Westerns

[JackFavell]

I liked her in Jubal quite a lot. I mean the actress, not the character.

[movieman1957]

San Antonio may be Errol Flynn's weakest western. Costarring Alexis Smith it has a average plot about bad guy (Paul Kelly) making a habit of rustling Flynn's and some other's cattle and shipping them off and selling them as his own. Flynn has the proof and to his own peril comes back to San Antonio to put him away.

Meanwhile, things move from interesting to dull as we go. As long as they stay with the plot it's a decent film. Every now and then Alexis Smith and S. Z. Zakall get in the way. She helps propel the plot some but the movie would have been well served to have about 20 minutes cut out.

Flynn is his usual wonderful easy going self. No one else is as good. There is a pretty good climax with some fine stunts and falls. Some look pretty painful. Overall no great shakes but should be enjoyed by Flynn fans.

[mrsl]

.
I certainly agree with you. I don't know how many times I've tuned in to watch it before realizing I've seen it before, it leaves no lasting impressions. Alexis Smith was lovely but except for Night and Day with Cary Grant, she always seemed to be mis-cast, as in this instance. She just doesn't seem to fit in the Old West.
.

[Vienna]

I like Alexis Smith in South of St LOUIS ( with Joel McCrea). She plays a character called ' Rouge de Lisle' !)

[JackFavell]

I like Alexis very much in Woman in White.

[CineMaven]

She was lovely.



I know it's all about the roles, the scripts, the agents, the studios...one's talent. But I wonder how much further Alexis Smith would have gone if she had worn her hair down more, rather than always in that ever austere upsweep.

[movieman1957]

In following some discussion about "3:10 To Yuma" this summer I showed it to a couple of friends last night. Watching them reminded me that there are some very funny lines in the picture. Some of the best are when Heflin and Ford are being "smart" with each other at the hotel.

I guess they liked it. We didn't talk much about it though. We all play in the band at church and our discussion quickly turned to music and the business of the band.

It's one of my favorites.

[JackFavell]

The more westerns I see, the better 3:10 to Yuma gets. And it impressed me greatly when I first saw it. It's totally unlike any other western, it has a voice all it's own. I think what I like best about it is the absolutely modern viewpoint it has, without proclaiming it's importance in any way. It could be a foreign film for all the import of it's themes, and yet it's just a very unassuming movie. It's almost like a modern novel in it's scope and thoughts, rather than a western.

I watched Rawhide and realized I'd already seen it before, just didn't remember the title. I really like this western with Ty Power and Susan Hayward, it's got that crisp black and white look and lovely direction by Henry Hathaway. Mike recently said he felt that Gable was so strong in a film he thought he might beat the hell out of the leading man...well, this is a bit how I feel about Hugh Marlowe as the lead villain here. He's a good actor, but it amazes me how long it takes Jack Elam to turn on him. His indecision would work much better were he a strong but throughtful, charismatic man, like Charles Bickford or Mitchum, or John McIntire perhaps. I like his braininess and slight indecision, kind of a precursor to Richard Boone in The Tall T. I can't help but think he's a little too 'city' for this role. But in the end, it works.

[Rita Hayworth]

The more westerns I see, the better 3:10 to Yuma gets. And it impressed me greatly when I first saw it. It's totally unlike any other western, it has a voice all it's own. I think what I like best about it is the absolutely modern viewpoint it has, without proclaiming it's importance in any way. It could be a foreign film for all the import of it's themes, and yet it's just a very unassuming movie. It's almost like a modern novel in it's scope and thoughts, rather than a western.

I was thinking about the same thing - almost like a modern novel than a western! ... I like your thinking here!

[movieman1957]

When I described "3:10" to my friends I told them it wasn't a western in the traditional sense. It was a character study. It was about mind games. In a sense there were more than Ford/Heflin. There were emotional struggles between Heflin and his wife. When she comes to get him near the end they are carrying on, for a bit, two conversations. She is apologizing for "forcing" him into this situation and he's talking about the rain. But that is his way to calm her, to take the burden off of it all. That only lasts for a minute though.

Wendy, your thought about the modern viewpoint is brought out with the two sexual references in the picture. When Ford and Farr come out pf the back room and you know what went on you find out that even though they were in the same place before they really didn't know each other. It seems quite surprising that with the morals of the day (the 50's or late 1800's) the idea that she would go to bed with him seems very modern. Later Ford ponders how many brides lost their innocence on the bed where he is being held. You might even consider his bouncing on it as pondering it's viability for an encounter.

The ending may be the only part that gives in to the traditional aspect of films.

(I noticed for the first time that at least part of Contention City is the same set used in Randolph Scott's "Buchanan Rides Alone.")

[RedRiver]

a voice all it's own. I think what I like best about it is the absolutely modern viewpoint it has

We can thank Mr. Elmore Leonard for that, rest his recently departed soul! Leonard is not my favorite writer, but he's nothing if not unique. HOMBRE is another one of his westerns. I don't know if it has the distinct voice of "Yuma," but it's just as good, if not better. A double feature would appeal to fans of the author.

RAWHIDE is a sharp, tense little drama, visually told. It reminds me, in that regard, of William Wellman's YELLOW SKY. Neither are among my very, VERY favorite westerns. But both are exciting, unpredictable and precisely filmed.

[JackFavell]

Gosh, you are really good, Chris! i think you are spot on about those encounters, and the conversational parts of the film in general have a feeling that I don't get in any other western. To me, it's all about what it is to be a man, and how to live one's life. These kinds of discussions are actually only glimpsed in a few post -war movies, like for instance, The Hucksters, which I never till this moment thought about in conjunction with 3:10 to Yuma. In both, a man has to decide whether to keep to his principles about work and money, even though every influence on him says he should not. That post war era brought about some heavy thinking on the part of a very few movie writers.

I never notice the backgrounds too much, I would have never realized it was the same as Buchanan Rides Alone.

[movieman1957]

Hombre could be another interesting discussion. One difference for me is it certainly is a more brutal film. I don;t remember much, if any, humor. I do think there are deeper issues at work As a bonus there is Richard Boone.

I found it hard to "like" anyone but I think that adds to its tension and, I think, quality.

[JackFavell]

I'm sorry red, I didn't see your wonderful post before I replied to Chris. I suspected the writer was someone of Leonard's stature, but I wasn't sure! It's a really different film, that's for sure. I like the direction it takes, kind of faking you out, making you sympathize with Ford because he's charming, then yanking you back to realize how important it is that Heflin stands his ground. I kind of like being played that way, as an audience.

I agree very much about Rawhide, in fact, it almost looks like that Wellman film, the deep contrast black and white, and slightly bleak surroundings with real wind blowing and dirt and dust. Milton Krasner was the cinematographer, and though he didn't do a lot of westerns, he certainly did a lot of movies with distinctive looks, like Portrait of Jennie, Bus Stop, The Dark Mirror, and The Set-Up.

[RedRiver]

Van Heflin was a great one for standing his ground. Almost the epitome of stalwart! In SHANE, it's Joe Starrett who displays unwavering principle. He insists on paying for the damage done to the saloon in the brawl with the cowhands. The only way Shane can keep him from meeting the gunfighter is to knock him out. To do that, Shane must "cheat" and hit him with his gun. He's no match for the hard laboring rancher in a fair fight.