Rifled

Winchester 73 (1950)

This western is the first of five collaborations between director Anthony Mann and star James Stewart. Revenge is the name of the game as James Stewart hunts down a man while a rifle he wins in a shooting contest passes through the hands of several owners.

There are the usual genre themes in spades here with revenge, Indians on the war path and outsiders passing through towns. What is best about the film is the level of detail that is included to fit the story into a historical period, just after Custer's last stand but other than that it is fairly standard. One of the more unusual elements of the story is making a gun a character in it's own right as we follow it through several owners.

3/5 average western.