The Man from Colorado (1948)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him.
Written by frankfob2

Cast
Glenn Ford ... Owen Devereaux
William Holden ... Del Stewart
Ellen Drew ... Caroline Emmet
Ray Collins ... Big Ed Carter
Edgar Buchanan ... Doc Merriam
Jerome Courtland ... Johnny Howard
James Millican ... Sgt. Jericho Howard
Jim Bannon ... Nagel
William 'Bill' Phillips ... York (as Wm. 'Bill' Phillips)
Denver Pyle ... Easy Jarrett (uncredited)
and many more...

Directed
Henry Levin

Writing Credits
Robert Hardy Andrews ... (screenplay) (as Robert D. Andrews) &
Ben Maddow ... (screenplay)
Borden Chase ... (original story)

Produced
Jules Schermer

Music
George Duning ... (musical score)

Cinematography
William E. Snyder

Trivia
Rare role for Ford playing the part of the bad guy in a western.

Opening credits
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name character or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional.

Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: Toward the close of the Civil War --- in the year 1865 --- in COLORADO

JACOB'S GORGE -- where the remnants of a confederate outfit are trapped --

Opening credits are listed in the pages of a book being turned by a hand.

Goofs
Continuity
At the court scene (00:30:10), William Holden's character makes the same movement twice in consecutive shots whilst getting off the chair.

Factual errors
When Johnny Howard pays the bartender with gold dust, the bartender weighs it with scales, but he pours the gold into the scale until it goes all the way down. The correct way to do it is to put the correct scale weight on one side and then pour the gold slowly into the other side until the scales are balanced.

Filming Locations
Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA
Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Watch the Movie

[extendedmedia]

The Man from Colorado is a 1948 American western-psychological drama film directed by
Henry Levin and produced by Jules Schermer for Columbia Pictures.
It stars Glenn Ford as a Union officer who becomes addicted to killing during the American Civil War,
William Holden as his best friend, and Ellen Drew as their common love interest.
Robert Andrews and Ben Maddow based the screenplay on a story by Borden Chase.

User Review

Interesting Technicolor western is a mild exploration of the effect of the ravages of war during peacetime.
8 December 2013 | by adam-703-808689 (NZ)

Quote from ADAM

Although it's a good-looking Technicolor western; this film attempts to explore the effect war has on one man, a colonel, (played by Glenn Ford) and those who fall foul of his obsessive behaviour. Although Ford is a bit one-note in his portrayal of an officer unhinged by power and blood-lust, it's interesting to see him play a nutter, while his friend, William Holden, is (for the most part) a bland good guy. I have a feeling that this western - one of the earliest with a "psychological" theme - wanted to say a lot more about the way people are deranged by the horrors of war, but it was probably constricted by the need to tell a box-office yarn. The direction is stolid; the colour is lavish, and there are some excellent confrontational scenes between Ford and the victims of his mania. Ellen Drew doesn't have much to do as the girl loved by both Ford and Holden. The ending is suitably melodramatic. It's just a shame we aren't able to see a little further into why Ford has turned into a monster; or the circumstances which have led him to his state. There's a bit too much of him twitching and glaring every time someone suggests he might be a bit loopy - we're always on the outside; if we were more on the inside it could have been a touching tragedy.