Why was this Anthony Mann's last movie working with Jimmy Stewart? Did they have a falling out? Mann did a few westerns following this, including Man of the West, which is my favorite (still not out on DVD!). Curious if anyone else knows why this is the last Mann/Stewart collaboration.
shareAnthony Mann was originally set to direct "Night Passage" with James Stewart and Audie Murphy in 1957.Mann left the project because he didn't want to work with Murphy.Audie Murphy was a box office star at Universal,at the time.Universal was banking on box office gold with two of their biggest stars.I liked the movie,but I can't help wondering how the movie would have turned out if Mann had directed it.
shareI remember seeing Night Passage years ago and thinking how mediocre it was. Simply a middle-of-the-road western, one that struck me as very bland. Even Dan Duryea, one of my favorite character actors, couldn't bring this one to life. One wonders what Mann could have done with reuniting Duryea and Stewart after their wonderful shared scenes in Winchester '57. Chalk that one up to alluring things that could have been.
share[deleted]
I agree with you, bbpictures. I saw Night Passage once, nearly three years ago. It was thoroughly mediocre. Unfortunately, Anthony Mann left the picture. Who knows how much better it would have been if he stayed on.
Mann and Stewart do go out with a bang in The Man From Laramie. Great film.
"Watch me run a 50-yard dash with my legs cut off!"
Stewart was also supposed to star in Mann's "Man of the West" in 1958, but there was some kind of disagreement or something, I can't recall what exactly, so Stewart backed out of it and Gary Cooper took over the role. Still became a good movie though.
"I know you're in there, Fagerstrom!"-Conan O'Brien
There’s a bit more to the story. From the film’s Wikipedia entry:
Producer Aaron Rosenberg says that the reason Stewart and Mann never worked together for a sixth Western collaboration after The Man from Laramie was a disagreement over the quality of Night Passage. Mann had been slated to direct the film and worked with Stewart on preproduction, but disagreed with the casting of Audie Murphy and had an argument with Stewart in which the veteran director dismissed the film as "trash". Mann quit the movie, replaced by director James Neilson, feeling that Stewart was only making the film so he could play his accordion. This enraged Stewart so much that the two didn't speak again.share
Anthony Mann was originally set to direct "Night Passage" with James Stewart and Audie Murphy in 1957.Mann left the project because he didn't want to work with Murphy.Audie Murphy was a box office star at Universal,at the time.Universal was banking on box office gold with two of their biggest stars.I liked the movie,but I can't help wondering how the movie would have turned out if Mann had directed it.
I could be mistaken but I think I read some time ago that Mann began Night Passage before leaving. Today I was fortunate to see Man from Laramie on the big screen in glorious CinemaScope at the American Film Institute. It is indeed beautifully shot.
share