For the ‘L’ film of the Alphabet Challenge, we go to the 1957 black and white western The Lonely Man. Directed by Henry Levin, the film was written by the pairing of Harry Essex and Robert Smith.

The film tells the story of Jacob Wade (played by Jack Palance) a former gunslinger, who abandoned his wife and son a number of years ago in an attempt to escape his life. Wade returns to the town that he previously lived in, to find his son Riley (played by Anthony Perkins) with the hope of forging a relationship with him. The son that he finds is full of anger towards him following the death of his mother.

The film follows the two attempting to build a relationship, against the backdrop of former enemies of Jacob that are not ready to leave things in the past.

The film is solid enough and speaks from the era of westerns. Its certainly not a classic, but it is ok and has a nice story of a father and son.

5/10

That’s what I thought – what about you? Have you seen it? Comment below and share your thoughts…

PS – Go and look at a photo of Anthony Perkins from around this time (i.e. late 50’s) – how much does he look like Andrew Garfield now?!