time mount, Pie. Recorded several years ago for the laserdisc edition of Winchester '73, it provides a rare opportunity to hear a screen legend reminisce (and makes you wish Wayne and Fonda had lived long enough to have offered personal observations about THEIR classic films!)

This is a DVD NOT to be missed!

Anthony Mann creates a classic
The story goes that in 1950 Jimmy Stewart was looking around for something a little different for himself, something where he could play a character less folksy and warm. He sure did find it in this film, as well as all the other magnificent westerns he did with gritty, noir director, Anthony Mann (T-Men, Raw Deal, Railroaded, etc). This is the first of their collaborations.

When the film was first shown to test audiences, there were titters in the crowd when Jimmy Stewart's name appeared in the credits. "Mr. Smith" in a western? Shooting people? Please. By the end of the film, the tittering was all done and Stewart had established himself as a viable western hero (although in truth the magic of these Mann/Stewart westerns is that the characters Stewart plays are hardly "heroic." They are usually driven, neurotic men, nearly shifty-eyed, with a mean streak a mile wide - bitter men, and always very, very angry and eager to kill.

The basic set-up of this film is beautifully simple: Jimmy Stewart has a prize rifle stolen from him, a Winchester Model 1973 (which at the time the film takes place was state-of-the-art in the world of firearms), and he spends the rest of the movie hunting the man that stole it.

The story unfolds, however, as the movie rolls quickly along to something much more complex, culminating in one of the finest shootouts in movie history. The two principal actors of the film, James Stewart and Stewart McNally, spent a great deal of time practicing with their rifles (in Stewart's case Mann often found him walking around the set with bleeding knuckles, the results of his hours of self-training working the classic lever-action Winchester). Their hard work paid of in a tremendous realism.

Anthony Mann brought in cinematographer, William Daniels, for Winchester '73, a veteran who most notably had worked a great deal with Garbo in the 30's. Daniels brought his tremendous sense of lighting to the table to create one of the most beautiful looking Westerns of all time. Daniels' light, combined with Mann's unmatched visual sense, made things look nearly 3-demensional in their reality. When viewing this film, watch for the staggering long shots, or the scenes near dusk or at night. Pure texture and light - at once glamorous yet real.

This film also has my favorite depiction of aging Western legend, Wyatt Earp, the Law in Dodge, played with easy authority by Will Greer. Greer always offers his suggestions to town folks with a warm smile, as when he asks Stewart to give up his gun in an early scene. There is always a bit of steel in the old gunfighter's eyes, though, and folks always do just as he suggests. Quickly.

All in all a great treat and a must-have for any fan of the Western (or for that matter, any lover of movies). A true classic all the way. --Mykal Banta

THE LIFE STORY OF A CLASSIC RIFLE
The rifle is a coveted prize at a western shooting contest hosted by the western legend, Wyatt Earp (Will Geer). It is a perfect Winchester that won't be sold, only won. Two brothers compete for the prize; both trained by the same man, one good, and one evil. Right prevails is the shootout.

But Evil will not accept the results and steals the rifle. What follows then is a series of changes of hand for the "One of a Thousand" Winchester. From wily gun traders to Indian raiders to quick-draw outlaws, the gun's odyssey is followed in this classic western with the good brother (James Stewart) seeking not only to regain his treasure but to put an end to a lifelong obsession.

Shelly Winters comes along for the wild ride and look for Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson in very unpredictable cameo appearances.