Harry Carey in Hell Bent (1918) & The Shepherd of the Hills (1941): Part II of The Carey Family in the John Ford Western Universe

I never met Paddy (Patricia Nolan-Hall), but she mentored me from afar almost immediately after I joined the classic movie blogging ranks, with supportive comments on so many of my posts and on Twitter. (How is it that she had seen nearly every film I wrote about?😄) When the word came that she had passed, part of me couldn't imagine continuing my blog without her inspiration. Her loss was a profound one for so many of us, most of all her family, so I offer my condolences here.

Click on the image above to read all the posts
in honor of our friend Paddy. And check out Paddy's blog
at www.caftanwoman.com

I was delighted that Jacqueline of Another Old Movie Blog and Patty of Lady Eve's Reel Life decided to host a blogathon in her honor. At first, I struggled to identify a subject to write about. Then it came to me: it had to have a Western theme. On her Blogger profile, Paddy asserted, "John Ford is my religion." My idea then crystallized into a focus on Harry Carey. Why? A few years ago I wrote about the Carey family for a CMBA blogathon on movie history. While I was particularly proud of my post, I was embarrassed that I hadn't seen that she had written something very similar a few months earlier. I let her know how I felt, and she was most gracious, commenting, "Great minds think alike! I can't wait to read your post." 

I think of this post as a follow-up to my earlier post. Here I focus on Harry Carey Sr., and his far-reaching influence in film history, by reviewing two films he starred in: first, a recently-recovered silent film he made with John Ford: Hell Bent (1918), and second, a late-career film in which the father-son dynamics between Carey and Ford's protege, John Wayne, were on full display: The Shepherd of the Hills (1941).

Harry Carey in the 1920s

Harry Carey (1878-1947) was born Henry DeWitt Carey in the Bronx, the son of a judge on the New York Supreme Court. Young Carey was following his father's footsteps into the law when he got sidetracked by a stint on a ranch in Montana that dramatically altered his career path. He began to write and act in local plays and eventually met D.W. Griffith through an acting friend; soon he was back in New York working for Biograph in a brand new industry called motion pictures. After six years at Biograph, he hopped over to Universal and began a prolific association with young John "Jack" Ford.

In fact, according to Ford biographer Scott Eyman, Carey pressed Universal studio head Laemmle to let Ford direct him, as he was impressed with Ford's uncanny storytelling abilities. The two became fast friends, and Ford even lived with newlyweds Harry and Olive Carey acting out their fascination with all things Western, sleeping outside and such. Sixteen years Ford's senior, Carey did nearly as much directing on the 20+ films they made together as did Ford. And the two often collaborated on the scripts and experimented together during production. It's not an exaggeration to say Ford's matured into one of film history's top directors under Carey's mentorship.

Ford's first feature-length film was Straight Shooting (1917), which starred Carey as "Cheyenne Harry," a rugged, complex, but heroic cowboy character. This role was created by Carey and suited his significant acting range perfectly. It made Carey a star and a wealthy man, as story after story was written and filmed, especially with Ford, to create more and more complex and enjoyable films. Sadly, most of those were lost as were the majority of silents from those early days.

Hell Bent (1918)
This film was made in Ford and Carey's fertile collaborative period, and like a few others, was discovered in The Czech Republic as a nitrate print. Universal restored the film in 2019 and re-released it, with Kino Lorber publishing it on DVD/Blu-Ray format. 

In Hell Bent, Cheyenne Harry confronts a gang of murderous thieves in a small Western town who have abducted his love interest, who in turn has been betrayed by her own brother. With the help of Cimmaron Bill, Cheyenne Harry must do battle with them out in the desert to rescue her.

Carey and his leading lady, Neva Gerber.

Ford fans should watch the film to see Ford's signature style begin to emerge. What I noticed here that would be expanded in his top features of the 1940s and 1950s include expansive panoramic shots of stunning landscapes, and those through small enclosures: doors, windows, etc., to frame characters and action. There was an extended scene with Cheyenne Harry and his potential rival, Cimmaron Bill (Duke R. Lee) in which Harry takes his horse up the saloon stairs to the rental rooms to try to convince Bill to let him share the room. Bill is not amused when Harry's horse starts eating the straw out of his mattress! But over time, the two men become fast friends. It's an extended and comic scene reminiscent of the male-bonding scenes in Ford's "cavalry trilogy" of the late 1940s.

Life in small Western towns can get out of hand sometimes.

One of the first times Carey displays his characteristic
arm grab pose. In this moment he had just taken a bullet
 in the right arm!

Despite the pedestrian plot, I had great fun with this one as a result of the comic relief, the action scenes, and particularly Carey's nuanced and charismatic performance. His rugged features are just handsome enough, that despite him being nearly 40 years old, you believe that he wins the girl in the end. And unlike the other male characters, who rely on heavy makeup and facial contortions, Carey is natural. Watch the entire film here.

The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)

With the advent of talking pictures, Carey's age prevented him from taking on leading roles in top films, with the exception of Trader Horn (1931), but he continued his steady work headlining B Westerns at various "Poverty Row" studios. In the 1930s and 1940s, he occasionally snagged plum supporting parts, including that for which he garnered his only Oscar nod, as the Senate President in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). But perhaps more important during this time than his acting contributions to cinema was his relationship with an actor on the way up, John Wayne. 

According to Wayne's biographer Scott Eyman, Wayne looked up to Carey and his wife Olive as surrogate parents, with Carey Sr. as supportive and nurturing as his other father figure, John Ford, was strict and distant. Further, apparently, Olive Carey impressed upon Wayne the necessity to stick with what works for maximum career success. She said, "Be like Harry. Be John Wayne - be what people want you to be." From then on, Eyman said, Wayne gave up any notion of branching out to take on radically different roles and worked to adopt the central core personality to build a relationship with audiences, like Carey had done, that would last throughout a long career.

Perhaps appropriately, the first time that Wayne and Carey acted together was in this film, where they portrayed father and son. For that reason, I was particularly interested in watching it.

This film was an 'A' picture made by Paramount, directed by Henry Hathaway; it starred Wayne, fresh off the success of Stagecoach, contract player Betty Field, Carey, and featured well-known and loved supporting actors including Ward Bond, Beulah Bondi, Marjorie Main, and John Qualen. I had no idea it was the third film adaptation of a popular novel (Harold Bell Wright) about a family drama playing out in the 19th century Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Not exactly a Western, but with the rural, early 20th-century setting, stunning scenery, and struggle for land and dominance, it qualifies as a close cousin.

Residents of the Ozarks gather as a medical "miracle" 
is revealed.

Carey played the titular "shepherd": a stranger returning to his home in the Ozarks after being absent for the last 25 years. In the interim, his son Matt Matthews (Wayne) has sworn to kill his father (Carey, of course) because he blames him for leaving his mother to die at a young age. As a result, Carey must keep his identity secret, and he begins building relationships with the local moonshiners, by doing good deeds despite the hostility directed at him as a mysterious stranger looking to make changes to a long-abandoned homestead. He's befriended by young Sammy (Betty Field), who begins to act as his ambassador/daughter figure, and there are a few twists and a few tears before the closing credits.

Carey and Wayne in The Shepherd of the Hills

The film is beautifully filmed and the characters are all drawn somewhat eccentrically. Each actor inhabits their part and creates a forward momentum despite a somewhat sluggish script. Perpetually cranky New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther said this, which I just couldn't resist quoting: "With a beatific Technicolor smile and a mouthful of platitudes, "The Shepherd of the Hills" walked into the Paramount yesterday, busily shedding sweetness and light as he came. Never, since Harold Bell Wright first sent the shepherd back to Moanin' Meadow to face the curse of the Matthews has there lived a man whose mere presence was so benedictive, whose utterances were more suitable for framing as wall samplers, or who wore his halo more rigidly fixed."

Beulah Bondi (right) throws vitriol at Carey (left) while
a concerned Betty Field looks on.

But Crowther went on to praise Carey, saying, "Harry Carey as the shepherd is invariably more convincing than his material." I agree. The ratio of benefactor to tough guy in his character is about 75/25, about the inverse of Cheyenne Harry in Hell Bent. Both sides of his persona are convincing and natural. And despite his premature aging, clearly evident on the screen, he's magnetic. 

Carey bonds with Marjorie Main, her character blind from birth.

Carey with his broad grin.

Wayne is fine, too, but the real revelation for me is Massachusetts native Betty Field, who is spunky and delightful with her mountain-gal naiveté, and who realizes the kind stranger's true identity before anyone else does. She's a great foil to both Carey and Wayne, and her lines and her delivery seemed like she was reciting Shakespeare translated to Appalachian. I need to see more of her. The only film I'd seen her in before this one was The Great Gatsby (1949) with Alan Ladd, where she seemed miscast and wooden as Daisy Buchanan. 

I adored Betty Field in this film.

Bonus Tidbits

Watch John Wayne discuss his admiration for Harry Carey, and how he played tribute to him in one of his finest films with John Ford, 1956's The Searchers, in this clip from the series "Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film". 

Fun fact: The Shepherd of the Hills is a stage show perennially mounted in Branson, Missouri as a tourist attraction. If you're planning to be anywhere close to there, check it out!

And don't forget to check out all the posts honoring our virtual blogging friend. RIP, dear Paddy.

Selected Sources
Eyman, Scott, John Wayne, the Life and the Legend, Simon & Schuster, 2014.
Eyman, Scott, Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford, Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Kitses, Jim, Horizons West, The British Film Institute, 2004.

The Carey Family in the John Ford Western Universe

In 1947 Harry Carey Jr. had just finished his first picture with director John 'Uncle Jack' Ford.  He was hanging around the set when he saw a surprising sight -- his father's horse Sunny, and actor / stuntman Cliff Lyons dressed in his father's iconic black western attire.  Ford said to young Carey, "Go home, kid, you're not supposed to see this."  As Carey left the set to go home, he broke down in sobs.  This was the filming of the picture's dedication to the recently passed Harry Carey Senior. As shown after the opening credits of 3 GODFATHERS, with the tune 'Goodbye, Old Paint, I'm Leaving Cheyenne" playing in reference to Carey's iconic screen character 'Cheyenne Harry', I doubt there is a more elegant and meaningful torch passing from one generation to the next in film:

[This post celebrates the history of cinema as part of the 'Movie History Project' blogathon, hosted by Ruth of Silver Screenings, Aurora of Once Upon A Screen, and Fritzi of Movies Silently.  Check out their blogs from Aug 5-10th for a rich, diverse and entertaining look at Hollywood history.]

I was first introduced to Harry Carey Sr. by accident -- one of the 'extras' on the Criterion issue of STAGECOACH that I purchased was the silent film thought lost:  BUCKING BROADWAY, with John Ford directing Carey.  Initially thinking I wouldn't enjoy it, I couldn't turn away.  The combined genius of Ford, a director learning his craft, and Carey, who had as compelling, natural and nuanced screen presence as any of the silent greats, made it.  Sadly, of over 20 films they made together, there is only one other Ford-Carey silent film existing, STRAIGHT SHOOTING, their first feature.  As I learned more about Carey, I came to appreciate that there may not a John Ford as we know him today without him.  The intersection of the Carey family's lives and careers with that of Ford, is one of the fascinating and fruitful contribution to the Western film genre, spanning six decades of history.

Harry Carey Sr.

Young Olive Golden Carey

Henry DeWitt Carey II got his start far from the west -- he was born in Harlem, NY in 1878 into an upper middle class family.  He attended law school at NYU, but was kicked out for a prank involving female underwear (!).  He turned to acting and writing plays, and was hired by D.W. Griffith, and eventually by Carl Laemmle at Universal, where he spent several years making Westerns, which were very much in vogue in the early silent era.  According to Scott Eyman's Ford bio, in 1916 Carey met Ford at Universal, and was instantly impressed with his imagination and proficiency with the camera.  Ford was only 21.  Carey requested of Laemmle that Ford direct his next picture, and the collaboration was born.  Ford said of Carey at that time "Carey tutored me in those early years, sort of brought me along." They made 16 shorts together, with Carey starring as adventurous, somewhat dangerous, cowboy "Cheyenne Harry."  Carey often shared directing duties as well.  About this time actress Olive Golden, 18 years his junior, came into his life, and they married in 1916.  The newlyweds and Ford shared a small apartment initially, as their working relationship and friendship grew, and then fraternized in the Carey ranch in Newhall, California as Careys began to live a truly Western lifestyle.  According to Olive, many ideas for the Ford-Carey pictures were 'dreamed up around the wood stove in the kitchen' at Newhall.  As Olive was giving birth to Harry Carey Jr., the two got drunk on Mellwood brand whiskey waiting on the successful delivery.  (Later, Ford, when in one of his cantankerous moods, would call Jr."Mellwood").

Harry Carey with Harry Carey Jr.

Harry Carey's acting style was very natural -- in contrast to the more typical theatrical style of the early silent era.  His personality was tough, his looks rugged and dark.  But he projected a natural warmth and depth of emotion beneath that Ford tapped into. STRAIGHT SHOOTING showed Carey tormented over his potential role in dispatching the family of farmers who interfere with the ranching hegemony, and after some bloodshed, ultimately he changes sides and confronts the threat.

Carey in STRAIGHT SHOOTING with his iconic arm pose.

John Ford

He was a star, although a less popular one at the time compared with the likes of Tom Mix and William S. Hart.  A falling out with Ford around 1920 ended their professional collaboration.  The origins of the split seem to be buried forever; Carey Jr. said his father refused to talk about it, although he admitted in his later years his father would occasionally 'rant' about Ford's less admirable qualities.  Eyman references a potential issue about pay and equity, and mentioned that they did maintain an off-again/on-again friendship.  While Ford's star continued to rise, Carey's seemed to stagnate, and although he transitioned into the talking era well, his voice an authoritative deep baritone, he mainly starred in distinctly low-budget B westerns.  In a couple of those that I've seen, WAGON TRAIL and THE NIGHT RIDER, he adds interest and gravitas to the often melodramatic goings on.

Harry Carey Sr. in
MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

In bigger budget pictures, he won mostly secondary roles.  A notable exception was MGM's first 'on-location' blockbuster TRADER HORN (1931), where he plays the lead.  (I admit to not being able to watch this one, because of the reported rampant mistreatment of animals during filming). Olive Carey, who had taken a long break from acting to raise her two children, appeared in a small role, but only made $300 for her work in horrific conditions (Star Edwina Booth contracted malaria and nearly died).  Carey later won an Oscar for his small role as quietly supportive Senate President in the Frank Capra/James Stewart classic MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939).  Long-time friend and collaborator George Hively said about Carey "He was a warm, warm man. Remember the character he portrayed in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON? That was Harry Carey."

Harry Carey Jr.

Despite the continued friendship, Ford was not initially an encouraging influence on young Carey Jr., whose red hair earned him the lifelong nickname 'Dobe.'  Ironically the young man's first film appearance was with Howard Hawks, in the classic RED RIVER, a film in which Carey Sr. also had a small role near the end.  The two did not share a scene.

John Ford is best known today for his classic sound Westerns beginning with the 1939 Best Picture Oscar nominee STAGECOACH, which gave John Wayne his shot at stardom.  Ford told complex tales with breathtaking beauty, using stunning outdoor shots and well-drawn characters, emphasizing community, honor and heroism, often with healthy doses of humor. He used a group of actors he liked and trusted, referred to as the 'John Ford Stock Company' and did not give allegiance to any one studio.  He relished the independence often accorded him.  When Harry Carey died in 1947 of lung cancer and its complications, Ford, and also John Wayne, who had become an admirer and friend of the elder Carey, were both present.  Not too long before he died, Carey Jr., recalled, his father told him that Ford would only hire young Carey in a film after he died "..you will (work for Ford)...--not till after I croak-- but then you will.  You can bet on it."  Shortly thereafter came 3 GODFATHERS -- and sure enough, Jr. was offered a starring role, along with Wayne and Pedro Armendariz.  As a film it's not in Ford's top echelon, but it's stirring in its Christian allegorical themes, appropriate somehow for the film that signaled the passing of the acting baton from the father to the son.

That association with Ford, built on many years of family friendship and loyalty, cemented the Western career of the younger Carey.  He had initially hoped on being a singer, but that didn't turn out. (You can hear him sing in 3 GODFATHERS, a pleasant enough voice). While 'Dobe' worked in the same film genre as his father, he projected a starkly contrasting screen character. Carey Sr. was dark, Jr. was a very light red-head.  All boyish enthusiasm and naivete, he rarely stole a scene and was more or less content with his supporting roles.  He was fearful of Ford, who was well known for his eccentric and tyrannical ways on and off set, yet he grew to love him.  His memoir brims with humorous exploits with the Ford crew, including Wayne, friend Ben Johnson, Ward Bond, and the rest.  Despite working with young Carey on a few pictures, it took Ford time to trust his acting abilities, and for SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, he hired actor Arthur Shields to coach him, and ultimately help him get into the character of the secondary role he played.

Carey Jr. with Wayne in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949)

Carey Jr. did not only make Westerns with Ford -- he relished his roles in two non-Westerns, MISTER ROBERTS, with Henry Fonda, and THE LONG GRAY LINE, with Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara.  The last Ford film he appeared in he wasn't even credited -- it was CHEYENNE AUTUMN, and he and Ben Johnson were apparently paid mostly to ride their horses together on location at critical moments.  Both he and his mother Olive transitioned into television roles, often in the Western genre, and both lived into their early nineties.  Harry Carey Jr. died in December 2012, approximately 100 years after his father broke into the picture business.

In Ford's Western masterpiece from the 1950s, THE SEARCHERS, the entire Carey family had their time in the spotlight.  'Dobe' Carey was on hand again playing a young man from the village, Brad Jorgenson, who is full of hate for the Comanches who murdered his sweetheart.  His mom Mrs. Jorgenson is played by Olive Carey.  Harry Carey Sr. made an 'appearance' through the assistance of an old friend:  At the very end of the film, after John Wayne brings his lost niece home to the loving arms of Olive's 'Mrs. Jorgenson' and family, he was filled with emotion thinking of Harry Sr.  As Olive looked on off camera, in the famous shot framed in the dark doorway, Wayne reached over with his left arm and held his right above the elbow, in the way Harry Carey often did, in a poignant tribute, before walking slowly away.

The Carey family collaborations with Ford yielded among the best of the Western genre over 50 years in Hollywood.  Their legacy remains alive in that genre, which still is pertinent today.  As Robert Warshow wrote:  "The movies in which the Westerner played out his role preserve for us the pleasures of a complete and self-contained drama--and one which still effortlessly crosses the boundaries which divide our culture."

Many of Harry Carey Sr.'s  films are on Youtube, here's a few:
BUCKING BROADWAY
STRAIGHT SHOOTING
WAGON TRAIL
THE NIGHT RIDER

For further perspective on the Careys, check out this terrific post by blogger Caftan Woman.

References
(1) Carey, Harry Jr. Company of Heroes -- my Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company.  Taylor Publishing, 2013.
(2) Eyman, Scott, Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford, Simon & Schuster, 1999.
(3) Bogdanovich, Peter, 'Directed by John Ford', documentary from 1971.
(4) Kitses, Jim, Horizons West, British Film Institute Publishing, 2004.
(5) Warshow, Robert, "The Westerner" in The Immediate Experience, Harvard University Press, latest edition 2001.

Western Movie Summer Part 3: Two 'Border Westerns' from the 1950s

It's been about a month since I last posted an update from my 'Western Movie Summer', but despite that I've been watching as many Westerns as I possibly can squeeze in.  Following the general outline of the podcast course I'm well into in the 1950s now.  For this post I contrast two films from the beginning and end of that decade: John Ford's RIO GRANDE from 1950, and THEY CAME TO CORDURA, (1959) directed by Robert Rossen.  While having somewhat similar themes, the two films approach them very differently, and in many ways the first feels like a late 1940s film, while the second prefigures the more gritty 1960s.

RIO GRANDE

Any classic movie buff or Western fan will no doubt be intimate with much of John Ford's exceptional and award-winning directorial work.  His output is staggering: 146 films starting in the silent era through the mid 1960s.  While not exclusively focusing on Westerns, he viewed himself as a storyteller of that great American frontier:  "I'm John Ford. I make Westerns," he was quoted as saying.  RIO GRANDE falls near the middle of Ford's career and is the last of the now-dubbed 'Cavalry Trilogy', which also included SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON and FORT APACHE.

John Wayne sporting a mustache, with O'Hara

This one stars Ford favorite John Wayne as a Union Cavalry Fort commander in Texas near the Mexican border.  He must confront a threat of marauding Apaches who threaten the U.S. settlers from their base camp in Mexico.  He's told initially that he cannot take his troops across the border under any circumstances.  At the same time he must also deal with an estranged wife (Maureen O'Hara) who shows up looking for their son (Claude Jarman), who dropped out of West Point and has enlisted in his father's regiment to the dismay of both parents.  The film is in black and white, which apparently was not the choice of Ford, but Herbert Yates, head of Republic Pictures, nixed color photography.  The B&W is effective though, as it somewhat distances us and makes us feel the 'myth' of the west as opposed to the reality.  Ford's characteristic humor emerges often in this one, especially through Victor McLaglen's befuddled sergeant.  The romance engages us, and the first pairing of Wayne with statuesque, strong-willed beauty Maureen O'Hara would strike cinema gold.  The camaraderie among the troops, both enlisted and officers, feels natural with Ford's 'stock company' actors including Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. all acquitting themselves well.  With the beautiful photography and great action sequences, the film struck me as emblematic of the best output of the studio era:  although it doesn't question the social and political consensus, it presents a psychologically layered and complex character drama.

Gorgeous, strong Maureen O'Hara

Prof. Slotkin makes the case that the film projected a political/military view that in order to protect the world from communism, which was emerging as the next major threat, the U.S. government might have to break laws to take right action (e.g. in Korea).  In the film, the law broken here is 'crossing the border' into Mexico, which the film presents as ultimately the right thing, to save the children taken captive.  That Maureen O'Hara's character comes around to approving this action validates this view.  The other major theme Ford subtly tackles here is the familiar one -- the definition of manhood and passing the torch to the next generation.  We see this struggle in how Jarman's character tries to gain the approval of his father, and the difficulty Wayne has in accepting his son when he hasn't proven himself.  Well, ultimately Jarman does, by pulling an Apache arrow out of his father's chest; O'Hara comes around to her husband's world view, and all is reconciled to the man's view of heroism and right action.  

While Victor Young composed the score, the highlights for me were the songs interspersed through the movie, performed by the 'Sons of the Pioneers' western music group.  They were written into the script as a regimental troupe of musicians, and when they played, the action stopped and you were treated, along with the cast, to a gorgeous bit of musical history.  This added to the nostalgic tone of the film.  Check out this video clip of a key scene with the musical serenade:

THEY CAME TO CORDURA

Based on a 1958 novel by Glendon Swarthout, adaped by Ivan Moffat and director Rossen who had been blacklisted, this is a very different film.  First, I admit to watching this for Van Heflin, clearly a current obsession, but who elevates every film he's in. This one is no exception.  The star, though, is Western film hero Gary Cooper, near the end of his career.  He plays an army officer who had been disgraced because of actions seen to be cowardly, and must now earn his pay by identifying those soldiers whose bravery should earn them the Congressional Medal of Honor.  He's stationed with a Cavalry outfit in 1916 that is ordered to raid a hacienda in Mexico against a band of Pancho Villa's soldiers who are taking refuge there in their ongoing rebellion.  The hacienda is owned by none other than Rita Hayworth, here an American ex-pat on the 'wrong' side.  Ultimately, the battle is won, Hayworth's taken prisoner, and Cooper must remove several men along with Hayworth -- these men Cooper himself witnessed acting heroically, and will see that they escape from further harm to claim their award and thus be examples for all other fighting men.  He's required to get this disparate group, including Heflin, Tab Hunter, Dick York, Michael Callan, and Richard Conte, back to Cordura in the U.S., and the main part of the film is their difficult journey.

The film's theme after the opening titles

It's a film that isn't subtle about probing the concept of bravery, cowardice, and manhood.  In fact, contrary to RIO GRANDE, actions in battle against the enemy are not what define a man, but instead  how he treats his fellow humans in the ordinary struggles of life.  So here, each of the soldiers who appeared brave in battle are found to be vain, opportunistic, or criminal, and all treat Cooper with contempt.  Heflin's character, a sergeant, is a particularly nasty piece of work. After the group loses their horses to hostile native Americans, they find themselves lost in the desert, growing desperate as their food and water supplies dwindle.  In that literal and figurative cauldron, the moral drama plays out -- man against man, man against woman.  And, there is no question here about the legality of crossing the border to carry out a military action.

Rita Hayworth openly taunting her captors by pouring away liquor, as Cooper looks on

After a set-up similar to many Westerns of the era, with the portrayal of the men in the army outpost and then the raid on the hacienda, it quickly comes a different movie, an unrelentingly brutal one with just the main characters fighting the elements and each other.  Rita Hayworth sets aside her glamorous image, and while she's still beautiful, she has to fight throughout to retain her personal dignity.  Her strength matches Cooper's, who, overall stoic as usual, ultimately finds his inner hero.   The production was plagued with problems. Dick York suffered a back injury that limited his career.  Most scenes had to be re-shot due to a mid-filming unplanned location change. Heflin said it was the most physically demanding film work he'd done.  Yet, it marked a turn toward a less romanticized view of the western myth, and the U.S. military in particular.

The men find a source of water, only to find out it's contaminated.

Five Movies on an Island -- with my Dad

This is my entry in the "5 Movies on an Island" blogathon to celebrate "National Classic Movie Day" on May 16th, hosted by Classic Film & TV Cafe.

Everyone who knew him would agree with me that my Dad was a modern Renaissance man.  A Ph.D. scientist by practice, he loved and made a study of the arts and literature in his spare time. His primary love was classical music, especially opera, and he taught opera appreciation later in his life.  I was just starting to adore classic film when I lost Dad, but nevertheless, he also loved classic film, and I have fond memories of sharing some with him, starting from when I was a child through to the last year we had together.  May 16 is Dad's birthday, and this year he will be gone five years. This post is dedicated to him, and if I ever found myself on a desert island, I'd hope to have with me these five films, that he and I shared, to remember him.

Presented in the order I watched them with Dad, they are:
SCROOGE aka A Christmas Carol (1951)
This would perhaps be on my top ten favorite films list in any case.  Count me among those who believe Alastair Sim's portrayal of Scrooge is the best ever on film, because of his treating the character as a real person.  His deeply psychological portrait of a man who hates himself, and thus everyone around him, is compellingly nuanced.  The terrific supporting cast of Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, and Michael Hordern, and taught direction of Brian Desmond Hurst, contribute to making the film one that, in the words of Leonard Maltin, is too good to be viewed only at Christmas.  My earliest recollection of this film was when I was perhaps about 10 years old, and late on a winter's evening I tiptoed into our family room to see that my Dad was on his own watching this blurry, scratchy old B&W film on the TV.  "What's this?", I asked.  "It's 'A Christmas Carol' -- from the 50's, the best movie version", Dad replied.  I chuckled in disbelief -- "This??"  It looked so ancient and uninviting.  It must have been a very poor print.  I shook my head and walked away from the TV.  Decades later I want to tell my Dad that this film is a holiday ritual for me, and that of course, as usual, he was right.

FITZCARRALDO (1982)
I was in college and on summer break, staying with my parents in our family home, when Dad checked this film out of the video store and announced it was going to be our evening's entertainment.  When I asked him what the film was about, I knew immediately what his attraction was.  It was a story about a opera-loving man (Klaus Kinski) determined, against all odds, to build an opera house in the middle of the Amazon jungle, and to engage the eminent Enrico Caruso to sing there.  As directed by Werner Herzog, and produced in Germany, I recall it being a somewhat surrealistic journey, fraught with madness and danger, excitement and love.  I confess to not appreciating it those many years ago, but I saw my Dad smile as he watched.  It's now considered one of Herzog's best, and for me, with my new love of film, more than deserving of another viewing.  Having this on a desert island will give me more than enough time to plumb the depths of vision and meaning that Herzog brought to this tale.

THE SEARCHERS (1956)

THE SEARCHERS is a film that existed in my imagination for many years before I ever saw it.  As a teenager, I was fascinated with Buddy Holly and his music, and was familiar with the story that Buddy Holly & the Crickets' first big hit "That'll be the Day," was inspired by the phrase repeated often by John Wayne in this movie.  I hadn't heard any more about the film for many years since then, but in recent years I began to see it popping up in lists of the best films of all time, best westerns, etc.  [I was impressed --Buddy Holly and his friends had good taste in movies as well as music!]  In 2009, I decided to finally see it, prompted by a friend who was on a mission to see every film in the AFI's top 100.  I rented it, and decided to watch it one day when my parents were visiting me here in Boston.  Neither of them recalled seeing it, but thought that they might have when it first came out in theaters in 1956.  When the credits rolled, Mom, Dad, and I agreed we had seen something special--an epic performance by Wayne and a classic of storytelling, framing, and cinematography.  Knowing that my Dad appreciated seeing this as I did, made me feel like I had accomplished a mission in more ways than one. This film also has enough beauty and characterizations to make multiple desert-island viewings a great pleasure.

LA GRANDE ILLUSION (1937) -- Dad was the one who introduced this Jean Renoir film to me.  As he took advantage of his membership in the now defunct Blockbuster video mail order service, he came across this one and brought the DVD along on another trip to Boston.  I had not yet entered fully into my classic film obsession, but I remember being open to this film, as I'd heard of Erich von Stroheim, and was eager to see a war film from an earlier era; at the time, I had become a fan of WWII films and stories, being turned on to them by Clint Eastwood's filming of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA.  This B&W film grabbed me initially by the colorful characters portrayed by von Stroheim & Jean Gabin, the multiple languages spoken, and the poignant anti-war message camouflaged by humor and romance.  It is a film that should remind us in any era that we are all human, and most of all deserve respect from one another.  The film also started Dad on an appreciation of French cinema, an interest he explored in the last years of his life by taking a course from his local 'institute of learning in retirement' on films from Truffaut and Malle.

Buster Keaton -- the Shorts Collection.
I credit Buster with setting my feet solidly on the path to classic film obsession. On a lark, I'd brought a friend with me to a local screening of STEAMBOAT BILL JR with live music.  Shortly after that, I was exploring classic film starting with the silent comedians, Buster Keaton first, followed by Chaplin, watching everything they ever made.  One of my Christmas gifts that year was this multiple disc set from Kino.  As my parents and sister were visiting for the holidays, I 'subjected' them to watching these whenever we needed some down time.  To my great surprise, my Dad and sister both enjoyed them almost as much as I did.  Our favorites were probably COPS, ONE WEEK, and THE BALLOONATIC.  Once we finished a short, it was hard to keep from watching the next one.  I remember saying to my Dad, "Up for another?"  He replied, "Yes, they're addictive, aren't they?"

Over the last months of Dad's life he and I corresponded by phone and email about classic film, both of us watching and discussing some of the Truffaut and Malle films he was studying in his short course. I wish I'd have had more time to explore with him this mutual interest, but am tremendously grateful for the love of art and classics in general that Dad made it a priority to share with me.  Along with many other memories, these films will always be linked to his memory in my mind.