Rating: 
Summary: Tin Star
Review: Anthony Mann's THE TIN STAR was a little disappointing. Mann was an early expert in 'psychological' westerns and I guess this one fits that category. Henry Fonda plays bounty hunter Morg Hickman, a man with a past. Hickman rides into town with a bounty trophy and, this being a fairly civilized town, is shunned by the citizens. Doesn't seem to bother him much, though. While waiting for his bounty money to come through he becomes involved with a local widder and her young `un and helps set young and clumsy sheriff Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins) on the right track.
THE TIN STAR is a little light and domestic for Mann. A run-of-the-mill story with acceptable acting by all involved.
Rating:
Summary: Tin Star
Review: Anthony Mann's THE TIN STAR was a little disappointing. Mann was an early expert in 'psychological' westerns and I guess this one fits that category. Henry Fonda plays bounty hunter Morg Hickman, a man with a past. Hickman rides into town with a bounty trophy and, this being a fairly civilized town, is shunned by the citizens. Doesn't seem to bother him much, though. While waiting for his bounty money to come through he becomes involved with a local widder and her young 'un and helps set young and clumsy sheriff Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins) on the right track.
THE TIN STAR is a little light and domestic for Mann. A run-of-the-mill story with acceptable acting by all involved.
Rating: 
Summary: Short of a classic but well worthwhile
Review: As the story unfolds, a tough bounty hunter (Henry Fonda) brings in the body of a wanted man. "Dead or Alive", the "WANTED" poster states! He hangs around town to wait for his reward. It is quickly obvious that the young and callow local sheriff (Anthony Perkins) needs some mentoring. Slowly, albeit reluctantly, the older, wiser and far more cynical Fonda fills that role. It is revealed that Fonda was once idealistic young marshal himself. A feature of TS is 2 separate showdowns: In the first Fonda and Perkins force two bad guys out of a cave and bring them to justice- alive. One of them is veteran black hat Lee Van Cleef. Then the grown up Perkins stands down a lynch mob and insists on the proverbial "fair trial" for Van Cleef and his partner. If this review strikes the reader formulaic, TS is anything but. It is tightly directed by Anthony Mann, who helmed such great Jimmy Stewart oaters as, "Winchester 73" and "The Man From Laramie". Fonda's grit reminded this reviewer of his role as Wyatt Earp in "My Darling Clementine". And the unsupportive townspeople were just like those who walked away from marshal Gary Cooper in "High Noon". (Van Cleef played a heavy in that classic as well). All were shot in perfectly gloomy black and white. While TS hardly rises to the lofty levels of those icons, it remains a solid and highly recommended western. It merits a full 5 stars on its' own merits.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Western
Review: Ex-sheriff turned bounty hunter Henry Fonda teaches the lawman trade to rookie peace officer Anthony Perkins in an excellent, intelligent western. High marks go to both cast and direction. Fonda plays to perfection one of his trademark type of roles, the weary, reluctant hero. A fine film by any measure. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Western
Review: Ex-sheriff turned bounty hunter Henry Fonda teaches the lawman trade to rookie peace officer Anthony Perkins in an excellent, intelligent western. High marks go to both cast and direction. Fonda plays to perfection one of his trademark type of roles, the weary, reluctant hero. A fine film by any measure. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Very good but under-appreciated western.
Review: Henry Fonda was one of the greatest movie actors ever -- sometimes I think that he was THE greatest. Somehow Fonda managed to BE whomever he was playing, with no hint that he was acting, despite the wide variety of roles he played over his long career. In The Tin Star Fonda is superb as an embittered ex-sheriff turned bounty hunter who scoffs at naive but dedicated Anthony Perkins, the newly-appointed sheriff in a town to which Fonda has come to collect the reward for an outlaw he has killed. While waiting in town for his reward money to arrive, Fonda reluctantly mentors Perkins in the art of being an effective sheriff and staying alive while doing it. There is a subplot involving Fonda's developing relationship with a widow (played by Betsy Palmer) and her half-Indian son. Although there is action in The Tin Star, the movie is primarily about the relationships among the principal characters and how they change each other. This is a very good western -- indeed a very good movie -- in every respect. But Fonda's role makes it outstanding. Please don't pass up this under-appreciated classic now that it's available on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: THIS STAR SHINES MORE LIKE GOLD THAN TIN!
Review: Henry Fonda's career was never the same after "The Tin Star." Shedding the every man good guy persona that had made him so likeable on screen for so long, on this occasion Fonda's pretty cold, aloof and forboding as a lawman turned bounty hunter. Director, Anthony Mann's in-depth character study of the old west is made even more compelling by a startling performance from Anthony Perkins, as the too gentle for gunsmoke sheriff, to whom Fonda undertakes a shaping-up of.
THE TRANSFER: The VistaVision black-and-white picture elements are in reasonably good shape. Contrast and black levels are nicely balanced. Age related artifacts are present but do not distract. Digital anomalies are also present, but again, do not distract. The audio is mono but nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: Not on this disc!
BOTTOM LINE: "The Tin Star" is an above average western from a time when westerns were a dime a dozen. It's thoughtful and thought-provoking and well worth a second look on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: THIS STAR SHINES MORE LIKE GOLD THAN TIN!
Review: Henry Fonda's career was never the same after "The Tin Star." Shedding the every man good guy persona that had made him so likeable on screen for so long, on this occasion Fonda's pretty cold, aloof and forboding as a lawman turned bounty hunter. Director, Anthony Mann's in-depth character study of the old west is made even more compelling by a startling performance from Anthony Perkins, as the too gentle for gunsmoke sheriff, to whom Fonda undertakes a shaping-up of.
THE TRANSFER: The VistaVision black-and-white picture elements are in reasonably good shape. Contrast and black levels are nicely balanced. Age related artifacts are present but do not distract. Digital anomalies are also present, but again, do not distract. The audio is mono but nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: Not on this disc!
BOTTOM LINE: "The Tin Star" is an above average western from a time when westerns were a dime a dozen. It's thoughtful and thought-provoking and well worth a second look on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Great Plot
Review: I think this movie is one of the best Western Movies I have ever seen. Anthony Perkins was very great in his role and Henery Fonda played one heck of a hero! This movie wa son cable once and I was lucky to catch it, now I never see it on anymore....
Rating: 
Summary: The Tin Star: A Badge is What You Make of It
Review: In THE TIN STAR director Anthony Mann creates a western variation of the Grizzled Old Vet Teaching the Raw Rookie. This kind of film has built within it a pre-existing allure for the audience who will want to know if the rookie can learn what his mentor has to teach before crunch time. Henry Fonda is the veteran who used to be a sheriff before he turned to bounty hunting. Anthony Perkins is the green as grass newly appointed sheriff of a small western town who wants only to be good enough to be considered a permanent choice. In strolls Fonda looking for a bounty and what begins as a confrontation between established law and mercenary law soon morphs into a buddy movie. Each sees in the other either what he could be or what he once was. For a gunfighter movie, there is surprisingly little gunfighting. Most of the time, the audience gets a crash course in the finer points of being a peace officer. By the film's midpoint, Perkins wants to know why the Fonda character made the switch from a sanctioned badge to a hired gun. Fonda, as bounty hunter, tells a riveting tale of how a sheriff whom he once knew well (himself) needed money and had to catch a wanted man for the bounty only to find that when he was paid the money it was too late for the reward to be of any use. The charm of THE TIN STAR is that it shows a character-driven western, a type that was not used again until Clint Eastwood revived the genre in his pre-DIRTY HARRY days. Fonda and Perkins bounce off each other in all the right ways. In supporting roles, Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand, John McIntyre, and Betsy Palmer add their distinctive style to a beloved genre of the western. In the extended conversations between veteran and rookie, both learn that a badge has a value unconnected to its metallic composition. A true lawman will comport himself just as if the badge were pure gold. THE TIN STAR is a movie of pure gold.
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