The Tin Star

Director: Anthony Mann, George Seaton, William Perlberg Anthony Mann

Overview

Taciturn marshal-turned-bounty hunter Henry Fonda rides into a small town where greenhorn deputy Anthony Perkins is sole representative of the law. Sensing that the boy could use some seasoning, Fonda makes it his mission to teach Perkins how to protect himself against the criminal element. Though diametrically opposed in personality, the older Fonda and the younger Perkins find they are kindred spirits in their dedication to their work. Using the lessons taught him by Fonda, Perkins is able to prove his worth by taking on town hothead Neville Brand. Directed with a minimum of slack and flab by Anthony Mann, The Tin Star was later spun off into the TV series The Deputy, which starred Henry Fonda and Allen Case.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/11/2020
UPC:	0032429336644
Original Release:	1957
Rating:	NR
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	23,498

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Anthony Perkins	Sheriff Ben Owens
Betsy Palmer	Nona Mayfield
Michel Ray	Kip Mayfield,Kip Mayfield
John McIntire	Dr. McCord
Mary Webster	Millie Parker
Peter Baldwin	Zeke McGaffey
Richard Shannon	Buck Henderson
James Bell	Judge Thatcher
Howard Petrie	Harvey King
Russell Simpson	Clem Hall
Jack Kenney	Sam Hodges
Mickey Finn	McCall
Bob Kenaston	Hardman
Allen Gettel	Sloan
Frank Cordell	Posse Member
Tim Sullivan	Virgil Hough,Townsman/Barfly
Frank McGrath	Jim Clark
Richard Farnsworth	Actor
Chuck Hamilton	Stagecoach Passenger
'Snub' Pollard	Townsman/Barfly
Jack Stoney	Townsman/Barfly
Michael Jeffers	Townsman

Technical Credits

Dudley Nichols

Barney Slater

Anthony Mann	Director
George Seaton	Director,Producer
William Perlberg	Director,Producer
Dudley Nichols	Screenwriter
Barney Slater	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Based on a script written by the aging Dudley Nichols toward the end of his distinguished career, Tin Star has the feel of a man trying to impart a simple lesson before he dies. Director Anthony Mann obviously decided to relegate his formidable talent for capturing rugged Western landscapes to the back burner in a film that was shot mostly on sound stages. Possibly reflecting the cynicism wrought in Hollywood by the blacklist, Fonda's embittered bounty hunter tries to explain to a young sheriff, the reliably neurotic Tony Perkins, how an intuitive understanding of the people he's living among can be more valuable than a fast gun. The film's anti-vigilante sub-theme, a feature of a number of Fonda's movies, also echoes the excesses of the McCarthy era. While it sometimes feels like an inflated version of the kind of TV Western that ruled the airwaves during that time, the film's ambling pace allows for more fully developed characters, and the credibility of the relationship between Fonda and Perkins is enough to carry its familiar homilies.