The Far Country (1954)

Set in 1896 Alaska, a loner (James Stewart) with little use for other people has his cattle seized by a crooked Judge (John McIntire). He steals his cattle back and takes them across the border to Canada but he finds that it's not so easy to escape the long arms of a bad Judge. Directed by Anthony Mann, this is a fine western. As usual in his collaboration with Mann, Stewart gives a marvelous performance. In the Mann westerns, Stewart plays darker and more complex characters which are so much more interesting than his comedies like THE PHILADELPHIA STORY or Capra corn like MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. The excellence of his work with Mann is only rivaled by his work with Hitchcock. Stewart is given a sensational villain in McIntire to play off of. He's also given two romantic interests, a saloon owner (Ruth Roman) and a French Canadian waif (Corinne Calvet). I much preferred Roman's more worldly woman but of course, being the "bad" girl, she comes to an untimely end. Handsomely shot on location in Alberta, Canada by William H. Daniels (QUEEN CHRISTINA), I watched it in the 1.85 aspect ratio although it was shown in some cinemas in the 2.1 ratio. With Walter Brennan, Jay C. Flippen, Connie Gilchrist, Kathleen Freeman and Steve Brodie.