Winchester 73

The action takes place in 1876. Upon entering Dodge City, sheriff Wyatt Earp disarms everybody who arrives. For this reason alone, dashing Lyn Makedad does not kill a gangster named Dutchman when their paths cross in a local tavern. Obviously, behind the skirmish in the tavern are years of acute hostility, but its reasons are not immediately apparent.

Sheriff announces contest shooters. The prize is the winchester of 1873 , the latest weapon at that time, “the rifle that conquered the West”. In the acute confrontation of Makedam and the Dutchman, the first wins. During the film, the rifle will change seven more owners, wandering through the Wild West . Gradually, behind the virtuoso ^[2] interlacing of the plot emerges

Shakespeare's tragedy of revenge, patricide and fratricide, which for the time being is blurred in the perception of the audience and gains focus only in the scene of the final duel, when two brothers try to hit each other with bullets ricocheting from the rocks.

- Mikhail Trofimenkov ^[1]

Initially, the film was supposed to shoot at his own studio Fritz Lang . The bet was made on the fact that this is the first Western with the participation of James Stewart, the most popular American actor at the time. Lang planned to make a rifle the only source of food for the main character: in this case, possession of a weapon turned for him into a matter of life and death. Universal, however, refused to fund an independent studio project.

The film was put into production only due to the perseverance of Stewart, who refused a fixed salary in exchange for a percentage of box office, himself picked up a new director and some of the actors. The script was rewritten in a cunning manner . For Stuart’s acting career, this film was a turning point: for the first time, the public saw “Jimmy's handsome” in a state of obsession with violence close to psychosis ^[3] . In the famous movie " Dizziness " Hitchcock will bet on this side of the acting talent Stuart.

At the box office, Winchester was a great success, which came as a surprise to filmmakers: after a series of unsuccessful westerns, the genre was almost put an end. According to the contract prepared by agent Lev Wasserman , the leading man received half the profit from the rental. This film not only ensured Stewart's financial independence for years to come, but also changed the rules of the game in Hollywood forever ^[3] . Inspired by this precedent, many first-magnitude stars began to agree to take part in risky projects in exchange for a percentage of box office. Over time, this practice has become the norm.

Deciding to use the new recipe for success, Mann and Stewart from 1952 to 1955. made four more westerns, including the Naked Spur (1953). In all five films, Stuart plays a man who is haunted by the past. The director's style is built on the most spectacular use of the possibilities of the landscape , which in some scenes seems to be a mirror of the psychological state of the protagonist ^[4] .