{"id":28546,"date":"2024-05-03T01:32:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T08:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28546"},"modified":"2024-05-03T01:32:02","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T08:32:02","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-tin-star-1957","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28546","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: THE TIN STAR (1957)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is currently available\nfrom Arrow Video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to their recent run of cult titles and Hong Kong\naction cinema, Arrow Video has been starting a habit of putting out classic\nblack and white pictures like Desperate Hours<\/em> and The Scarface Mob<\/em>.\nThis is a welcome trend, with the latest being a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray of\nthe western The Tin Star<\/em>. Despite being a relatively low-budget affair,\nthe movie boasts an engaging story with elements still relevant to today\u2019s\naudiences, as well as impressive photography and plenty of familiar faces in\nfront of the camera. It\u2019s another winning release that should draw the movie\nsome new admirers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story begins with bounty hunter Morg Hickman (Henry\nFonda from Once Upon a Time in the West<\/em>) riding into a small town with\nthe body of a criminal. He visits young, newly appointed sheriff Ben Owens\n(Anthony Perkins, known to genre fans as the lead in Psycho<\/em>) to collect\nhis cash reward. While the lawman is happy to set up payment, those within the\ntown aren\u2019t impressed. In fact, everyone from the mayor to locals demand that\nHickman leave as soon as possible. The bounty hunter makes it clear that he\nhates the town and will be happy to move on when he is paid. Citizens aren\u2019t\nany more impressed with the newly appointed Owens, whom they consider\nmilquetoast. The biggest resident troublemaker is bully Bart Bogardus (Neville\nBrand). he would like nothing more than to have the law look the other way\nwhile he runs things himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Hickman finds a place to stay with outcast Nona\nMayfield (Betsy Palmer, who played the mother of Jason Voorhees in Friday\nthe 13th<\/em>) and her son Kip (Michel Ray). He takes a shine to the family\nbecause they remind him of his deceased wife and son. The pair have also been\nostracized by Bogardus and the racist locals because Kip\u2019s father was Native\nAmerican. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When Owens learns that Hickman was once an actual sheriff,\nhe asks for training and assistance so that he can prove to the townspeople.\nThe bounty hunter reluctantly relents and the pair are immediately put under\npressure when town doctor Joe McCord (John McIntire) is shot by the McGaffey\nBrothers (Peter Baldwin and Lee Van Cleef of Escape from New York<\/em> and The\nGood, The Bad and the Ugly<\/em> fame). Bogardus forms a lynch mob to hunt them\ndown and hang them, while the leads race to capture the criminals and have them\nstand trial.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The picture is very tightly written and has no fat on its\nbones. It\u2019s just over 90 minutes and never lags as outsiders Owens and Hickman\ntry to find a future for themselves (albeit in different ways). While the plot\nis relatively familiar, the story features just enough wrinkles and unusual\nelements to distinguish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As expected, Fonda is an incredible screen presence. He\ndoesn\u2019t speak a lot, sharing his internal turmoil through glances while\nspeaking with the widow Mayfield. His disdain for the nasty locals is also\nevident in his expression. And Perkins is memorable as Owens. The young man\ninitially seems uncertain of how to lead the town, but begins to grow in\nconfidence as Hickman gives him pointers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly enough, much of the advice from the bounty\nhunter is about dealing with threats by reading aggressive men and\npsychologically subduing them to get the upper hand. A major theme is how\nhorribly racist the citizens are and the mob mentality they possess. It\u2019s used\nto great effect during the climax, when Hickman and Owens silently wait in the\ncounty jail while Bogardus drinks with followers and riles them up to make\ntheir final charge. These and other unusual touches help raise the quality of\nthe picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s a strong western and one that surprised critics and the\npublic upon its initial release. The film ultimately earned an Academy Award\nnomination for its screenplay and it is easy to see why, given the fact that\nthe story is so well constructed.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the picture, I\u2019ll be honest. Sometimes when a film is\nreleased on the format and doesn\u2019t feature a new restoration, I assume that the\nimage quality isn\u2019t going to be exceptional. The release of The Tin Star<\/em>\nfrom Arrow Video completely smashes this preconceived notion. I watched it on a\n4K Ultra HD player that upconverts Blu-rays and the results were jaw-dropping.\nThe picture was shot in deep focus and presents so much foreground and\nbackground detail with crystal clarity that it wowed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admittedly, this may have to do with the fact that the film\nwas shot in VistaVision (a process from the era in which the negative film\nimage was larger and captured more information). Whatever the case, the movie\nlooks phenomenal and the pictures shown here simply don\u2019t do the disc justice. Every\npore and crease on all the actor\u2019s faces is visible. The town features\nwonderful vistas of standing trees in the middle of lanes which is used to\ngreat effect during the climax. The interior sets are interesting and filled\nwith great detail and interesting characteristics. There\u2019s an\nincredible-looking raid on a farmhouse involving flames that is stunningly\ncrisp. And there are numerous impressive shots of Owens in the sheriff\u2019s office\nwith individuals looking inwards from the streets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, this disc features a few bonuses. One is a\nfilm historian commentary track that provides some good background on the\nproduction and cast. As expected, there are little bios of just about everyone\nin the cast and crew. Facts about the life of director Anthony Mann (Winchester\n\u201873, The Far Country, El Cid<\/em>) are particularly interesting, as he had a\nvery strange childhood. There are also notes about the town backdrop which was\na famous studio lot street. Amusingly, a mountain in the background was\nactually a fa\u00e7ade hiding the Disney office buildings not far beyond the set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And there is an excellent appreciation of the film by critic\nNeil Sinyard. He gives more background information about the project, Mann\u2019s\nother westerns, and also offers some interesting things to consider. In fact,\nhe notes the story similarities to High Noon<\/em>, and while he admits that\nit seemingly has a happy ending, there is a dark undercurrent. Some of one of\nthe character\u2019s actions can be interpreted as moves rather than selflessly\nheroic acts. After all is said and done, the majority of townspeople don\u2019t seem\nrepentant or changed in any way. The bounty hunter makes a fresh start and gets\nout of town, but Owen\u2019s recent victory doesn\u2019t exactly suggest that locals or\nlife in the town will be any easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, score composer Elmer Bernstein\u2019s son Peter\nBernstein (who is a jazz guitarist and himself an authority on music) sits down\nfor a lengthy interview about his father. He details what it was like living\nwith him, as well as his parent\u2019s creative process and notes an underrated\nscore or two from his dad that deserves more credit. The stories are fantastic\nto listen to and it\u2019s a great extra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This disc also includes a trailer and a ton of image\ngalleries for the feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tin Star<\/em> isn\u2019t the most famous western in the\nworld, but it is a worthy effort that deserves much more credit for its black\nand white cinematography than it has ever received. This Blu-ray includes a\nwonderful transfer that really highlights the photography and also comes with\nenlightening bonuses that add plenty of interesting tidbits on the production.\nIf you like classic shoot-\u2018em-ups, this release is worth checking out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Video. In addition to their recent run of cult titles and Hong Kong action cinema, Arrow Video has been starting a habit of putting out classic black and white pictures like Desperate Hours and The Scarface Mob. This is a welcome trend, with the latest being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[86,1590,1836,2621,2933,2946,2949,9078,9149,14698,15705,22421,22422,22423,23855,24114],"class_list":["post-28546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-86","tag-anthony-perkins","tag-arrow-video","tag-besty-palmer","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-tin-star","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-reviews","tag-henry-fonda","tag-high-noon","tag-neville-brand","tag-paramount","tag-the-tin-star","tag-the-tin-star-blu-ray-review","tag-the-tin-star-review","tag-vistavision","tag-western"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}