The Lonely Man Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Lonely Man Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 22, 2024

Henry Levin's "The Lonely Man" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critic Toby Roan and vintage theatrical trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Former gunfighter Jacob Wade (Jack Palance) goes looking for his son, Riley (Anthony Perkins), hoping he would forgive him for walking away some years ago. They meet in a saloon, and Jacob convinces Riley to come with him, but it is not too long before it becomes clear that the young man hates him with a passion, which could drive him insane. Jacob then discovers why -- after abandoning her, the mother of his son has died like an animal.

Far away in the mountains, the father and son reach the ranch of Ada Marshall (Elaine Aiken), a retired gambling hall performer, who is alive because the former killed a man who wanted her dead. While Riley recovers from the long journey, Jacob tells Ada, who genuinely loves him, that he will try to teach Riley how to break horses. It is Jacob’s desperate attempt to reconnect with his son, but also the only way he can think of how to do it. Soon after, Jacob becomes sick, and Ada discovers he is going blind.

Meanwhile, in a nearby town, famous gunfighter King Fisher (Neville Brand) and his crew are informed that Jacob has been seen riding with his son. Because the two have repeatedly clashed and scarred each other in the past, with the former vowing to get rid of his nemesis, Jacob becomes a target. Despite Ada urging him to think about Riley and the future they can have together, Jacob decides to face King and his crew at the same gambling hall where he last killed another man.

Henry Levin’s The Lonely Man chooses a path that most westerns tend to avoid. It is a path that leads to a different, or at least somewhat different, version of the Old West, where two men must learn to forgive even though they have been taught that forgiving is a weakness. To be clear, The Lonely Man is not one of those radical westerns that intentionally do many different things to compromise the classic image of the Old West and its inhabitants. In it, a man’s life is still as cheap as a shot of whiskey, and bad men willing to prove it is so are never in short supply. However, The Lonely Man reveals a genuine appreciation of the human in the men and women who chose to roll the dice and see whether they could have a normal life in the Old West. For this reason, as father and son attempt to reconnect, it produces more uncommon contrasts.

The other key development in The Lonely Man that separates it from the majority of westerns is that all of its characters are flawed in some pretty serious ways. This is true for the men and the women. For example, Ada, tasked to close the gap between Jacob and Riley, responds to the latter’s romantic advances even though she supposedly wants the former to have a vital role in her life. At a crucial moment, it is also revealed that Jacob’s dead wife was not the mother Riley remembers. So, as the inevitable encounter between Jacob and King approaches, it becomes increasingly obvious that regardless of its outcome, the future will require that various characters accept difficult truths and learn to forgive.

Shot in VistaVision by Oscar-winning cinematographer Lionel Lindon, The Lonely Man is a gorgeous, at times breathtakingly beautiful western. After Jacob decides to teach Riley how to catch and break wild horses, Lindon’s camera visits several spectacular locations, the best of which are from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A beautiful white mustang becomes quite the star there.

The supporting cast includes such outstanding character actors as Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins, Robert Middleton, and Elisha Cook Jr.

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray release of The Lonely Man introduces an exclusive new 6K restoration struck from the film’s original VistaVision camera negative, which was completed at Paramount Pictures.

The Lonely Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Lonely Man arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The Blu-ray release introduces an exclusive new 6K restoration struck from the film's original VistaVision camera negative, which was completed at Paramount Pictures. The new 6k restoration is a genuine stunner, and the visuals this Blu-ray release produces are often better than most of the visuals I have seen 4K Blu-ray releases produce. I am not exaggerating. A lot of the panoramic outdoor footage, in particular, is what I consider to be 'reference quality' material. There is only one area where I think occasionally some things could look a tad better. In a few darker sequences, shadow nuances could have more convincing blacks. However, I think that in native resolution these areas would be fine because the move from 6K to 1080p almost certainly merges some extremely fine nuances, which means that they cannot look as convincing as they are in 6K. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Image stability is outstanding. The entire film looks spotless as well. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Lonely Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature..

The striking VistaVision visuals are frequently paired with great music from Van Cleave, giving the film a grand quality that seems appropriate. The music and all exchanges are very clear, sharp, and wonderfully balanced. It is incredibly easy to tell that the original audio has been fully restored because there are absolutely no traces of age-related anomalies.

The Lonely Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Toby Roan. I liked it a lot. It is full of factual information about the production of The Lonely Man, its style, the people that made the film and their careers.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Lonely Man. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

The Lonely Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In The Lonely Man, Jack Palance plays a former gunfighter trying to reconnect with his son, who blames him for walking away years ago and letting his mother die prematurely. As the two struggle to suppress different types of anger, another gunfighter reemerges looking to settle an old score. I had not seen The Lonely Man before and enjoyed it a lot. This film looks quite incredible on Blu-ray, too. It has been fully restored in 6K from its original VistaVision negative at Paramount Pictures. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.