Rancho Notorious (1952)

I watched this Western with Arthur Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, and Mel Ferrer, and directed by Fritz Lang, on Amazon prime... and um... wow.  That's not necessarily a good wow.  More like, what did I just watch?  Ranch Notorious is a very strange viewing experience.

This is movie that doesn't quite know what it wants to be.  It has a good cast saddled with a standard revenge plot, but with some other character arcs and settings that should have elevated it.  This should have been a good movie... and it is just a head-shaker instead.

Let's start with the opening title song. I'm afraid it doesn't stand up to time's passage.  It is cheesy and silly.  It would be okay if it were just a theme song, but it turns out that this song continues throughout... it's not just a theme song, the singer ends up being a narrator who moves the plot along.  Silence would have been better.  It's just jarring.

But then the movie gets serious, and we meet Arthur Kennedy's character Vern and his fiancee. They share a nice happy moment.  But he heads out and two robbers arrive in town.  One fancies the fiancee... and yeah, that ends in the worse way possible.  Vern swears revenge and takes off to find the men.  Annnnd, the narrating singer is back.  And then, as Vern keeps searching for the murderer of the love of his life, he keeps meeting people who tell him stories about Marlene Dietrich's character, Altar Keane (!).  Now there's a name for you!  It is very clunky storytelling.  Worse because some of the flashbacks show stuff the teller isn't there to see.

Finally, Vern meets up with Frenchy (Mel Ferrer).  Vern's desperate enough to break the law to get to meet Frenchy, so Frenchy can lead him to Altar Keane, where he hopes to find info about the murderer.  We finally meet Marlene Dietrich in real time.  She runs a safe house for outlaws.  They give her ten percent of whatever illicit gains they've made, and she provides sanctuary.  Now, this is quite a fascinating setup.  This is cool.  Particularly as the murderer is indeed there, taking advantage of the safe house.  All these characters thrown together... this part should shine.  It doesn't.  It falls weirdly flat.  I think we just don't know enough about the characters to care about them, so all this promising stuff goes nowhere.

So, this was a movie full of potential that just sort of comes apart at the seams.  I watched this mostly because Arthur Kennedy was in it, but sadly, not even he can save this one.

This has been an entry for the Legends of Western Cinema Week, hosted by Heidi at Along the Brandywine, Hamlette at Hamlette's Solioquy, and Olivia at Meanwhile in Rivendell.  Check here for the master post.  Lots of good posts listed here if you love Westerns!

Air Force (1943)

Still on an Arthur Kennedy kick, so watched Air Force. It's a film about the crew of a B-17, sent to Hawaii on the eve of Pearl Harbor, and then on to Wake Island and the Philippines. It's a good, serviceable film, but nothing particularly special or memorable, but definitely worth a watch. Some really nice aerial footage. I've always been fond of B-17s, and so spending time in one in a movie is never a bad thing. I like that we get to see the different stations on the plane, what the crew does while they're just cruising along trying to get somewhere, the necessity for the crew to function as a complete team in order for the plane to function.

There isn't much plot to this one. We're mostly just along for the ride with the crew as they stop at the famous battles, and then finally get to engage in one of their own. There's a few routine subplots -- the soldier (John Garfield) with a chip on his shoulder whose enlistment is up, who naturally stays in after war breaks out. He also flunked out of pilot school, but still gets to use those skills to save the plane. There's a pursuit plane pilot (James Brown) who complains mightily about those clunky big B-17s -- and then naturally ends up joining the crew and changing his tune. There's the old-timer (Harry Carey) whose son in Manila dies in combat (one of the truly sad and effective moments in this film). There's a cute dog named Tripoli the marines at Wake Island pass off to the B-17 crew, knowing they're going to get wiped out.

Not nearly enough Arthur Kennedy to suit me, but the other characters were interesting enough to keep me paying attention.

They Died With Their Boots On (1941)

I'd never seen this movie before. Watched it back in September and never had time to post about it. I think it's great that since I've seen it, several other posts on it have popped up! I love the timing!

And I really loved this movie. I rented this one primarily for Arthur Kennedy, but was not disappointed in anything else about it. In fact, everything about it surpassed my expectations. The supporting actors were all top notch. Errol Flynn made a great romantic screen Custer. Olivia de Havilland could not possibly be more beautiful. I have to admit, I haven't seen many of her films, mostly just the Errol Flynn/de Havilland combos and, of course, Gone With the Wind. She's wonderful in every one of them, but for some reason, her performance in this movie particularly struck me. Now I want to see more movies just to watch her.


This has to be one of the most romantic movies I've ever seen, in the best sense of the word. They really are a great screen pair.

And I loved Arthur Kennedy in this. Loved how he would be fighting panic every time Custer confronted him. His character wanted to be anywhere else in the world but right there, dealing with his long time nemesis. And, naturally, I loved his fate, me being so fond of that good old redemption theme.

A couple of Westerns

When I'm feeling melancholy, I turn to music. I find it interesting, that in these moods, it is invariably Jerry Goldsmith, and specifically, his Western film/tv scores I turn to. 100 Rifles, Rio Conchos, The Loner, Take a Hard Ride, Bandolero, Hour of the Gun... these are what I crave most, where I find my solace, the music I want to turn up and crawl inside until I become one with the notes. I'm not sure why.

I tend to turn to Western films for viewing as well. I watched two new ones this past week, both with Richard Widmark.

Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Big star cast, great scenery, okay movie. This one I liked mostly for Richard Widmark. He's playing a good guy here, a genuinely good guy, and as much as I like him when he's smirking and evil, I really really like him when he's good, and I wish he'd had even more screen time. He's one of the few characters sympathetic to the Cheyenne plight, who is working to help them within the constraints of his position as Army captain. I particularly like his scenes with Patrick Wayne, who starts out not the least bit sympathetic, and I would really have liked to have decked him myself. He makes his own foolish mistakes though and comes around, though. Sean McClory played my other favorite character, a doctor who finally stands up to Karl Malden. Sean McClory's one of those very underrated actors that deserves more appreciation.

(I want Richard Widmark's jacket.)

The movie has an odd section in the middle with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday (Jimmy Stewart and Arthur Kennedy, respectively) that is comedic and just a bizarre interlude in the middle of everything else. Pick that section up and put in another movie, and I'd probably really like it -- it's very funny -- but it sure didn't belong here. Edward G. Robinson shows up in a small but pivotal role and manages to steal every scene he's in. But he does tend to do that.

The thing I liked least about the film was the score. I'm afraid, I am just not an Alex North fan. There is not one score he's written that I even remotely like. I was also mad that the streaming video on Netflix was not widescreen, other than the opening credits. What's up with that? Grrrr.

Yellow Sky (1948) - now why the heck haven't I seen this movie before?? I loved this movie! Gregory Peck plays the leader of the outlaw band. They rob a bank and flee into the desert, barely make it to a ghost town where an old prospector and his granddaughter are living alone. The granddaughter is played by one of my favorite actresses, Anne Baxter, and boy howdy, I LOVE her in this movie. She's packing and she can use rifle and pistol very well -- and fists! One of my favorite moments -- she slugs Gregory Peck in the jaw! Dude! Gregory Peck! She's young and pretty and tough and vulnerable, and she really carries a lot of the weight of the film. There's a lot of scenes where she says nothing, and you can tell exactly what she's thinking. She is wonderful. If she wasn't one of my favorites already, this movie would have put her there.


Richard Widmark is a well-dressed, smart, sly, double-crossing gambler ruled almost exclusively by his own greed. He's back in top bad guy form, and he's great here. The opposite of his Captain Archer in Cheyenne Autumn. That smirk and giggling laugh of his are so perfect when he's lounging about contemplating wrong doings. His character would have come out on top, too, except for one big flaw... he's hasty. He needs a little more patience. All that gold could have been his.

A lot of this one was filmed in the Alabama Hills, Mt. Whitney and the glorious High Sierra in the background. Gorgeous country, and those rocks are always a great place for a bit of cat and mouse. I've hiked the Alabama Hills, and that place just never loses its magic. Yellow Sky was entertaining start to finish. Almost a bit noirish, more character-oriented than usual, with the outlaw band turning on each other when confronted with a fortune in gold and one woman, their strengths and weaknesses brought out by the situation. The other supporting characters are all strong. I particularly liked Charles Kemper as Walrus, who fills his canteen with whiskey instead of water... and then gets stuck without water in the desert. He was very believable throughout the film.

Desperate Journey (1942)

Well, there's not that much that's desperate about this journey. There should be, but Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan are having way too much fun single-handedly trying to win WWII. It's not all a light-hearted romp -- the long car chase at the end is quite nicely filmed and rather nail-biting -- but this film is pure "We laugh in the face of Danger! Hah-hah!" Definitely check any sense of reality at the door.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on what you're looking for. I went into this film thinking it was going to be serious and was initially disappointed... but now I know better. This is a movie to watch when you want an exciting fantasy adventure. The plot's simple enough. Errol Flynn kicks off the story when he can't abide playing it safe. No, he's got to disobey orders and take his bomber down beneath the clouds to get the German target they're after, and promptly gets them shot down waaaaaaaay behind enemy lines. Kills their captain and a couple other chaps, and Flynn and the rest of the surviving crew go on the run. They don't make it far before the Germans capture them, but they don't stay captured for long. The rest of the movie follows their journey to get back to England. Things are complicated by a German Major (Raymond Massey, who's good here, but I can never quite get past his Arsenic and Old Lace role) personally after them because they stole his plans for some new messerschmitt factories, a side-trip to blow up a chemical factory in Berlin, because, really, when you're on the run for your life in enemy territory, you must strike a blow for the Allies while you're there. As Ronald Regan's character declares with a grin: "Look at us! We're a five man invasion!" And they are. They wreak havoc as they escape Germany, and nobody even ever stops them and asks them for their papers.

The only voice of reason in the film is Arthur Kennedy, who is young and cute and oh so very serious. He was the best part of the movie, and the only character I could relate to. He's a needs-of-the-many-outweigh-the-needs-of-the-few type of guy. He's Mr. Practical/Realistic. He's okay with their wounded comrade giving himself up to the Germans so the rest of them have a better chance to escape. Not Flynn, oh no, he must go rescue the poor chap, we don't leave our people behind, and all that. Arthur Kennedy likes to point out to Errol Flynn that there's more at stake, and Flynn likes to disparage him for Being Serious. They really do have some Serious discussions. Some viewers might think it bogs down the adventure, or that the dialogue's too tailored to get the home audience charging down to the recruitment office the next morning, but I liked whenever Kennedy and Flynn or Reagan butted heads over what it's all about. Brought a little balance to the film and gave me that more serious edge I was looking for.

Kennedy: "We haven't got the right to risk our getting back on side issues. Weigh the values."
Flynn: "That's what comes from having been a bookkeeper. You add everything up. Plus and minus. Then you stick in a decimal point and let it take all the fun out of life."
Kennedy: "Fun? I didn't get into this war for fun or adventure or because it was expected of me. I got in because it was a hard, dirty job that has to be done before I can go back to doing what I like. Before a hundred million other people can go back to doing what they like. It's no bright game to me."


At least Flynn has the good sense to admit a moment later he knows full well he's being reckless, and his logic makes sense to me. "I figure we have about one chance in 10,000 of ever getting out of here," he reasons. "If we are going to get knocked off, I just want to leave a couple of bouquets behind. To be remembered by, that's all."

I started liking his character more after that point. Sure, it may all be 1942 propaganda, but it works for me on a story/thematic level too.

The journey may not have been entirely desperate, but it was pretty suspenseful in places. I spent most of the film afraid Arthur Kennedy's character would get killed. The action in the last half is quite exciting. I really did dig that car chase. It was a good one. Maybe I just love watching those old cars and motorcycles tearing around on dirt roads. The Germans speak German with no subtitles, and I always love that. The actors are all good and look like they're having a grand old time. (Is Alan Hale ever NOT having a grand old time in any of his movies??) And for the fun factor, it doesn't get much better than Ronald Reagan, while being interrogated, pretending to cooperate and completely flamboozling Massey's character with some wonderful, made-up nonsense about how American planes can fly at high altitude. Priceless!

City for Conquest (1940)

I actually watched this film last month but failed to write about it. I enjoyed it a lot, even if the dirty fighting in the final boxing match made me squirm. It's a similar film on some levels to Golden Boy, except where in Golden Boy, William Holden is both musician and pugilist, in City of Conquest, the roles are split. James Cagney goes the boxing route to support his younger brother, the ever wonderful Arthur Kennedy, in his bid to be a composer. This movie also throws in Ann Sheridan, Cagney's girl, as a dancer seeking fame and fortune with her feet. A lot of the conflict comes from her goals and what she is willing to do to get there, vs. the simpler life Cagney wants. Anthony Quinn plays a smooth-talking, but nasty dancer who takes her on as a partner.

The film has a perfect example of the best kind of escalation (in plot terms). When Ann is completely fed up with what she's been going through with Anthony Quinn as a dance partner, when she's decided to go back and marry James Cagney, when he's happier than the proverbial clam at the prospect -- then she finally gets offered everything she wanted in the dance world, but requires reneging on everything she just promised Cagney. Oh, the exquisite beauty of that moment for a plot-loving girl like me! Now that's how you up escalate the conflict and the stakes for the characters.

James Cagney is definitely growing on me. He's fabulous to watch. I particularly liked his scenes with Arthur Kennedy, when they discuss music and he asks for his favorite bit of music to be replayed. Those are the kind of scenes that will always get me, seeing that love of music portrayed onscreen. And, as I'm the elder sibling in my family (and my sister is a musician), it was really easy to relate to Cagney's character and the choices he made to help his brother's dreams come true.

Then, there's Arthur Kennedy, very young and playing a nice guy for once. It's a nice change to see him play a good guy, not hiding any deep dark secrets, and with no need to pull some devious betrayals on those who trust him. I was originally thinking he and Cagney would make unlikely brothers, but quite the contrary. They fit very well together. Kennedy does quite the convincing job with the piano, but his conducting skills... Ahem. No comment.

All in all, a good film that I'll definitely watch again.

Bend of the River (1952)

And that wraps up my Anthony Mann/Jimmy Stewart Western viewings. I saved this film for last because it was the only one I'd seen before, when I was young. I'd completely forgotten Rock Hudson was in it, but, well, he had almost no part and should have been cut out anyway. Not that I have anything against him, it's just the plot would have been tighter without him. He didn't add anything other than an extra gun. Besides, he's just so vanilla next to Arthur Kennedy and James Stewart.

Ahhh, Arthur Kennedy. This was the first movie I ever saw him in, and I've liked him ever since. It was kind of funny, because watching it now, I realize the first thing that attracted me to him -- was his horse. Horses were big in my family, well with my mom, anyway. My dad, not so much. She'd always owned and ridden horses, was always talking and watching horses. We watched Westerns as much to see the horses as the shoot-outs and barroom brawls. And in Bend of the River, Mr. Kennedy is riding a buckskin, and that was always my favorite coloring. Hee. But he's fabulous in this, just like in Man From Laramie. All the right shades of charming, brave, shifty, determined, and desperate.

I think it's fascinating how similar his character and Jimmy Stewart really are, how it could easily have been Jimmy Stewart who betrayed Arthur Kennedy instead. They're both skirting the edges of their pasts and future, looking for a new life. Kennedy's just a little greedier, where Stewart wants redemption. Their scenes together are the best in the film and make me grin grin grin. I love the way they each realize who the other is in the beginning, how it's mostly conveyed in looks, not words, because they both have a lot to hide, and they respect each other enough not to give each other away to the settlers. Gotta dig that. I love their Oriole/Indian talk. I love how quick Kennedy is to defend Stewart (a lot quicker than the reverse) multiple times. I love Kennedy's horse. :-D (Hah! Just re-read my review of Man from Laramie, and apparently, he's also riding a buckskin in that movie. That I also had to comment on.)

Julie Adams is the love interest in this, and I couldn't help but be cross with her. This isn't her fault so much as her character's. I seem to have encountered a rash of fickle Julie Adams characters lately, and I'm still mad at her for messing with Joel McCrea's heart in The Gunfight at Dodge City. I think she's just as cold and fickle here. I mean, she's clearly attracted to Arthur Kennedy the moment he appears. She spends months with him in Portland, and then she condemns him completely in less than a minute flat when he turns on Jimmy Stewart. Now, honey, don't you even want to hear his side of it? Stand by your man just a little? Particularly after knowing he's a gambler and already deciding to stay in Portland with him and ignore your family? Sheesh! I would have. At least let him 'splain things. Maybe there was more to his plan, maybe he had grander ideas. But nooooo. She tells him instantly to get lost. Hmph. Silly fickle woman.

But really, I loved the movie very much. And the Mann/Stewart collaborations really are a great series of Westerns. I'd personally rank them as follows:

1. The Naked Spur
2. Bend of the River
3. The Man from Laramie
4. The Far Country
5. Winchester 73

Probably an obvious order for anyone who knows me, me being the plot-girl I am: The Naked Spur is the only one with a really tight story. The others are a little too sprawly, a little too segmented into different sections. And, of course, Naked Spur has Ralph Meeker. And as much as I love Arthur Kennedy, I love Meeker a lot more, even if he doesn't ride a buckskin. LOL!

The Desperate Hours

1955, with Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March. Odd. This is a fine movie with a fine cast -- and I didn't like it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this movie. It moves well, it's tense, the cast is great (Robert Middleton steals the show). I think I just don't enjoy watching panicky hysterical people very much. Makes me roll my eyes and say "get on with it already," regardless of the fact that that's how people do behave.

I think I also wanted it to be a very different movie. See, they sort of set up this vengeance thing with Bogart and a detective... and it never goes anywhere. And that disappointed me greatly. Of course, half of that is because the detective was played by Arthur Kennedy (a good guy for a change!) and his partner was my favorite Bert Freed. Naturally, I wanted a lot more screen time for the two of them. Naturally, I didn't get it.

Oh well. Good movie, just not my cup of tea.

The Man From Laramie (1955)

Okay, I've always liked Arthur Kennedy. I think the first thing I saw him in was Bend of the River way back in my youth, and I always looked for him after that. And he's at the top of his form in The Man from Laramie.

This was an okay Western. Not particularly great, but not bad either. I like Bend of the River better. Jimmy Stewart is always good, but his character was rather two-dimensional here. The only thing that elevated his role was Jimmy Stewart himself. Not so with Arthur Kennedy. He got the oh-so-lovely complex grey character, the one who wants to do right and tries, but he's got a temper, and he wants things now that he can't ever seem to get the honest way. So he strays a bit to the wrong side and tries to justify it to himself. He tries all the way to the end to make things come out right, and yet he never quite can. I loves loves loves him in this movie! I'd watch it again just for him. (He's also riding the prettiest buckskin.)

It made me realize yet again how important motivations are for me in liking a character (book or film), and how important it is that they stay true to themselves. Add in the layers of complexity and I'm sold.

Now I want to see Bend of the River again.