Man of the West
Directed by Anthony Mann 100 mins (1958)
Gary Cooper - Link Jones
Heading east to Fort Worth to hire a schoolteacher for his frontier town home, Link Jones is stranded with singer Billie Ellis and gambler Sam Beasley when their train is held up. For shelter, Jones leads them to his nearby former home, where he was brought up an outlaw. Finding the gang still living in the shack, Jones pretends to be ready to return to a life crime.
Also starring Julie London, Lee J. Cobb, Arthur O’ Connell and John Lord
Gary Cooper bravely did his own horse-riding scenes despite physical pain from a car accident years earlier. Jean-Luc Goddard, a film critic before he became a director, raved about the film, saying it was the best film of that year. Because of his recommendation, the film has been re-evaluated and is now considered a classic western.