The Far Country is a 1954 northern-western film directed by Anthony Mann. The film stars James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, and Walter Brennan.
Director: Anthony Mann
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Cast: James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan, John McIntire, Jay C. Flippen, Harry (Henry) Morgan, Steve Brodie, Connie Gilchrist
US Box Office: $6,250,000 ($124,600,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Western, Drama
Release Date: July 22, 1954 (London premiere); February 12, 1955 (US premiere)
Plot Summary: In 1896 Jeff Webster (James Stewart) and his friend Ben Tatem (Walter Brennan) transport their cattle to from Seattle to Skagway, Alaska Territory by boat. In Skagway, Jeff is antagonized by Judge Gannon (John McIntire), the town’s corrupt boss. Jeff, Ben, and several others including the kindhearted but naïve Renee Vallon (Corinne Calvet) and Gannon’s charming associate Ronda Castle (Ruth Roman) bring the cattle to the gold mining town of Dawson, Yukon Territory. Although the self-centered Jeff wants to stay neutral, he becomes attached to the people of Dawson, and is eventually forced to protect them when they are menaced by Gannon.
Production: In 1953 Universal producer Aaron Rosenberg began working on a new technicolor western film for the studio titled The Far Country. Rosenberg chose Anthony Mann, a frequent western director, to direct The Far Country. The film’s script was written by screenwriter Borden Chase, who received critical acclaim for his work on Howard Hawks’ western drama Red River (1948). Mann and Chase had previously worked together on two westerns for Universal: Winchester ’73 (1950) and Bend of the River (1952). The studio was pleased with Mann’s work those two films and hoped to replicate their success by reteaming him with Chase.
James Stewart was chosen to play the lead role of cattle driver Jeff Webster. Anthony Mann had previously directed Stewart in three westerns: Winchester ’73, Bend of the River, and The Naked Spur (1953); the adventure film Thunder Bay (1953); and the biopic The Glenn Miller Story (1954). With the exception of The Naked Spur (which was produced by MGM), all of these films were produced by Universal. Universal was very happy with how the previous Stewart-Mann westerns had turned out so they reteamed Stewart and Mann on The Far Country. Stage actress Julie Harris was considered for one of the lead female roles, but she was later replaced. Actress Ruth Roman was cast as Ronda Castle, the beautiful but immoral assistant of Gannon. She had recently starred in the musical comedy Young Man with Ideas (1952) and the western Blowing Wild (1953). French actress Corinne Calvet was cast as Renee Vallon. That same year she also appeared in Universal’s musical comedy So This Is Paris (1954).
Anthony Mann began shooting The Far Country in August of 1953 and principal photography wrapped up in October. The scenes set in the Canadian wilderness and some of the exterior scenes set in Dawson were shot on location at Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. The glacier featured in The Far Country was represented by the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park. Location filming was also done at Mt. Edith Cavell near the glacier. An avalanche occurred early on during filming at the glacier but no cast or crew members were seriously injured. The interior scenes, the Seattle scene, and many of the Skagway scenes were shot on set at Universal Studios back in California.
Jeff Webster’s horse was played by Pie, a horse that Jimmy Stewart rode in seventeen films total. Stewart had a strong bond with the horse and even attempted to buy Pie at one point, but his owner refused to sell him. Stewart had such a good rapport with the horse that he was able to get Pie to do things even when the trainer wasn’t around. The scene where Jeff’s horse walks alone in a straight line in the dark to distract Gannon’s henchmen is a good example of this. All Stewart had to do was whisper something in Pie’s ear and the horse did the scene by himself without the trainer’s guidance!
Fun Facts and Trivia: Several of the actors in The Far Country later appeared in the epic western How the West Was Won including James Stewart, Walter Brennan, Jay C. Flippen (Rube Morris), Harry Morgan (Ketchum), and several extras. The Far Country was the third of four films to feature Jimmy Stewart and John McIntire together. The two previously appeared in Call Northside 777 (1948) and Winchester ’73 (1950). They later co-starred in John Ford’s western Two Rode Together (1961).
Judge Gannon from The Far Country appears to be based on real-life con artist and gangster Jefferson “Soapy” Smith. Like Gannon, Soapy Smith was the political boss of Skagway, Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush and had a reputation for cheating men out of the gold they mined. Smith was also killed in a gunfight, though the circumstances differed from the events of The Far Country.
Reception: Although principle photography on The Far Country was completed in October of 1953, Universal decided to hold the film back for a while. It’s possible that this was done to keep The Far Country from competing with the studio’s other completed westerns, such as Raoul Walsh’s Saskatchewan (1954), another northern-western shot on location in Canada. The Far Country was first released in the United Kingdom and had its London premiere on July 22, 1954. The film premiered in New York City on February 12, 1955 and had its Los Angeles premiere a few days later.
The Far Country was a moderate success at the box office and it earned a profit for Universal. As part of James Stewart’s payment contract with Universal, he received a percentage of the film’s profits. He earned more than $300,000 from The Far Country. Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann worked together on two more films: Strategic Air Command (1955) for Paramount and The Man from Laramie (1955) for Columbia. The Far Country received positive reviews when it was first released. The Key West Citizen praised Stewart’s performance and the film’s sense of excitement. The Home Journal also approved of the story and Stewart’s performance.
The Far Country has received strongly positive reviews from modern critics. Lori Hoffman of Atlantic City Weekly described The Far Country as being a “terrific western” and praised Stewart’s against-type performance. Ian Kane of The Epoch Times praised the film for its noble themes and stated that The Far Country was a “thought-provoking” experience. Rob Gonsalves of Rob’s Movie Vault similarly commended The Far Country for its complexity and its dark moments. Stve Crum of the Kansas City Kansan and Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid also gave the film positive reviews.
Why You Should See It: The Far Country is a strong western drama film. The film’s technicolor cinematography is fantastic, especially for the scenes set at dusk. The mountain and glacier footage is similarly beautiful and impressive. All the cast members give good performances, especially James Stewart. Stewart plays against type as a character who is very rough and self-centered at first, but is eventually forced to become a hero. John McIntire is also good as the extremely nasty villain, and its very satisfying to see Gannon get what he deserves in the final gunfight.