THE FAR COUNTRY is the fourth of a quintet of fine westerns James Stewart made for director Anthony Mann. Actually this trim and vigorous entry is a Northern, set in 1896, with cynical leave-me-be cowpoke Stewart and sidekick Walter Brennan taking their cattle to the mining camps of the Yukon, only to find more trouble than they bargained for. Stewart’s bitter character is almost as unsympathetic as the varmints.
Ruth Roman is the naughty gal, Corinne Calvet the sweet one, John McIntire is the formidable bad guy, casually grinning over his scamming as a crooked sheriff/instant judge, with a great lineup of thugs: Robert J.Wilke, Harry Morgan, Steve Brodie and Jack Elam.
Beautiful scenery shot by cameraman William Daniels on location in Alberta’s Jasper National Park and the Columbia Ice Field. Mann’s pacing makes a swift 97 minutes; the script is good, action violent, costumes, sets and sound all first class. Avalanche sequence and climactic gunfight are excitingly done.
With Jay C. Flippen, Connie Gilchrist, Chubby Johnson, Royal Dano, Kathleen Freeman, Robert Foulk, John Doucette and Chuck Roberson. From 1954,but released in the US the following year, earning $7,100,000.
