THE LAST HUNT

 

THE MOVIE (MGM, 1956)

DIRECTOR: Richard Brooks;  PRODUCER: Dore Schary;  WRITERS: screenplay by Richard Brooks based on novel by Milton Lott;  CINEMATOGRAPHER: Russell Harlan

CAST: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Lloyd Nolan, Debra Paget, Russ Tamblyn, Constance Ford, Joe Desantis, Ainslie Pryor, Ralph Moody, Fred Graham, Roy Barcroft, Steve Darell, Dale Van Sickel, Dan White, Henry Willis, Terry Wilson 

THE PLOT.

The year is 1882, somewhere in South Dakota.  An experienced buffalo hunter named Sandy McKenzie (Stewart Granger), who has tired of killing buffalo, is approached by Charlie Gilson (Robert Taylor), an inexperienced hunter, who nevertheless relishes killing buffalo, and, as it turns out, Indians.

A deal is worked out to go partners and they hire a one-legged skinner known as Woodfoot (Lloyd Nolan) and the half Irish, half Indian Jimmy O'Brien (Russ Tamblyn) to help him.

When Indians steal their horses, Charlie trails them and ambushes them in their camp.  He spares only two lives; a young Indian woman (Debra Paget) and her baby son.  He brings them to the hunters' camp.  Charlie hates Indians, but he intends to make the Indian "his woman."

Unfortunately, for Charlie, she and Sandy are attracted to each other, but they are afraid to let the ruthless Charlie know.  But the mutual attraction cannot be hidden.  Sandy had already been in the process of seeking a way to sever his ties with the sadistic Charlie, and his relationship with the Indian woman (who is never given a name) drives the two hunters even farther apart.

At the late date in which the film is set the buffalo had vanished in the southwest and much of the Great Plains, decimated by the hunters who killed them for their hides, leaving the carcasses to rot and be consumed by scavengers.

It was an ugly business that not only wiped out the herds but also transformed the lives of the native tribes that were heavily dependent on them for their livelihoods, forcing them against their will to live out their days on government reservations.

The film manages to show the viewer just how brutal the act of shooting buffalo must have been.  It does that by filming the annual "thinning out" of the protected herd in Custer State Park in South Dakota, giving viewers the most graphic scenes of a buffalo hunt to ever be filmed.

Sometime in the 70's I first read the novel the film's screenplay is based on, and shortly thereafter I viewed the movie on TV.  A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, but I never forgot the chilling climax to the film and it is still a vivid memory all these years later.  Recently, I reread the novel, and the story's conclusion was just as shocking to me as it was a half-century ago.  

However, I am not going to spoil the ending for future readers of the novel or viewers of the film.

THE STARS.

Robert Taylor, born Spangler Arlington Brugh in 1911 in Nebraska, died in 1969, at age fifty-eight.

He appeared in only one Western before 1950, and that was when he was miscast as the title character in BILLY THE KID (MGM, 1941).

Taylor was not believable in the role for several reasions, but especially since he was thirty-years old and was portraying an historical figure who died at twenty-one.

Furthermore, it doesn't help things that Billy is a good guy cleaning out the territory of bad guys and that Brian Donlevy, near the top of my list of actors who should never have been cast in a Western, is Taylor's co-star.

In the 50's, Taylor starred in six Westerns.  Fortunately, he and the films were great improvements over his debut Western.  THE LAST HUNT is one of the best -- and perhaps the best -- of the six. Taylor was cast against type in the film and the result is that he gave one of his best perfomances.

He starred in a couple more Westerns during the 60's, the last produced three years before his death.

Robert Taylor and Ricard Widmark in THE LAW AND JAKE WADE (MGM, 1958)

Stewart Granger, born James Lablache Stewart in London in 1913, died in 1993.  Since he needed to adopt a new screen name in order to avert confusion with James Stewart -- and he couldn't have very well chosen his middle name, he became Stewart Granger.

Granger was much more a swashbucker than a westerner, but he was quite good in the Westerns in which he appeared.

His only two Westerns made in the United States were THE LAST HUNT and GUN GLORY (MGM, 1957).  He did star in three Westerns made in Europe in which he portrayed Karl May's "Old Surehand."

In the 1970-71 TV season Granger, as Col. Alan MacKenzie (ironically), became the last owner of the Shiloh Ranch in The Virginian series.  However, the title was changed to Men of Shiloh.  James Drury and Doug McClure continued in their roles as The Virginian and Trampas, respectively, while Lee Majors was added to the cast.

As good as THE LAST HUNT is, it could have been even better if Taylor and Granger had been backed with better supporting actors.

Debra Paget, who had portrayed an Apache woman in BROKEN ARROW (Fox, 1950), portrayed a Sioux in THE LAST HUNT.

It wasn't that she was a bad actress, but that she just didn't look the part.  Anne Bancroft had been originally cast in the role in THE LAST HUNT, but was injured early in the filming when she fell off a horse.  As good an actress as Bancroft was, it would be just about as difficult to accept her in the role as it is Paget.

Lloyd Nolan, who was a good actor, is also on my list of actors who should never have been cast in Westerns.  He was much more at home on the streets in large cities than in the Dakota Badlands or the Black Hills.

Russ Tamblyn, in the role of Jimmy O'Brien, was even more miscast than Nolan or Paget.

THE DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER.

Richard Brooks was one of Hollywood's most respected and acclaimed directors and screenwriters, though many people, because of his bad boy reputation, didn't exactly relish the idea of working with him.

However, he was nominated for eight Academy Awards as either a director or screenwriter, but won only one, that being his screenplay for ELMER GANTRY (UA, 1960).

He directed only two Westerns after THE LAST HUNT: THE PROFESSIONALS (Columbia, 1966) and BITE THE BULLET (Columbia, 1975).

THE CINEMATOGRAPHER.

Russell Harlan began his career behind the camera when he served as Harry "Pop" Sherman's cinematographer on the Hopalong Cassidy B-Western series from 1937-1944.  He is one of the reasons that the series was the all-time best looking B-Western series ever filmed.

His first two A-Westerns were also for Harry Sherman, both starring Joel McCrea: RAMROD (UA, 1947) and FOUR FACES WEST (UA, 1948).  They are two highly entertaining middle-budget films, that are beautifully filmed by Harlan.

Then there was RED RIVER (UA, 1948), followed by THE LAST HUNT, and three years later, both RIO BRAVO (WB) and DAY OF THE OUTLAW (UA).

Of course, Harlan was busy during those years filming important and critically - acclaimed non-Westerns.  In a thirty year career, though he never won, he was nominated for six Academy Awards, including two in the same year in 1962: HATARI (Paramount) and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (Universal).

 The Director/Screenwriter

                The Cinematographer

                    

******

Reviews

"The film has a worthy message, teaching us the evils of bloodlust, indiscriminate hunting, Indian-hating, and lack of respect for the environment." -- Jeff Arnold, Jeff Arnold's West

"This one is admittedly clumsy -- the screenplay reduces Lott's complex novel to a slender simple yarn; the acting, except for the two leads, is poor; the movie is too slow.  But it is strong stuff and the ending is one you are not likely to forget. -- Brian Garfield, Western Films: A Complete Guide

"Harlan's low-key photgraphy captures beautifully the bleak tone of Brooks' script and direction." -- Phil Hardy, The Western

"The equating of Indian-hating with a lust for slaughter is morally good.  But it does seem to take Mr. Granger an awfully long time to get around to freezing out Mr. Taylor." -- Bosley Crowther, New York Times

******

The Book.

"I hope that no one makes the mistake of classing this book as a 'Western.'  It is about as far removed from the run-of-the-mill book of that variety as it is possible to get." -- W.R. Burnett, New York Times

The Last Hunt (1954) was Milton Lott's (1916-1996) debut novel.  Although he may have written more, only two other novels were published: Dance Back the Buffalo (1959) and Backtrack (1960).

Needless to say, Lott is remembered, if remembered at all, for THE LAST HUNT, a book that was nominated for both a Pulitzer and a National Book Award.

While the movie is set in South Dakota in order to take advantage of the buffalo herd in Custer State Park, the book is set in northwestern Montana.  Lott chose that location because by 1882, as earlier noted,  the buffalo in the southwest and much of the plains had been decimated. 

The Last Hunt is a landmark novel about that slaughter and the near extinction of the great herds.

It is a slow burn that may not satisfy readers who require a lot of action in their Westerns.  To be sure, there is action, but at first Lott uses flashbacks to flesh out his four main characters and even after that the story if very much character driven.

I don't know if Lott ever wrote poetry or painted landscapes, but if not, he nevertheless possessed the soul of a poet and the eye of a painter.

Since he grew up in the Snake Valley in Idaho, he was intimately acquainted with the setting of his novel and his lyrical descriptions allow one to picture the valleys, badlands, and mountains of Montana, even if one has never been there.

I have read only one other novel about buffalo huntng that can compete with The Last Hunt.  It is Butcher's Crossing, the only Western written by John Wiliams.  In its plot, characterizations, and psychological impact, it reminds me of The Last Hunt.  

What W.R. Burnett wrote about The Last Hunt is also true of Butcher's Crossing.  Both are examples of historical fiction that happens to be set in the West.  And I have to admit that it is a toss-up for me as to which is the better book.

******

Reviews

"A resolution of destinies against an enduring setting of mountains, plains, and valleys, and an encyclopedic sense of buffalo hunting, and its bloody, hoggish destruction ... with a bitter knowledge of the waste." -- Kirkus

"In one sense, THE LAST HUNT is a frontier morality play, a struggle between good (Sandy) and evil (Charley), two men engaged in the same deadly pursuit but with strikingly different attitudes about their professions." -- Edward Joseph Brawley, Chasing the Sun: A Reader's Guide to Novels Set in the American West

"[Lott] creates a sense of chronicle, channeling a series of events through geographical area, and he is solidly artistic in his depiction of landscape, atmosphere, and emotion." -- Christina Bold, Twentieth-Century Western Writers

THE END

BORDER PATROL (Sherman/UA, 1943)

What are the odds that the cast of a B-Western movie would include a future superstar, a future Cisco Kid, a future Superman, and a boss villain (the galoot wearing the suit and tie) portrayed by the former Pa Joad?  Well, as it turns out, the odds are great.  The film is BORDER PATROL. 

(L-R): William Boyd, Claudia Drake, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby

DIRECTOR: Lesley Selander; PRODUCER: Harry Sherman; WRITERS: screenplay by Michael Wilson based on characters created by Clarence E. Muhlford; CINEMATOGRAPHER: Russell Harlan

CAST: William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, Russell Simpson, Claudia Drake, George Reeves, Duncan Renaldo, Pierce Lyden, Bob Mitchum

Hoppy and Topper



HOPPY.
Producer Harry Sherman possessed the good luck, or great skill, that allowed him to receive financial backing from major studios for his independently produced Hopalong Cassidy B-Western series.  That backing was provided first by Paramount and later by United Artists.  The result was production values not usually found associated with B-Westerns.  The only series that came close were those produced and distributed by RKO, also one of the major studios.

Sherman's series also benefited from stellar casts headed by William Boyd as Hoppy; excellent photography (especially that provided by Russell Harlan, who at one point photographed forty-four in a row); and competent directors at the helm (Lesley Selander, for example, who directed twenty-eight of the sixty-six films in the series).

The Hoppy series, inaugurated in 1935, was the first so-called trio series.  It featured a strong down-to-earth figure (Hoppy), a younger sidekick to handle the romance angle and some of the more strenuous physical action, and an older sidekick to provide the humor. The partnership could be described as a stable big-brother; impetuous younger brother; and older, irascible uncle, who, unlike the other two with their fancy pistols, horses, and tack  was always armed with a plain old pistol and rode a plain old nag with a plain old saddle and bridle.  Such was the lot of the B-Western comedic sidekick. 

The success of the trio alignment would lead other producers and studios to attempt to repeat Sherman's success.  Some of the other series differed in that their trios had names: The Three Mesquiteers (Republic), The Range Busters (Monogram), The Rough Riders (Monogram), The Texas Rangers (PRC), The Frontier Marshals (PRC), and The Trail Blazers (Monogram).  In addition, there were numerous untitled trio series down through the years.

Only Republic's Mesquiteers and Monogram's Rough Riders came close to achieving Sherman's success in terms of quality or popularity.

The Three Mesquiteers underwent a number of cast changes over the years.  This combination starred Raymond Hatton on the left and Ray "Crash" Corrigan on the right along with the tall hombre in the middle who probably needs no introduction.

The Rough Riders (L-R): Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, Raymond Hatton

Like the other long-running trio series, The Three Mesquiteers (1936-43; fifty-one films), the Hoppy series (1935-48; sixty-six films) underwent many cast changes down through the years.  However, the Hoppy series differed from the other series in an important aspect.  While the other two trio members would change hands several times, William Boyd was always Hopalong Cassidy.

The original Hoppy trio (This is a poster for a re-release of an earlier film as indicated by the "presenter," that it is a "Goodwill Picture," and that George Hayes is billed as "Gabby."  He only became "Gabby"  after moving to Republic.

The early Hoppy films found Boyd supported by Jimmy Ellison, who, as Johnny Nelson, was perfect as the younger member of the trio.  Then after a couple of false starts, George Hayes settled in as a cantankerous old-timer named Windy Halliday.  It was in this role that Hayes perfected his "Gabby" persona that would serve him so well when he left the Hoppy films and rode over to Republic where he became the most popular sidekick in the business.

Another re-release

Over the years, others would follow Ellison in the sidekick role, beginning with Russell Hayden, which was okay.  Then things began to go downhill when Hayden was followed by Brad King, Jay Kirby, Jimmy Rogers (Will's son), and finally Rand Brooks.   

There was much less turnover in the casting of the old-timer.  When Hayes left for Republic, Andy Clyde took on the role after a few films and, as California Carlson, remained with the series until its conclusion.  He wasn't Gabby Hayes (who was?), but he was much better than many of the unfunny, buffoonish sidekicks that were foisted onto many a movie cowboy hero.

The three gents in the middle (L-R) are Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, William Boyd.  The gentleman in the suit is Russell Simpson.  The fellow standing on the far right pointing a pistol is Bob Mitchum. 

   
THE MOVIE.
BORDER PATROL is a typical Hoppy film, meaning that it is an entertaining B-Western that could be enjoyed by the juvenile crowd and yet have some qualities that could be enjoyed by an adult audience.  As always, the black-and-white location photography was easy on the eye and as was also typical there wasn't a lot of action until the last reel and then all hell broke loose in a flurry of gunfire and fisticuffs.

Boyd, Kirby, and Clyde are three Texas Rangers who are disarmed and taken hostage by a young Mexican senorita named Inez, (Claudia Drake) who accuses them of murder. (I know, I know.  How could that happen?  These are three Texas Rangers; she is one woman.)  She then takes them across the border into Mexico and brings them before the local commandant, LaBarca (Duncan Renaldo).  It is there that the Rangers learn that Mexican laborers are being recruited to cross the Rio Grande in order to work in the Silver Bullet Mine.  But there's a big problem; they are never heard from again.

One of the missing is Don Enrique Perez (George Reeves), the young woman's sweetheart.  He went to investigate the situation, but had never returned.  Neither Cassidy nor the commandant is able to convince her that the Rangers are innocent.  Nevertheless, they are released and make their way back across the border to see if they can discover the mysterious disappearance of the laborers.  She trails them to Silver Bullet City.

When the Rangers arrive, they are once again disarmed and taken hostage.  This time it is by the henchmen of one Orestes Krebs (Russell Simpson).  He is a Judge Roy Beanish fellow who is the mayor, sheriff, and judge of Silver Bullet City as well as the owner of the Silver Bullet Mine.  With the aid of a gang of cutthroats, he rules with an iron hand over his little kingdom.

One of the orneriest of the cutthroats is a fellow named Quinn, who is portrayed by a young actor billed as Bob Mitchum.  Mitchum was in a number of the Hoppy films, always a bad guy at the beginning, but by his fourth appearance appearing in more sympathetic roles.

Bad Bob

Of course, the Rangers eventually prevail.  In the climactic scenes, Hoppy plugs Quinn and rides down Krebs who is attempting to escape and, in a scene that no self-respecting B-Western would fail to include, jumps off the galloping Topper onto the back of Krebs' horse and then the two tumble down a slight, sandy, slope .  At the bottom of the slope, Hoppy knocks Krebs cold with a roundhouse haymaker.  It is amazing how many times such a soft landing is available for our heroes when they need it.

Everything is well that ends well and it always does when the Hoppy trio takes charge. The miners are liberated and Inez is reunited with Don Enrique

Russell Simpson was cast against type and he seemed to have a good time in this film.  Viewers were accustomed to seeing him in films such as THE GRAPES OF WRATH, in which he portrayed Pa Joad, a broken, brooding man who did not have much to say, or as a disapproving Mormon elder in WAGON MASTER.  In BORDER PATROL, he had a lot to say and in some ways his character was the best thing the film had going.

Duncan Renaldo, the future Cisco Kid, had a fairly long scene early in the film, but was not seen again.  George Reeves, like Mitchum, appeared in a number of the Hoppy films during this period.  Unlike Mitchum, he always played a sympathetic role.  In fact, when Kirby left the series, Reeves substituted as the young sidekick in a couple of films, before being replaced by Jimmy Rogers.  In BORDER PATROL, however, he doesn't show up on the screen until the final reel and only has a couple of lines, which he speaks with a bad Mexican accent. It would be almost another decade before his casting as Superman would make him a TV star.



Good George, Hoppy sidekick





Another Three Mesquiteers combo (L-R): Raymond Hatton, Robert Livingston, Duncan Renaldo. Sometimes the old timer didn't even get to ride a horse.

FOUR FACES WEST (Sherman/UA, 1948)

DIRECTOR: Alfred E. Green; PRODUCER: Harry Sherman;  WRITERS: screenplay by C. Graham Baker and Teddi Sherman;  adaptation by William and Milarde Brent; based upon Eugene Manlove Rhodes novel, Paso Por Aqui;  CINEMATOGRAPHY: Russell Harlan

CAST: Joel MCrea, Frances Dee, Charles Bickford, Joseph Calleia, William Conrad, Martin Garralaga, Raymond Largay, Dan White, Eva Novak, Sam Flint, Forrest Taylor, William Haade, Gene Roth, Paul Burns


THE PLOT.
On the day that Pat Garrett (Charles Bickford) is being introduced to the citizens of Santa Maria, a cowboy by the name of Ross McEwen (Joel McCrea) robs the bank, which is easy to accomplish because every bank employee but one is down the street listening to Garrett give a speech.  A polite outlaw, he first asks for a loan of two thousand dollars.  When Frenger (John Parrish), the banker, asks him for collateral he pulls his six-gun and declares it all the collateral he needs.  He then writes out an I.O.U. for the money and signs it "Jefferson Davis."

Later we learn that McEwen in desperation has resorted to robbery so that he can send the money to his father who is about to lose his ranch. 

He forces the banker to ride out of town with him.  Once they have traveled several miles he leaves the banker without a mount or his boots and forced to walk back to town.  After arriving in town and announcing the hold-up, the incensed banker places a reward of three thousand dollars, dead or alive, on the head of McEwen.  That amount of money leads to a frenzied manhunt all out of proportion to the crime committed and includes not only Garrett and his deputy Clint (Dan White), but also members of a deputized posse as well as free-lancing bounty hunters.

While making preparations to board a slow-moving train, McEwen is bitten by a rattlesnake.  In a weakened condition, it is only with the aid of Monte Marquez (Joseph Calleia) that he is able to board the train.  Luckily, one of the passengers on the train is a nurse, Fay Hollister (Frances Dee), and she is able to treat McEwen's snakebite.  Fay feels an immediate attraction to McEwen and  senses that he is in some kind of trouble.  The attraction is clearly reciprocal.

Eventually, Ross and Fay arrive in Alamogordo where Fay will be working in a hospital.  Alamogordo was also Monte's destination.  He owns a saloon in that town.  He has befriended Ross on their journey and has helped the outlaw out of several tough spots along the way.  Now he helps Ross get a job working on a nearby ranch.  Ross sends some of the money that he earns on the job (and gambling) to the bank in Santa Maria to pay off part of the I.O.U. that he gave the banker.  However, he is forced to flee when Garrett and his deputy ride into town.  But before leaving, he gives Fay a ring.

Ross says goodbye

As he makes his way southward in an effort to reach the border, McEwen resorts to an unusual mode of transportation to escape from his pursuers.  He saddles a steer and rides it across New Mexico's White Sands.  The scene is wonderfully filmed by Russell Harlan, who had worked with Sherman on the Hopalong Cassidy series, which was the best photographed B-Western films of them all, and also on Sherman's other post-Hoppy Western, RAMROD (Sherman/UA).  In fact, Harlan's photography is one of the best qualities found in all of Sherman's exceptional productions.  He would go on to an outstanding career as one of Hollywood's best cinematographers.

McEwen is on the verge of making his way across the border when he stops to steal a horse.  Inside the house, however, he discovers a Mexican family of four, all stricken with diphtheria.  Does he ride on and escape into Mexico?  Or does he stay and do what he can for the family?  

  
Well, the answer is obvious, isn't it?  This is Joel McCrea after all. During the hold-up, he writes an I.O.U. and gives it to the banker.  Later, he even begins to pay the money back. He doesn't even fire a shot in the entire movie, but does neither Pat Garrett nor anyone else.  In fact, that is the one thing the film is noted for: a Western in which there is not a single gunshot.  Weapons are pulled and aimed, but never fired.

Of course he stays.  Eventually he even lights a bonfire in an attempt to attract help.  It works.  But guess whom it attracts.  How does it all end?  Revealing that would spoil the story.


THE PRODUCER.
In the history of Western movies, Harry "Pop" Sherman (1884-1952) was one of the more interesting producers.  Throughout most of his career, he was able to produce independent films that were then released and distributed by major studios.

He is best known for creating the production company that in 1935 began filming the Hopalong Cassidy B-Western series.  During those years, however, he also produced a number of one-shot B-Western specials that were always entertaining.  In the mid-40's, he turned over production of the Hoppy series to its star, William Boyd, and ventured into A-Western territory.  He produced BUFFALO BILL (1944) for Fox.  What followed was even better, two superior Westerns made by his production company and released through United Artists: RAMROD (1947) and FOUR FACES WEST (1948).  The three films, all starring Joel McCrea, are the last films produced by Sherman.  All in all, it was quite a good track record.


THE WRITER.
The screenplay was based on a short novel by Eugene Manlove Rhodes that was originally published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1926.  Its title, Paso Por Aqui (I passed here), was a reference to an inscription on a huge sandstone formation located in New Mexico.  The Spaniards had named it El Morro (The Headland) and the Anglos christened it Inscription Rock.  Today it is a national monument.

The National Park Service finds itself in the somewhat ironic position of protecting the old inscriptions while attempting to prevent any modern additions.
 
As a result of his days as a cowboy and rancher, Rhodes had an intimate knowledge of this part of New Mexico.  Not only did he live there, but he is  buried there in the San Andres Mountains. 

The inscription on Rhodes gravestone reads "Paso por aqui"

Of course, the screenwriters, which included Harry Sherman's daughter, Teddi, took liberties with Rhodes' original story.  They modified the ending and added the romance angle.  There was a nurse in the original story, but there was no romantic attachment.  The screenplay also makes Pat Garrett something he was not, a U.S. marshal.  The real Garrett was a county sheriff as he was in Rhodes story.  Rhodes would have known that since he was personally acquainted with the lawman.

Pat Garrett

Eugene Manlove Rhodes

The title was changed, too. Monte explains the meaning of the paso por aqui inscription on El Morro to Ross and Fay, but it was not retained as the title.  It is impossible to explain the title that was selected.  I suppose the four faces are represented by Ross, Fay, Monte, and Pat Garrett.  However, the movement in the film is not toward the West, but always southward.


THE CAST. 
McCrea made his first film appearance in 1924 and was given his first lead role in THE SILVER HORDE (RKO, 1929), an outdoor adventure yarn set in Alaska.  For the next fifteen years, the versatile actor went on to star mostly in comedies and melodramas, but also an occasional Western.  But beginning with BUFFALO BILL in 1944, McCrea would star almost exclusively in Western films.

In a 1978 interview, McCrea was quoted as saying: "I liked doing comedies, but as I got older I was better suited to do Westerns. Because I think it becomes unattractive for an older fellow trying to look young, falling in love with attractive girls in those kinds of situations...Anyway, I always felt so much more comfortable in the Western. The minute I got a horse and a hat and a pair of boots on, I felt easier. I didn't feel like I was an actor anymore. I felt like I was the guy out there doing it."

 

Mr. and Mrs. Joel McCrea

Frances Dee and Joel McCrea were one of Hollywood's great romantic teams.  No, not because of the films they appeared in, but because they were married to each other for fifty-seven years.  They met during the filming of THE SILVER CORD in 1933.  They married that year and went on to appear together in three other films, with FOUR FACES WEST being the last one. Dee made her final film appearance in GYPSY COLT in 1954.  

McCrea died in 1990 on the date of the couples' fifty-seventh anniversary.  Dee lived another fourteen years, dying at age ninety-six.

Bickford and Dee

Charles Bickford was one of Hollywood's greatest supporting actors.  He received nominations for an Academy Award for his supporting roles in THE SONG OF BERNADETTE (1943), THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER (1947), and JOHNNY BELINDA (1948).  He gave strong performances in Western films such as DUEL IN THE SUN 1947), THE BIG COUNTRY (1958), and THE UNFORGIVEN (1960).  

In fact, his last film role was in a Western: A BIG HAND FOR A LITTLE LADY (1966).

He was at his peak as a supporting actor at the time that he appeared in FOUR FACES WEST.  In it, he is one of the screen's best Pat Garretts.    

Joseph Calleia was not Hispanic, though he was often cast as one.  He was born Giuseppe Maria Spurrin-Calleja on the island of Malta.  His other Western roles include THE BAD MAN OF BRIMSTONE (1937), MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (1940), WYOMING (1940), BRANDED (1951) and John Wayne's THE ALAMO (1960).

Joseph Calleia

*****
THE REVIEWS

Brian Garfield wrote in Western Films: A Complete Guide that FOUR FACES WEST is "a splendid example of what a low-budget Western can be; its excellence is such that it can make you feel as if you've never seen a Western before."

A reviewer with the New York Times wrote that "FOUR FACES WEST emerges not only as a surprising film, but as an adult and edifying film."

Both FOUR FACES WEST and Sherman's earlier film, RAMROD, received generally good reviews.  Today they are considered to be two of the best Westerns of their era.  Unfortunately, however, neither did well at the box office and Sherman never produced another film.

 

DAY OF THE OUTLAW (Security/UA, 1959)

 

DIRECTOR: Andre deToth; PRODUCER: Sidney Harmon; WRITER: Philip Yordan from novel by Lee E. Wells; CINEMATOGRAPHY: Russell Harlan

CAST: Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise, Alan Marshal, Venetia Stevenson, David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert, Frank DeKova, Lance Fuller, Elisha Cook, Jr., Dabbs Greer, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Helen Westcott, Donald Elson, Robert Cornthwaite, Michael McGreevey, George Ross, William Schallert, Arthur Space, Jack Woody, Paul Wexler

Is there any doubt what this poster is selling?  It was a case of false advertising since nothing remotely approaching this scene appeared in the film.  Maybe it was left over from the previous year's steamy GOD'S LITTLE ACRE, which also starred Ryan and Louise, and was made by the same production company that made DAY OF THE OUTLAW.

THE PLOT.
The film has three assets: 1). Robert Ryan; 2). Burl Ives; and 3). Russell Harlan.  Unfortunately, the plot isn't one of them.

The story begins as a conventional range land conflict between ranchers and homesteaders. There is, however, another complication.

Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan):  "I'm through being reasonable. I told Crane what would happen if he strung that wire."

Dan (Nehemiah Persoff):  "Blaise, we've pulled over some hard hills together, and I've rode behind you all the way. But a wire fence is a poor excuse to make a widow out of Crane's wife. What have you been thinking about all winter -- Crane's barb wire fence, or Crane's pretty wife, Helen?"

Helen Crane (Louise) is the woman that Starrett loved, but he let her get away.  And now she is married to Hal Crane (Marshal), the leader of the homesteaders.

 

Helen has just told Blaise that she no longer loves him.  I don't know if I believe her or not.  I know Blaise doesn't.

It could have been a Luke Short story, something like RIDE THE MAN DOWN, for example, one of the many range land conflict stories he wrote or maybe Ernest Haycox; MAN IN THE SADDLE comes to mind.  It is set in the aptly named village of Bitters, Wyoming.  Early on, rancher Blaise Starrett (Ryan) lectures the homesteaders about what he and his partner, Dan (Persoff), had to do twenty years earlier in order to make the valley a safe place to live in and how the homesteaders think that they can now move in, fence off the range, and take away what rightfully belongs to the cattlemen.

"You got a big mouth, farmer. You got big eyes, too. You came here a year ago in your broken down wagon looking for a choice spot to settle and you think you found it. But you never stopped to think what made it such a good place. When Dan and I came here, Bitters was a nesting place for every thief and killer in the territory. A man's life wasn't worth the price of a bullet. No woman was safe on the streets, let alone in a lonely farmhouse. It took more than a big mouth to get rid of the lice who infested every bend of the road you ride so safely on. I'm not saying Dan and I did it alone, but we did more than our share. We hunted them down in the freezing cold while you sat back in the East hugging your pot-bellied stove. Nobody thanked us. Nobody paid us. We did it because we felt we belonged. We earned the right to belong. And all you've done is ride in here and put down your stinking boots. And now you tell us that you belong and we don't. Mr. Crane, you said you'd fight to keep what you want. Well, I've been doing that for twenty years and I intend to keep doing it, and no pig-belly farmer is going to stop me!" -- Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan)

It is the kind of declaration that the rancher Ryker could have made in SHANE (Paramount, 1953).  In fact, he did.  Since that story was also about a rancher-homesteader conflict in Wyoming, DAY OF THE OUTLAW, up to this point, might have been written by Jack Schaefer.

Starrett confronts the homesteaders

However, the plot makes a complete turnaround at about the twenty-minute mark of this ninety-minute movie. 

It occurs when the showdown between Starrett and the homesteaders is interrupted by the appearance of a gang of seven outlaws (naturally; gangs nearly always consisted of seven members) led by a former army officer named Jack Bruhn (Ives).  

The gang is being pursued by the cavalry and is looking for a place to rest.  Only three members of the gang possess any redeeming qualities whatsoever.  The other four are unredeemable.  These four are not only looking for a place to rest, but are also seeking liquor and female companionship, probably in that order.

With the appearance of the outlaws, the rancher-homesteader conflict not only becomes secondary to the plot, it becomes completely meaningless and almost non-existent.  Suddenly, it becomes a conflict between the community (rancher and homesteaders) and a  band of murderous outlaws. 

Rancher Starrett finds himself in the same position that he was in twenty years ago.  He must once again find some means of ridding the community of forces that might very well destroy it.

Complicating matters is the fact that he must depend on the co-operation of Captain Bruhn in order to carry out his mission, for it is only the Captain's iron hand of discipline that keeps four of the band -- Tex (Lambert), Pace (Fuller), Denver (DeKova), and Vause (Wexler) -- from going on a murderous rampage and having their way with the four women in the town.  

Only the oldest gang member, Shorty (Woody), and the youngest, Gene (David Nelson), can be trusted to act in anything approaching a civil manner.  However, Captain Bruhn has been badly wounded and there is no medical doctor in the community, only a veterinarian (Greer) who is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the Captain survives.

three bad men (L - R): Tex (Jack Lambert), Captain Bruhn (Burl Ives) and Pace (Lance Fuller)

Despite the abrupt change in the storyline, which can be startling and somewhat disconcerting, this is still a conventional Western. It just happens to have two separate and distinct conventional plots -- one that accounts for the first twenty minutes and one that takes over for the remaining seventy minutes. In that sense, it is, of course, unconventional.

THE STARS. 
Robert Ryan broke into films in 1940, but it took almost a decade before anybody noticed. His breakthrough role came as an anti-Semitic soldier in CROSSFIRE (RKO, 1947). For his performance, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. It was his only nomination.

Under contract to RKO, Ryan appeared in a number of Westerns, primarily in supporting roles. Released a few months before CROSSFIRE was TRAIL STREET (RKO), which found Ryan as the bad man who attempts to prevent Bat Masterson's (Randolph Scott) efforts to tame Liberal, Kansas. A year later, in RETURN OF THE BAD MEN (RKO), U.S. marshal Scott takes on what seemed to be every desperado that ever rode the outlaw trail in the Old West. Ryan received second billing as "The Sundance Kid."

In 1949, RKO finally saw fit to cast Ryan in a starring role -- and it was a good one. THE SET-UP is one of the best films about professional boxing ever produced. In no small part, that was due to Ryan's performance as a washed-up fighter. Adding to the authenticity of the film was the fact that Ryan had been a champion boxer during his college years.

Ryan's first starring role in a Western occurred in BEST OF THE BADMEN (1951), the third RKO production to feature an all-star line-up of Western desperadoes. However, it was in supporting roles that Ryan seemed to do his best work in Westerns. Among the best examples are his villainous roles in THE NAKED SPUR (MGM, 1953) and, if we can count it as a Western, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (MGM, 1955). In 1956, he got to play a good Westerner, a lawman, in THE PROUD ONES (Fox).

After DAY OF THE OUTLAW (1959), he gave outstanding performances in a number of superior Westerns. The three that stand out are: THE PROFESSIONALS (Columbia, 1966), HOUR OF THE GUN (Mirisch/UA, 1967) and THE WILD BUNCH (WB, 1969).

Manohla Dargis wrote in the New York Times, "[Ryan] was known for his villains, and it is the complexity of these characters, their emotional and psychological kinks, that elevated even his lesser roles." I would say that sounds just about right.

Captain Bruhn and Blaise Starrett, adversaries or co-conspirators?  Gang member, Gene (David Nelson), is in the background.

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives gained prominence as a singer, specializing in folk ballads, before he became an actor. Moreover, even after he made it as an actor he continued to pursue a singing career that resulted in several hit records.
 
Four of Ives' first five screen roles were in Westerns. His debut was as a singing cowboy in SMOKY (Fox, 1946), followed by roles in GREEN GRASS OF WYOMING (Fox, 1948), STATION WEST (RKO, 1948), and SIERRA (UI, 1950).  For his role in THE BIG COUNTRY (UA, 1958), a big-budget Western directed by William Wyler, he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. It was the only nomination of his career. 

 In that same year he brought one of his defining roles to the big screen, one that he had originated on Broadway, that being "Big Daddy" Pollitt in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (MGM).

After DAY OF THE OUTLAW the following year, Ives appeared in only one other Western, THE MCMASTERS (1970).

At 6'1" and in the neighborhood of 300 lbs, Ives was an imposing physical presence and intimidating personality on the screen. And this is much in evidence in DAY OF THE OUTLAW. He and Ryan (and Russell Harlan) saved the film. Brian Garfield wrote in Western Films: A Complete Guide that "Ryan and Ives are utterly superb."

Tina Louise had been acting on TV for a couple of years and had appeared in a Broadway play when she made her movie debut in GOD'S LITTLE ACRE (Security/UA, 1958). The controversial movie was based on an even more controversial Erskine Caldwell novel that had been published twenty-five years earlier. It was controversial for both its sexual content and its sympathy for striking textile workers in the South during the Great Depression.
 
In the film, Louise was perfectly cast as Robert Ryan's sexy, sultry daughter-in-law. It was an auspicious beginning. She won a Golden Globe for "most promising newcomer" and it seemed that the sky was the limit for the red-haired, green-eyed beauty. However, something happened on the way to Gilligan's Island.

She was a very busy actress the following year, appearing in three films, all Westerns. First to be released was a contemporary Western, THE TRAP (Paramount), followed by THE HANGMAN (Paramount), and then DAY OF THE OUTLAW.

I've never seen THE TRAP, and though I have seen THE HANGMAN, I don't remember enough about it to pass judgment. But I believe that she was miscast in DAY OF THE OUTLAW, and her performance indicates that she may have known that, too. There is no way that she is believable as a homesteader's wife. She appeared to be far too glamorous to have spent the preceding year on a homestead. At any rate, once the film's plot abruptly changed her role was greatly diminished.

After such a promising start as a serious actress, and with her movie career stalled, she became a pop culture icon on one of the silliest sitcoms ever to see the light of day. As movie star Ginger Grant, she became a household name as one of the people stranded on Gilligan's Island. However, not only was Ginger Grant, fictional movie star, stranded on the island, so was Tina Louise, actress. She would never again be taken seriously as an actress.
 

THE SUPPORTING CAST.
Alan Marshal (one l), as Hal Crane the leader of the home-steaders, is even more miscast than Tina Louise. He doesn't look like a homesteader; he doesn't sound like a homesteader; and he certainly doesn't dress like a homesteader. He could have been a banker, but never a farmer.

Venetia Stevenson is the town's youngest female. She is attracted to Gene, the youngest and most decent member of the outlaw gang, who is portrayed by David Nelson. The attraction is mutual. The couple is attractive. Unfortunately, neither was much of an actor despite the fact that both grew up in show business families. 

Nelson, of course, was a featured member of the TV cast in the long-running (fifteen years) sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, in which he co-starred with his father, mother, and brother. However, I never thought he, or brother Ricky, ever looked comfortable in front of the camera. (The same year that David was in DAY OF THE OUTLAW, Ricky had an important role in a bigger budget, more prestigious Western: RIO BRAVO (WB, 1959). But neither film did anything for either brother's acting career.)

David Nelson and Venetia Stevenson

Two very good actors, Nehemiah Persoff and Elisha Cook, are wasted in the film. Persoff even got special billing in the opening credits ('and as Dan, Nehemiah Persoff'). He doesn't have much to do during the rancher v. homesteader portion of the film and nothing once the outlaws appear on the scene. Cook was even more wasted. He hardly makes an appearance and has practically no dialogue. Maybe his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.

Jack Lambert, one of those veteran characters with a familiar face that people have a time putting a name to, gives the best and most believable performance of any of the supporting players. With a face that only a mother could love, Lambert, as the lowdown, meanest of a lowdown, mean bunch, gives what is perhaps the best performance of his career.

Tex (Lambert) has designs on Helen (Louise).  Only Captain Bruhn's (Ives) iron hand of discipline (holding a gun) prevents him from exercising them.

 

BEHIND THE CAMERA.
In the late '40's, writer Philip Yordan and producer Sidney Harmon created a film production company which they named Security Pictures.  Yordan usually provided the scripts for their films while Harmon was the producer of record.  However, Yordan was nearly always involved as a producer as well, but in an uncredited capacity.  

In the '50's the duo produced three movies starring Robert Ryan.  The first was MEN IN WAR (1957), a Korean War drama directed by Anthony Mann that co-starred Aldo Ray, with Nehemiah Persoff in a supporting role.  Ben Maddow, who had been blacklisted during the communist witch-hunt, wrote the script.  The writer of record was Philip Yordan, who fronted for Maddow on more than one occasion.  GOD'S LITTLE ACRE (1958), also directed by Mann, once again featured Aldo Ray in a co-starring role, and, as earlier mentioned, provided Tina Louise with her screen debut.  Maddow wrote this script as well, with Yordan fronting and receiving the credit.

DAY OF THE OUTLAW was the third Security production with Robert Ryan in the lead role.

This time Yordan wrote the screenplay.  Unfortunately, it isn't nearly as good as the Maddow scripts in the other two films.  That is not to say that Yordan wasn't a talented writer.  He was nominated for Academy Awards on three occasions, wining one award.  His first nomination was for his screenplay for DILLINGER (King/Monogram, 1945), followed by a nomination for best screenplay for DETECTIVE STORY (Paramount, 1951).  He won the award for best story for BROKEN LANCE (Fox, 1954).

Andre deToth, the one-eyed native of Hungary, was best known for his direction of the  horror classic, HOUSE OF WAX (WB, 1953), which most critics consider to be the best 3-D movie ever produced.  Ironically, because of his lack of depth perception, the director was never able to enjoy the result of his efforts.  But he also directed Westerns.

RAMROD (Paramount, 1947), starring Joel McCrea and deToth's wife at the time, Veronica Lake, brought the director his first good critical reviews. 

In the early '50's, Randolph Scott starred in twelve Westerns.  DeToth directed half of them.  They were not the best Scott vehicles ever produced, but neither were they the worst either.  For the most part, they were enjoyable films. My personal favorite in the group is the initial film, MAN IN THE SADDLE (Columbia, 1951).  

DAY OF THE OUTLAW was his final Western and one of his last feature films.  It was not a bad finish.

Russell Harlan began his career as a cinematographer in 1937 working for producer Harry "Pop" Sherman on the Hopalong Cassidy B-Westerns.  B-Westerns they may have been, and there may have been better ones, but none were as beautifully photographed as this series.  Harlan collaborated with director Lesley Selander on more than thirty films, most of them in the Hoppy series. 

When Sherman sold the Hoppy enterprise to the series star, William Boyd, and went out of the B-Western business, he set about to film two Westerns, both starring Joel McCrea.  The first was the aforementioned RAMROD.  A year later Sherman produced FOUR FACES WEST (UA), co-starring Charles Bickford and Frances Dee (Mrs. Joel McCrea).  Both are extremely well made and enjoyable little films that some (including yours truly) consider to be classics.  Both benefit from the excellent black-and-white photography provided by Russell Harlan.

Though he never won, he was nominated six times for an Academy Award -- once for two films in the same year:

THE BIG SKY (RKO, 1952), directed by Howard Hawks
BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (MGM, 1956)
HATARI! (Paramount, 1962), directed by Howard Hawks
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (UI, 1962)
THE GREAT RACE (WB, 1965)
HAWAII (Mirisch/UA, 1966)  

Among his other notable films are two other Westerns directed by Howard Hawks:
RED RIVER (UA, 1948)
RIO BRAVO (WB,1959)

DAY OF THE OUTLAW supposedly takes place in Wyoming, but was filmed in the mountains of Oregon.  Not only that, it was filmed in late November and early December and that meant snow -- a lot of snow -- which was an important element of the plot.  In fact, without the snow the story would have had to be rewritten.

Harlan's black-and-white photography took full advantage of the snow, the snow-capped mountains, the bleak, overcast weather, and the authentically designed town set.  Here are some examples:

    

       

DAY OF THE OUTLAW will never be considered a classic Western, but the performances of Ryan and Ives and Harlan's photography make it worthwhile viewing.


 

the writer

         

the director

 

the cinematographer

    

 







     






There are black-and-white and colorized versions of DAY OF THE OUTLAW on YouTube.  However, I would recommend the original black-and-white in order to appreciate Harlan's expert photography.