Saturday, June 30, 2012

Anthony Mann, 1906-1967

Today marks the birth anniversary of film director Anthony Mann. I've mentioned quite a few times that TCM doesn't seem to do very many birthday tributes on the weekends, and such is the case today.

Mann started his career making noirs and crime films in the late 1940s, with movies such as Border Incident and Side Street.

In 1950, Mann directed Winchester '73 which starred James Stewart. It was the first of several westerns the two men made together. These westerns brought a touch of noir to the genre, as Stewart's characters were much darker than the heroes that had generally populated Westerns; certainly more so than the singing cowboys who were popular in the 1940s. One of the westerns that I've recommended in the past is The Naked Spur.

Mann's last completed film is The Heroes of Telemark (now on DVD); Mann would suffer a fatal heart attack during the filming of his next movie, A Dandy in Aspic.

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