[2] By the 1960s, Mann turned to large-scale filmmaking, directing the medieval epic El Cid (1961), starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964).

[5] Using the name "Anton Bundsmann", he appeared as an actor in The Dybbuk (1925) with an English translation by Henry Alsberg, The Little Clay Cart (1926), and The Squall (1926) by Jean Bart.

A five-minute silent clip of the latter show survives in the Museum of Television and Radio, including noted actors Norman Lloyd and George Coulouris.

[22] Upon its release, Herman Schoenfeld of Variety was dismissive of the film writing, "The dialog could have just as well have been written in baby talk, and Anton Mann's direction just wasn't.

"[25] Harrison's Reports was more complimentary, stating the film was a "fairly good program entertainment" with "colorful characters, human interest, fast action, and situations that hold one in suspense.

"[33] Mann moved to RKO to direct Two O'Clock Courage (1945), itself a remake of the 1936 film Two in the Dark,[34] with Tom Conway and Ann Rutherford in the leading roles.

According to Elmer Lincoln Irey, the film originated from a rejected offer to dramatize the U.S. Treasury's investigation of Al Capone on tax evasion charges.

[39] For the film, Mann specifically requested cinematographer John Alton, who was loaned out from Republic for the job,[40][41] marking T-Men as their first collaboration.

[32] A review in Variety positively wrote it was "a ripsnorting gangster meller, with enough gunplay, bumping off of characters and grim brutality to smack of pre-code days"; Mann's direction was noted as "being done skillfully".

He escapes from prison and goes on the run with two women, a nice social worker, Ann (Marsha Hunt), whom he takes as a hostage, and a femme fatale, Pat (Claire Trevor), who helped release him.

[44] The film review magazine Harrison's Reports wrote: "Fast-paced and packed with action, this gangster-type melodrama should go over pretty well with adult audiences, in spite of the fact that the plot is not always logical"; it also noted "Anthony Mann's taut direction has squeezed every bit of excitement and suspense out of the material at hand.

"[45] Variety noted: "Though a medium budgeter, [Raw Deal] is dressed tidily with a good production and some marquee weight furnished by" the cast.

[46] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, writing it is "a movie—and a pretty low-grade one, at that—in which sensations of fright and excitement are more diligently pursued than common sense.

[48] In February 1948, Mann was hired to direct a dramatization of the storming of the Bastille, with Richard Basehart to portray an aide to General Lafayette.

[49] With Walter Wanger preoccupied with Joan of Arc (1948), he handed off supervisory duties to production designer William Cameron Menzies.

[52] Border Incident (1949) was initially developed at Eagle-Lion, but in December 1948, MGM's Dore Schary purchased the script for $50,000 and hired Mann to direct the film.

[56] Mann and Rosenwald wrote another script titled Stakeout, which told of a police detective attempting to expose a corrupt political machine.

"[61] The film starred Robert Taylor, portraying a Shoshone native who faces prejudice after returning home in Medicine Bow, Wyoming following his decorated service in the American Civil War.

[66][67] At the invitation of Hal Wallis, Mann directed the Western The Furies (1950) at Paramount starring Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston.

The story told of bounty hunter Howard Kemp who wants to collect a $5,000 reward on an outlaw's head so he can buy back land lost to him during the American Civil War.

[79] In 1956, Mann was handed the script for Night Passage (1957) by Aaron Rosenberg, intending to reunite him with Stewart for a potential ninth collaboration.

[87] In August 1957, Mann announced he had acquired the film rights to Lion Feuchtwanger's novel This is the Hour, which told a fictionalized account of painter Francisco Goya.

Mann and producer Sidney Harmon had intended to film in Augusta, Georgia, but the novel's controversial subject matter heightened resistance from city leaders and local farmers.

When it was released, Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote the film was "good, lean, tough little Western" that was "[w]ell-acted and beautifully photographed in color and Cinema-Scope".

In November 1960, before filming was to begin, Loren was displeased with her dialogue in the script, and requested for blacklisted screenwriter Ben Barzman to rewrite it.

The project's genesis began when Mann, who had recently finished filming El Cid (1961), had spotted an Oxford concise edition of Edward Gibbon's six-volume series The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire near the front window at the Hatchards bookshop.

[117] In his memoir, Douglas accepted the role after receiving an unexpected phone call from Mann, fulfilling his earlier promise that he "owed" him a film.

[b] In 2006, Richard Corliss observed that Mann's antiheroes typically have a troubled past, leaving them jaded or cynical at the start of the film, and are presented with a path to redemption.

"[44] Mann and Stewart had a falling out during pre-production of Night Passage (1957), in which Gary Cooper assumed the lead role in Man of the West (1958).

"[137] Coursodon and Sauvage noted Mann incorporates landscapes as part of the narrative, writing "His camera is never too close to isolate, never too far to dwarf.