Winchester '73 - The Criterion Collection 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

One of the earliest, most popular genres in film, the Western sure went through its share of revisions over the last hundred-plus years. From the earliest days with the likes of The Great Train Robbery and its iconic shot of a bandit shooting at the screen point blank, Westerns have been a Hollywood mainstay. They may be a rarity today, but in their prime, they were the cream of the crop for entertainment. An actor's star power rose and fell by the genre. And within this genre ecosystem, the best films came from the best partnerships. John Ford and John Wayne or Howard Hawkes and John Wayne if you prefer. Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone. You get the idea. One lucrative partnership that I feel doesn’t get enough attention was the work of James Stewart and Anthony Mann and their incredible run together.

From 1950 to 1955, the pair made five classics. Their first is 1950’s Winchester ‘73. A tale of morality and revenge, James Stewart stars as Lin McAdam. A Professional shooter with a shady past, he rides into Dodge City with his pal High Spade Frankie Wilson (Millard Mitchell) to enter in a shooting contest to win a 1973 model Winchester repeater. His only competition is the man he wants to kill, Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally). Their mutual hatred is immediately evident to Marshel Wyatt Earp (Will Geer). As the men clean out the competition, a tie-breaker gives Lin the spoils. But Duch Henry has other plans. Ambushing Lin on his way out of town, he steals the rifle for himself. But the rifle is its own curse. Passing from one hand to the next, bad things happen to anyone who carries the ‘73 Winchester. 

In the span of five years, Anthony Mann and James Stewart made eight films together, five of them among the best Westerns committed to film. Winchester ‘73, The Far Country, The Naked Spur, The Man from Laramie, and Bend of the River. As I revisit each of these, it’s becoming harder to quantify which is best in any particular definitive order. I still stand beside The Naked Spur in the top spot, and I’d put Bend of the River at the tail (not that it's bad, it’s just not as great as the other four in my opinion). In between it’s a toss-up for the second, third, and fourth spot. With that loose personal quantification out of the way, Winchester ‘73 is a terrific Western. 

A morality story without being preachy. An action film that isn’t about repetitive boring shootouts. A Character drama with an exhilarating sense of pace and clean exposition (and humor). This is lean and to-the-point filmmaking at its finest. Mann’s direction and Robert Richards and Borden Chase’s screenplay are sharply efficient. We know immediately Lin and Dutch Henry have a history, but the film’s plot lets that story unfold naturally. Characters enter the plot, stay for a while, and leave their mark as each revelation unfolds. Dan Duryea digs into his slimy bag of tricks as Waco Johnny Dean. Shelly Winters stands out as the lovely Lola Manners. Charles Drake enjoys his time as the cowardly Steve Miller. Along the way, John McIntire, Rock Hudson, Steve Brodie, Jay C. Flippen, James Best, and a small turn from Tony Curtis enjoy standout moments in this packed film. 

And at a brisk 92 minutes, Winchester '73 is a packed film. The story moves fast but never feels shortchanged. Each twist in whoever carries the rifle expands the plot and moves the action from one shootout to the next. And while there are plenty of exhilarating shootouts, the venture never feels repetitive as Lin gets one bullet closer to his revenge. Every story beat rolls out perfectly playing to the audience's satisfaction without spoon-feeding the story.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
James Stewart and Anthony Mann’s Winchester ‘73 joins the Criterion Collection with a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray release. Featuring spine number 1248, the 4K is pressed on a Region Free BD66 with a Region A locked BD50 supporting the 1080p version. I don’t understand the region discrepancies but there you have it. The discs are housed in Criterion’s standard clear case with individual trays. A fold-out insert offers a terrific essay, Under the Gun, by Imogen Sara Smith along with restoration notes. Each disc loads to Criterions’ standard menu system.

Winchester ‘73 takes its stand on 4K UHD with a lovely 2160p SDR 1.35:1 transfer. The film was available on Blu-ray in Europe as far back as 2018, but I never got around to importing so I don’t have a copy for comparison. This restoration was undertaken by Universal Pictures and the Film Foundation using the 35mm nitrate original camera negative and the results are often stunning. I guess the reason I have a hard time figuring out which of the Stewart/Mann collaborations is best is because I haven’t seen this film on anything by my old DVD and the improvement is quite remarkable. Clarity is sharp showcasing every facial feature, every stitch of clothing, every little snaggle in the rocks and brush. Film grain is maintained with a nice cinematic veneer, only ever increasing in intensity around the film’s optical transitions. The grayscale is practically perfect with deep blacks, bright whites, and some impressive shadows in between. Image depth is also damned impressive. I don’t know the reason for the lack of HDR, but rest assured this is a beautiful presentation. 

As for the included Blu-ray, the 1080p is almost as remarkable as the 4K. Doing some disc flippies, it was difficult to spot standout differences. However, much like Criterion’s 4K of Night of the Living Dead or some of their other SDR releases, if you look closely enough and long enough you can start to notice how much better lighting and shadows play on the 4K disc. Clarity for some of the scenic wide shots is far more notable on the 4K disc, especially that expansive sense of image depth. Blu-ray or 4K, whichever way you’re rigged, you’re getting a terrific Western with a beautiful transfer. 

On the audio side Winchester ‘73 rides away with an excellent LPCM mono mix. I was surprised at how clean and ageless the track sounded without any kind of hiss, pop, or dropouts. The dialog is clean and clear without any kind of hard distracting sibilance to the voices. The score may be the typical stock fair under famed musical director Joseph Gershenson, but it fits each exciting moment perfectly and again sounds fantastic with this track. Nothing sounds canned or artificial. Even constrained within a mono track, the mix still felt expansive for those big action sequences and wide-open vistas.

On the bonus features front, this release of Winchester ‘73 sports the archival commentary with James Stewart and Paul Lindenschmidt. In the follow-up materials, there is an interesting look at the role and portrayal of native tribes in this film (as well as others) with film programmer Adam Piron. This disc sports Ballyhoo’s excellent ‘Forces of Nature: Anthony Mann at Universal’ documentary which is an essential viewing. After that, we have a very fun Lux Radio hour adaptation of the story with James Stewart and Stephen McNally reprising their respective roles. Played against a static image, the audio is clean and it’s always fun to hear how they adapt a story like this with only audio tricks to sell the excitement. 

4K UHD Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring James Stewart and Paul Lindenschmidt

Blu-ray Disc 

• Audio Commentary featuring James Stewart and Paul Lindenschmidt
• Interview with Film Programmer Adam Piron (HD 17:50)
• Forces of Nature: Anthony Mann at Universal (HD 47:07)
• Lux Radio Theater (1:00:39)
• Trailer

There have been so many Westerns made over the last century that it’s impossible to pick a true genre-defining film. Especially when the genre would go through so many distinctive phases. There just isn’t one perfect Western but a multitude of them of different eras by a variety of filmmakers and their chosen stars. Anthony Mann and James Stewart just so happened to punch out five entries in the genre in rapid succession inside of five years and all are winners. The first and among the best of their collaborations, Winchester ‘73 is an exhilarating entry with plenty of action, human drama, and a natural flow of humor. Now we get to enjoy this story of bloody revenge play out with a beautiful 4K UHD release from The Criterion Collection. Even in SDR, the film looks magnificent with a crystal clear audio mix to match. The included 1080p Blu-ray is also a looker and sports a fine selection of extra features to enjoy after the show. For fans of the genre, this is an essential addition to any home collection - Highly Recommended 

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