Night Passage

Night Passage (1957) is best-remembered as Anthony Mann and James Stewart's abortive eighth collaboration. Having teamed up on several classic Westerns (Winchester '73, The Man from Laramie), the two fell out over script disagreements, leaving Disney veteran James Neilson to helm the picture. It's still a solid oater.

Grant McLane (James Stewart) is a former railroad "troubleshooter" eeking out a living as a traveling musician. After several robberies, train boss Kimball (Jay C. Flippen) hires Grant to safeguard a payroll shipment. Grant learns the robbers are led by his estranged brother, the Utica Kid (Audie Murphy). Along with little boy Joey (Brandon De Wilde) Grant foils the robbery, but finds his trouble's just beginning.

Clocking in at a lean 90 minutes, Night Passage is marvelously economical. Writers Norman A. Fox and Borden Chase provide sharp characterizations, with Grant humiliated playing for coins and Utica desiring to one-up his brother. There are neat twists on familiar set pieces: Utica's gang foils a railroad posse with expertly deployed horseshoes, while the final showdown occurs in a sawmill. There's little doubt where the story's headed, especially with Joey in the mix, but Neilson tells the story so crisply it's hard to complain. If any genre can get away with cliches it's the Western.

Neilson's direction is unfussy, lacking Anthony Mann's grim stylization but certainly pleasant. William H. Daniels provides beautiful photography, especially of the train hurtling through Colorado's autumnal countryside. The train heist presages The Wild Bunch's second act stick-up; a shootout in an unlit bar resembles set pieces in The Price of Power and The Shootist. Dimitri Tiomkin contributes a fine score. Maybe Mann could have made Passage an all-time classic, but there's really little to complain about.

James Stewart plays cynical and hard-bitten better than most. Cynics mock Stewart's accordion-playing but it serves the character fine; villains mock or underestimate the musician-gunslinger at their peril. Likeable Audie Murphy makes Utica's conflict and redemption seem poignant. Brandon De Wilde isn't bad and love interest Elaine Stewart does well with an under-drawn love interest. Dan Duryea recycles his talky psycho from Winchester '73. Genre stalwarts Paul Fix, Robert Wilke, Jack Elam and Chuck Roberson put in requisite appearances. Olive Carey has a notable bit as a grizzled frontier lady.

Night Passage plays better than its reputation suggests. It may be Anthony Mann lite, but it's certainly entertaining.