With an on paper intriguing story and a cast that includes Jack Palance, Anthony Perkins, Lee Van Cleef and Elisha Cook Jnr. 'The Lonely Man' promised a lot. And it delivers a lot too luckily.Have admittedly seen fairly little of director Henry Levin's body of work, but the little seen of him has left me somewhat indifferent. To me though, 'The Lonely Man' is among his better and more interesting films and is worthy of more attention than the not-very-well-known status it's garnered. Sure, it's not perfect and there are better westerns around but 'The Lonely Man' has a lot to recommend and has a few interest points (including Anthony Perkins in an early role pre-Norman Bates, him and Palance trying to out-smoulder each other and the Oedipal relationship between Riley and Ada).The Oedipal relationship did feel underdeveloped and doesn't have anywhere near the passion and poignancy of the evolving father and son relationship between Jacob and Riley that dominates 'The Lonely Man'. Elaine Aiken does her best but is a little bland in a role that doesn't give her that much to do.Occasionally, the general tightness of the pace loosens and becomes a little too leisurely and there are a few things in the story and supporting characters (King Fisher's allies also felt on the underwritten side) that could have done with more exploration and made sense more.Conversely, 'The Lonely Man' does look great. The cinematography is truly beautiful on the eyes as well as being suitably moody, and the very natural and handsome locales are similarly well done. The music suits the atmosphere well, having a sweep and understatement. Levin's direction is efficient rather than the routine direction somewhat expected.'The Lonely Man' is tautly written and sometimes has an offbeat tone, while the story is mostly very absorbing and there is a surprising amount of emotion. It is especially good in the father and son relationship, which has initial tension but once the truth comes out it's quite affecting and one roots for a redemptive resolution. The climax is one that had me biting the nails and had me feeling very sad about the outcome (see for yourself).Perkins acquits himself pretty well in an early role, though he definitely went on to better things (including one of cinema's most iconic villains as Norman Bates in 'Psycho'), and Neville Brand is a formidable opponent with suitably heavyweight support from Van Cleef and Cook. The acting honours however belong to Palance, a powerhouse in a role that suits him to the ground and the type he should have done more of. It was really fascinating seeing he and Perkins out-smoulder each other but, while they work incredibly well, Perkins is no match for Palance in that department. Mainly because we're talking about an early career actor against one with one of the most intimidating physiques in "classic film/Golden Age film".Overall, a well done and interesting different western that flaws and all should be better known. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Anthony Perkins had yet to find his feet when he made "The Lonely Man" in 1957, cast as former outlaw Jack Palance's son, but he's remarkably assured nevertheless. It's a so-so western from a mediocre director, Henry Levin, with Palance the lonely man of the title, wanting to go straight but finding both the law and his former partners doing all they can to see that he doesn't. A first class supporting cast, (Neville Brand, Robert Middleton, Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins) ensure that it's never less than watchable and it's very handsomely photographed in black and white VistaVision by Lionel Lindon. It's a pity the script never really develops the characters beyond the one-dimensional and now it is very seldom shown.

A talkative and somewhat slow-moving western that gradually builds to a good climax, The Lonely Man is further hampered by the casting of two super-slow talkers, namely Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins, in the leading roles. When these two men are on screen, I always have the feeling that they speak slowly because they feel the dialogue has a depth to it which is not readily apparent to a bum director like Henry Levin, so they are forced to do his job for him by speaking extra slowly so that the audience will get all the hidden nuances that Levin has neither the guts nor the ability to bring out. True, Levin had a reputation as a fast shooter and I've no doubt the movie is not as effective as it might have been had Levin been forced to direct the rest of the film with as much care as he brings to the Palace-Perkins scenes and to the climactic gun fight. Fortunately, the rugged natural locales of the story are impressively captured by cinematographer Lionel Lindon, and a young actress named Elaine Aiken makes an impressive debut, but alas, nothing came of her career. She had minor roles in Doomsday Voyage, Night Flowers, Caddyshack and that's it! The Lonely Man is available on a very good Paramount DVD.

I found "Lonely Man' in a local library. I can't believe it only has 26 votes on the IMDB. This is not as great as the Anthony Mann films I've studied in grad school. There is one with Anthony Perkins called "The Tin Star" which I would recommend more. But, this is still a good Western which doesn't follow the conventional theme/structure narrative. Worth a look.