A Western made decades before Unforgiven makes for the perfect follow-up to the critically acclaimed Clint Eastwood classic. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly may be the star’s most iconic contribution to the genre, but Unforgiven isn’t far behind it when it comes to Clint Eastwood’s best Western movies.
The great 1990s Western, which saw Clint Eastwood share the screen with both Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman, provided one of the best revenge stories in the genre when it told the tale of Will Munny, a notorious gunslinger who tries – and fails – to leave his life of violence behind him.
Clint Eastwood’s amazing performance as William Munny, not to mention its dark depiction of the American Wild West, allows Unforgiven to stand out as a remarkable addition to the Western genre, a notion that’s reflected by its 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Few films compare, but Man of the West succeeds in offering a similar experience, in spite of the fact that it released at a time when Westerns were considerably less violent.
Man Of The West Follows A Story Very Similar To Unforgiven
In 1958, prominent Western director Anthony Mann teamed with Gary Cooper for Man of the West, a Western that placed the longtime genre favorite in the role of Link Jones, a seemingly ordinary man who wanders into a small town on an innocuous mission to find a teacher for his community’s school.
Man of the West is the only Western that Anthony Mann and Gary Cooper together. The Hollywood star Mann was best known for working with was James Stewart.
As it turns out, there’s so much more to Link Jones than meets the eye. As the story develops, it’s discovered that Link was a feared gunslinger, a career criminal and a former ᴀssociate of the movie’s villains. But at a certain point in his life, he gave it all up and became an honest man, complete with a wife and children.
Naturally, events that play out in the Man of the West slowly test Link Jones’ commitment to his new, peaceful lifestyle. A series of surprisingly bleak twists culminates in Link Jones making a conscious decision to revive his violent ways, with payback being at the forefront of his mind in the movie’s climax.
It’s a plotline that draws a lot of parallels between The Man of the West and the story of William Munny in Unforgiven. Not unlike Link Jones, Munny is a once-hated gunslinger who turned his life around, only to be pushed into picking up his gun again by a reunion with his old partners-in-crime.
Man Of The West Is A Rare Combination Of The Western And Film Noir Genres
Man of the West wasn’t a huge hit upon its release, nor was it particularly popular with critics. Retroactively, though, it’s picked up a considerable amount of praise, as evidenced by its 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Today, it’s recognized for its unique flavor, which is noticeably darker than what most Westerns were doing in the 1950s.
A big part of what makes Man of the West work is its risky decision to blend two different genres. The movie is indeed a Western, but it also carries several facets of film noir, such as the decision to spotlight a hero who operates in morally gray areas, dark themes throughout, and the avoidance of a happy, “Hollywood ending.“
Gary Cooper’s Darkest Moment In Man Of The West Is Reminiscent Of Unforgiven
When it comes to the revenge part of the story, neither Unforgiven nor Man of the West holds anything back. In an unforgettable scene, William Munny is horrified to discover that his friend – Morgan Freeman’s Unforgiven character – has been brutally beaten to death and hanged outside of a saloon.
It’s a bleak moment, but a necessary one, in that it seemingly justifies the equally dark transformation that Munny goes through next. A chilling sequence follows, where he cold-bloodedly clears out a saloon, killing not only those responsible for the crime, but anyone he perceives to be in his way.
Man of the West opts for a similar approach. In an unsettling moment, the female main character in the movie is raped by one of the villains. This prompts a phenomenal performance from Gary Cooper, where – after an intentionally prolonged buildup – Link Jones finally gets to unleash his dark side on the target of his anger.
Similar to Unforgiven, Man of the West isn’t afraid to let its main protagonist make uncomfortable choices that blur the lines between good and evil. Gary Cooper humiliating his opponent by undressing him in front of a crowd and viciously beating him when he’s not even fighting back makes for a shocking sequence – especially in a 1958 Hollywood film.
