Lack of good storyline.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Blistering performances.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Though in many ways a traditional western, Levin's (Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1959) The Man From Colorado is also a psychological drama dealing with something as ever current as post traumatic stress. In a western there is almost bound to be a bad guy to stand against the good guy and it definitely makes for a more dramatic story that the two are good friends torn apart by the psychological destruction of one of them. No matter how bad decisions Owen makes, it is difficult to hate him, because Del never lets us forget that his friend is different and clearly affected by the war they have recently fought together. Both men does a good job, Holden (The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957) is so handsome he can only be the good guy, playing his part straight and as righteous while never loosing sympathy with his friend. No matter what happens, he fights till the end to try to do things right. Meanwhile Ford (3:10 to Yuma, 1957) is the one who truly impresses with his portray of a man looking quiet on the outside but who clearly has raving emotions stirring a chaos inside of him. Though he is aware he has become addicted to killing he finds himself unable to admit he has lost control or face the problem and part of the drama is to watch him slowly push himself further and further down. As the woman standing between the two men is a beautiful Drew (Isle of the Dead, 1945) convincingly going from carefree and happy to heartbreakingly realizing what's going on. The three of them make for an interesting watch that keeps you gripped until the dramatic ending.moviegeek.eu

Although it's a good-looking Technicolor western; this film attempts to explore the effect war has on one man, a colonel, (played by Glenn Ford) and those who fall foul of his obsessive behaviour. Although Ford is a bit one-note in his portrayal of an officer unhinged by power and blood-lust, it's interesting to see him play a nutter, while his friend, William Holden, is (for the most part) a bland good guy. I have a feeling that this western - one of the earliest with a "psychological" theme - wanted to say a lot more about the way people are deranged by the horrors of war, but it was probably constricted by the need to tell a box-office yarn. The direction is stolid; the colour is lavish, and there are some excellent confrontational scenes between Ford and the victims of his mania. Ellen Drew doesn't have much to do as the girl loved by both Ford and Holden. The ending is suitably melodramatic. It's just a shame we aren't able to see a little further into why Ford has turned into a monster; or the circumstances which have led him to his state. There's a bit too much of him twitching and glaring every time someone suggests he might be a bit loopy - we're always on the outside; if we were more on the inside it could have been a touching tragedy.

The end of the Civil War is nigh and one last pocket of Confederate resistance is holed up at Jacob's Gorge. Knowing their time is up they hoist the white flag in surrender. Union Colonel Owen Devereaux sees the white flag but orders the attack anyway. Returning home with his friend and colleague, Capt. Del Stewart, Devereaux grows ever more erratic by the day, his friends, his loves and all who cross him, are sure to pay if they can't rein in his madness.Starring Glenn Ford as Devereaux and William Holden as Stewart, directed by Henry Levin, The Man from Colorado, from a story by Borden Chase, is an intriguing psychological Western. The story follows the theme of a man ravaged by war and his inability to let go of the anger and mistrust gnawing away at him. Perfectly essayed by Ford as Devereaux {great to see him donning some bad guy boots}, the film is rather grim in context. Light on action {no bad thing here at all} it's with the dialogue driven characters that Levin's film really triumphs. Having both become lawmen, it would have been easy for all to just play out a standard oater as the two friends are driven apart by not only their different levels of sanity {Holden's Stewart is an excellent counter point to Ford's blood thirst}, but also the love of a good woman {Ellen Drew's petite Caroline Emmet}. But Chase's story has other elements to keep it from ever being formulaic. There's a deep political thread involving power and those entrusted with it, while the treatment of returning soldiers is firmly given prominence. Here the "boys" return after 3 years of being knee deep in blood and bone, to find that their claims are no longer valid. Snaffled by a greedy corporate type, thus as the "boys" look to the law for help?.....As a story I personally found this to be excellent, all I needed to seal the deal was to have some technical aspects to harness it. Thankfully it's joy of joy there as well because the Simi Valley location work is fabulous. I'm not overly familiar with William E. Snyder's cinematography work, but if this is a marker then I'd like to sample more. It's fair to say that even a "c" grade Western can look nice if given a good transfer, but when the Technicolor print is good, you can tell the difference big time, and this piece is first rate. The dusty orange and browns of the scenery fabulously envelopes the blue uniforms, while the green lamps are vivid and shine bright as if extra characters in the piece. Even Ford's greying temples have a classy sheen to them, almost belying his characters anger. All Western fans simply must hone into High Definition TV because although we always knew how fabulous these pictures looked, now it's another dimension of rewards unbound.As the finale comes in a blaze of fire {hello, hell!}, The Man from Colorado has achieved the two essential Western requirements if it wants to be taken seriously, one is that it looks gorgeous, the other is that it has strong thematics. And then some. 8/10

Colorado was a large, booming territory in 1865. It did not enter the union until eleven years later, and as the only new state to get admission in 1876 it has the right to remain our "Centennial" State (for the centennial of the Declaration of Independence). In the Civil War there were few engagements in Colorado, but one that did stick out was a massacre (there is no other way of putting it) of Indians by a Colonel Chivington at Sands Creek. Chivington's daughter had been raped by an Indian, and he took advantage of a relatively mild act of legal disobedience by the Indians to kill a good number of them."The Man From Colorado" is not dealing directly with the Sands Creek Massacre (no Indians are involved in the story). Instead, Chivington's character is transferred to Glenn Ford, who in the closing days of the Civil War perpetrates a similar atrocity, this time on surrendering Confederates. Ford and his friend William Holden have been through the whole war together, but Holden has managed to retain a sense of balance despite the horrors he has seen. Ford is on a slippery slope. Even after the atrocity he is still aware of his act of cruelty and writes in his diary about it. He can't control himself anymore.Unfortunately his war record stands him well with the richest men in the territory, especially Ray Collins. Collins has managed to get control of the claims that should be used to pay the ex-Union troops. He wants a strong man to be the Federal judge of Colorado territory. Who better than the no-nonsense Ford? So Ford gets the judicial position. Holden has lost his old girlfriend (Ellen Drew) to Ford, but he remains a friend. However he and Drew are increasingly aware of Ford's mental instability. So is everyone (except Ray Collins), as Ford keeps giving the most draconian decisions from the bench. In particular to his former soldiers, now fighting to get back their claims. This, of course leads to their becoming bandits. A vicious cycle, of course. Holden and Drew may be able to break it - Drew has seen Ford's diary.In the wake of World War II's returning men, and the many suffering psychological trauma, "The Man From Colorado" was a timely film. Ford never played a psychotic type as well as here. Holden (actually in a supporting role - before his burst into super stardom) is a great balance to Ford. Rains performs well as do most of the cast. And by the time the holocaust unleashed by Ford's appointment to the bench is finished, even Ray Collins wishes he never was dumb enough to put this man on the bench.