Watch The Man from Colorado For Free

Load of rubbish!!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Who are acquainted by Glenn Ford's characters will be surprised when see this movie,could be called Deveraux a mad dog...disturbed by the civil war when he command a massacre in the last and final battle a hundred soldiers even with a white flag in the hands....featuring also William Holden in top billing too,fine western!!! Resume: First watch: 1991 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7

Though in many ways a traditional western, Levin's (Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1959) The Man From Colorado is also a psychological drama dealing with something as ever current as post traumatic stress. In a western there is almost bound to be a bad guy to stand against the good guy and it definitely makes for a more dramatic story that the two are good friends torn apart by the psychological destruction of one of them. No matter how bad decisions Owen makes, it is difficult to hate him, because Del never lets us forget that his friend is different and clearly affected by the war they have recently fought together. Both men does a good job, Holden (The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957) is so handsome he can only be the good guy, playing his part straight and as righteous while never loosing sympathy with his friend. No matter what happens, he fights till the end to try to do things right. Meanwhile Ford (3:10 to Yuma, 1957) is the one who truly impresses with his portray of a man looking quiet on the outside but who clearly has raving emotions stirring a chaos inside of him. Though he is aware he has become addicted to killing he finds himself unable to admit he has lost control or face the problem and part of the drama is to watch him slowly push himself further and further down. As the woman standing between the two men is a beautiful Drew (Isle of the Dead, 1945) convincingly going from carefree and happy to heartbreakingly realizing what's going on. The three of them make for an interesting watch that keeps you gripped until the dramatic ending.moviegeek.eu

Throughout my 30+ years on earth, I have always appreciated the few certainties in life and held the firm belief that some things always remained constant. The sun will rise in the east and set in the west, night will always follow the day, I've always enjoyed the twice daily ebb and flow of coastal tides and I knew that Glenn Ford will always play the 'good guy' in a movie.I have just watched 'The Man From Colorado' and my view of life has been left completely skewed and severely dented, because in this movie, Ford plays nothing short of a complete nutjob.Victorious from the civil war, union Colonel Owen Devereaux, (Ford), and his lifelong best friend, Capt. Del Stewart, (William Holden), return to their home town to pick up their lives where they left off three years previously.Devereaux, however, has come back a different person. His war experiences have left him with an insatiable appetite for killing things and a sadistic streak as wide as Colorado itself.Unaware of his newly acquired 'personality issues', the Governor of the state appoints Devereaux as Federal Judge of the town, leaving him with the power of life and death over every man in it. (I think you know what's coming).His buddy Del Stewart is offered the job as Marshall of the town, but before he can accept, Stewart and Devereaux, are ambushed by a crazed confederate officer, who had witnessed Devereaux's new found rage first hand during the war, when he butchered over 100 rebel soldiers that were flying a white flag of surrender. Devereaux easily, (maybe too easily), overpowers the assailant, and foaming with rage, pumps a million bullets into him, instead of adopting the more orthodox 'arrest followed by trial' format favoured by most sober judges.From this moment on, Stewart's eyes have been firmly opened to the Jekyll & Hyde personality that has developed within his friend, and he reluctantly accepts the Marshalls job hoping that his influence as Marshall can bring Devereaux back from the 'dark side of the force'.Due to the pre-war Gold Rush, the town had experienced a population explosion, and many of the claimers had volunteered for army service with Devereaux & Stewart when the war began, safe in the belief that their claims would be protected should they return.In their absence, however, all the land had been taken over by a greedy Gold mining company, who uses a loophole in the law which stipulates that all claims that have remained dormant for three years or more, are null and void and fair game for any new claimants.Devereaux, openly expresses his personal support for the veteran claimers, but in his capacity as Judge, rules in favour of the Mining Corporation who rightly or wrongly has the law on their side.Because of this decision, the relationship between Stewart and Devereaux quickly begins to sour. It doesn't help matters either when Devereaux announces his engagement to Caroline (Ellen Drew), who until then had been the the object of Stewart's affections.The hard done to claimers, decide that if they can't reclaim what was their's through the courts, then they will take it back by less legal means and after some are captured, it's not long before Devereaux's blood lust comes to the fore. He shows no mercy to any of his former comrades in arms, and orders enough hangings to create a rope shortage. In consequence, Stewart's friendship with Devereaux, deteriorates by the day and so does Devereaux's grasp on reality.When Devereaux needlessly hangs one young man on weak circumstantial evidence, A furious Stewart finally decides it's one death too far, and angrily confronts Devereaux, declaring him self Devereaux's enemy until the power of life and death that he is constantly abusing is taken from him 'one way or the other'.After turning outlaw, it doesn't take long before Stewart's name is at the top of Devereaux's 'to hang' list. and his capture becomes Devereaux's psychotic obsession.No longer able to 'keep a lid on it' the townspeople have now become fully aware that their Judge is a complete 'wacko', and when he torches the entire town in order to get the town-folk to reveal Stewart's whereabouts, it becomes painfully evident that the last dregs of Devereaux's sanity has finally dwindled away.The film turns out to be a great mesh between a standard western and a 'Hitchcockesque' psychological thriller, with both Holden and Ford turning in great performances, but once again, it's Glenn Ford who steals this movie with his portrayal of the evil Devereaux, a role COMPLETELY in contrast to his 'good guy cowboy' image we're more used to seeing, which proves what a powerful and versatile an actor he actually was.During Glenn Ford's lifetime, I was one of the many ardent campaigners who would have loved to see Ford live to receive some long overdue honour or award. Sadly, this wasn't to be and after seeing the 'Man from Colorado' I am convinced now more than ever, that Hollywood has committed a monumental injustice, by failing to recognise Glenn Ford as one of the greatest actors of all time.This movie, has sadly debunked one of the great beliefs of my life, so I go now to reconstruct my injured viewpoint. I wonder if the Earth is STILL round?, are the Stylistics STILL crap?. God I hope so! Enjoy!!

Ford and Holden worked together more than once, and they took turns playing "good cop bad cop" as the saying goes. In their case more "good Westerner bad Westerner". In this one, it's clear early that Ford is the bad guy. It was perfect casting. Ford and Holden are ex Civil War officers who become the law in a mining town. With usual poetic film license, the men from their unit live in that very town, and left mining claims while fighting in the war. While they were gone, a mine baron took advantage of a loophole to steal their claims. As the new judge, Ford complies with the letter of the law. We get a very complex and real look at the psychological influence of power, and interpretation of the law. Ford delivers his sadistic power hungry official with realism. He doesn't foam at the mouth when he performs his sadistic acts. Instead, he acts reluctant, as if he's chilled by violence. Then, after taking more and more power in his hands, he loses control of everything when he loses control of his wife, who remains faithful to him despite her respect and possible love for William Holden's character. Ford's character is very much like a Shakespearean king descending into madness and mayhem.