Anthony Mann took an aging genre, the western, and an aging star, James Stewart, and turned them both around in Winchester '73. This film began a partnership that lasted for several years and several marvelous, gritty films. Mann also populates this film (as well as his other westerns) with a fascinating array of players from the amazingly saucy Shelley Winters to the psychotic, giggling Dan Duryea, here giving Richard Widmark a run for his money!