The Mortal Storm - 1940 *****

'The Mortal Storm' is a powerful and utterly heart-breaking film about the destruction and pain people can cause others because of their small mindedness and routine precision with power and gain. James Stewart acts wonderfully as a German who refuses to go with the crowd and leave his small town where he has grown up and support the Nazis. He then falls in love with a beautiful Jew whose father, a professor at the local university does not agree with the current political situation and is eventually captured by the Germans. This leaves the couple in a horrendous situation - do they stay together and defy the odds or break apart to save themselves?
Beautifully shot and mesmerizingly painful to experience, Frank Borzage is a true master of his art and has painted a sumptuously powerful picture that needs to be seen.

The Man From Laramie - 1955 ****

This was my third western, and I have so far enjoyed every single one of them.

James Stewart is excellent as Mr Lockhart 'The Man From Laramie' who comes to the town of Coronato to avenge his brother's death. At the same time he gets caught up in the dodgy going's on in the town, where the 'Waggoman's (an influential ranching family) always seem to be in the centre of the trouble. He comes to blows with both the father and the sadistic son, and one particular scene involving Stewart's hand leaves you cringing for ages.

This was the last film that James Stewart did with director Anthony Mann, and I would now like to see his other efforts.