WINCHESTER '73
DIRECTED BY ANTHONY MANN
PRODUCED BY AARON ROSENBERG
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Information From IMDb
Plot Summary
In a marksmanship contest, Lin McAdam wins a prized Winchester rifle, which is immediately stolen by the runner-up, Dutch Henry Brown. This "story of a rifle" then follows McAdams' pursuit, and the rifle as it changes hands, until a final showdown and shoot-out on a rocky mountain precipice.
Written by Herman Seifer
Full Cast
James Stewart ... Lin McAdam
Shelley Winters ... Lola Manners
Dan Duryea ... Waco Johnnie Dean
Stephen McNally ... Dutch Henry Brown
Millard Mitchell ... High Spade Frankie Wilson
Charles Drake ... Steve Miller
John McIntire ... Joe Lamont
Will Geer ... Wyatt Earp
Jay C. Flippen ... Sgt. Wilkes
Rock Hudson ... Young Bull
John Alexander ... Jack Riker
Steve Brodie ... Wesley
James Millican ... Wheeler
Abner Biberman ... Latigo Means
Tony Curtis ... Doan (as Anthony Curtis)
James Best ... Crater
Robert Anderson ... Basset (uncredited)
Mel Archer ... Bartender (uncredited)
Ray Bennett ... Charles Bender (uncredited)
Frank Chase ... Cavalryman (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb ... Target Watcher (uncredited)
Frank Conlan ... Contest Clerk in Saloon (uncredited)
Tex Cooper ... Shooting Contestant (uncredited)
Victor Cox ... Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Curtis ... Bit Part (uncredited)
Steve Darrell ... Bat Masterson (uncredited)
John Doucette ... Roan Daley (uncredited)
Bonnie Kay Eddy ... Bonnie Jameson (uncredited)
Bill Gillis ... Minor Role (uncredited)
Chick Hannon ... Spectator (uncredited)
Jimmy Hawkins ... Boy at Store Window (uncredited)
Timmy Hawkins ... Boy at Rifle Shoot (uncredited)
Carol Henry ... Dudeen (uncredited)
Gary Jackson ... Gary Jameson (uncredited)
Norman Kent ... Buffalo Hunter (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw ... Stationmaster (uncredited)
Ted Mapes ... Bartender (uncredited)
Gregg Martell ... Mossman - Cavalryman (uncredited)
Bill McKenzie ... Boy at Rifle Shoot (uncredited)
Jennings Miles ... Stagecoach Driver (uncredited)
Virginia Mullen ... Mrs. Jameson (uncredited)
Paul Newlan ... Townsman (uncredited)
Norman Ollestad ... Stable Boy (uncredited)
Larry Olsen ... Boy at Rifle Shoot (uncredited)
Bud Osborne ... Man (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson ... Long Tom (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt ... Townsman (uncredited)
Forrest Taylor ... Target Clerk (voice) (uncredited)
Tony Taylor ... Boy (uncredited)
Ray Teal ... Marshall Noonan (uncredited)
John War Eagle ... Indian Interpreter (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson ... Virgil Earp (uncredited)
Duke York ... Man #1 (uncredited)
Chief Yowlachie ... Indian at Rifle Shoot (uncredited)
Writing Credits
Robert L. Richards (screenplay) &
Borden Chase (screenplay)
Stuart N. Lake (story)
Cinematography
William H. Daniels (as William Daniels)
Stunts
Polly Burson .... stunts (uncredited)
Carol Henry .... stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron .... stunts (uncredited)
Ted Mapes .... stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson .... stunts (uncredited)
Slim Talbot .... stunts (uncredited)
Duke York .... stunts (uncredited)
Jack N. Young .... stunts (uncredited)
Trivia
Dan Duryea also appeared in the 1967 made-for-TV remake, Winchester 73 (1967).
The filmmakers did not have the budget to pay James Stewart his requested fee of $200,000, so he suggested they take the then-unusual step of paying him a cut of the profits instead. This deal, the first of its kind since the advent of talkies, would soon become the norm and change the studio-agent-actor relationship, leading to the demise of the long-term contract and the studio system. Stewart is believed to have made around $600,000 from this film.
On the laserdisc and DVD, James Stewart gives audio commentary about the making of the movie. It was the only such commentary he ever did.
Although Millard Mitchell's character says that his name is spelled with a hyphen, the end credits still spell "High Spade" with no hyphen.
There were only 133 One-of-a-Thousand Model 1873's made.
Fritz Lang was originally slated to direct this movie. When he backed out, James Stewart recommended Anthony Mann. In the early 1930s Stewart had worked with Mann in the theater.
In the famous scene where James Stewart shoots a bullet through the washer with the postage stamp...that is not Hollywood magic. The shot is performed successfully by renowned marksman Herb Parsons.
At the time of filming, James Stewart was anxious to appear in more challenging roles, as he was worried that the general perception was of him as a limited actor. He found director Anthony Mann very helpful in breaking that perception.
James Stewart spent a lot of time practicing with the rifle so he would look like an authentic westerner.
At the time of release there was some ridiculing from the press at the idea of James Stewart, the "thin man", playing a tough westerner. (Broken Arrow (1950) had not been released, even though it had been filmed first). Members of the audience were heard to gasp in shock at the scene where Stewart angrily confronts Dan Duryea.
Will Geer initially felt he was badly miscast as Wyatt Earp.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 12, 1951 with James Stewart reprising his film role.
Goofs
* Continuity: When Sgt. Wilkes welcomes Lola, his neck cloth repeatedly changes between shots.
* Continuity: Near the end of the movie, when Lin McAdam rides towards Dutch's cover, we see Lin's shadow projected to his right side and in the next shot to his left side.
* Anachronisms: This movie is based on a rifle-shooting competition held in Dodge City on 4 July 1876. During a poker game in the movie, Dutch refers to a "Dead Man's Hand". The "Dead Man's Hand" refers to the hand Wild Bill Hickock was holding when he was shot in the back by Jack McCall on 2 August 1876 - less than a month later. It was too soon for the "Dead Man's Hand" to be a famous phrase.
* Anachronisms: During the final shootout scene, billboards and a highway are visible in the far distance on the upper left of the screen.
* Continuity: When Lin and High Spade leave Rikers, they are supposed to be riding at night. However, when they are fleeing the pursuing braves, the sun is clearly visible behind the ridge they ride along.
* Errors in geography: When Lin was chasing Dutch at the end and they had just left Tascosa, they were riding through the desert full of Saguaro cactus which are native to Arizona. Tascosa is in the Texas pan handle near Amarillo.
* Plot holes: In the gunfight at the Jameson house, it is said that that Noonan's posse consisted of 12 men and was down to 9, and then another of them is shot. However, when the burning wagon is pushed into the house, there are 9 men pushing it.
* Plot holes: Lola Manners appears clean and virtually pristine throughout her ordeal, despite the physical punishment she endures in the desert, on the wagon, and at the hands of Waco.
* Continuity: During the gunfight at the end, when Dutch is cringing in the rocks and gets wounded by ricochets from Lin's gun, during that sequence you can clearly see the ricochets appearing on the face of the rock in a V-shape (clearly charges placed in a row) except for one scene in the middle where they all disappear and we see the first one happen, and then they all reappear again the next scene, so those scenes were ordered out of sequence in the final cut.
* Revealing mistakes: During the gunfight in the rocks at the end, gunshots clearly ricochet on the rocks many times in places not even accessible from Dutch's position atop the rocks.
Filming Locations
Mescal, Arizona, USA
Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Six Points Texas, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA