The Hanging Tree

Another solid "adult Western" from Delmer Daves (Broken Arrow, Jubal), The Hanging Tree (1959) moves beyond the shallow characterizations and shootouts so common to the genre. Its interesting cast, beautiful photography and complicated story make for an enjoyable watch.

Dr. Joseph Frail (Gary Cooper), an amoral man with a past, drifts into a Montana mining town and sets up shop. Rescuing petty criminal Rune (Ben Piazza) from a lynch mob, Frail makes the boy his indentured servant, initiating an tense relationship. Things grow more complicated when Elizabeth Mahler (Maria Schell), the lone survivor of a stagecoach robbery, is nurtured back to health by Frail, with the townspeople - including mad faith healer Grubb (George C. Scott) - gossiping about their relationship. When Frail and Elizabeth forge a business arrangement with the lecherous Frenchy (Karl Malden), trouble isn't far behind.

The Hanging Tree is as much melodrama as Western, scoring with a fascinating cast. Frail starts out the film mixing with a violent temper with a controlling nature, becoming more sympathetic as layers of his personality are peeled away. He's matched with interesting supporting players: Rune's relationship with Frail seems to invite Freudian interpretation, Frenchy's mixture of friendliness and primal lust is perfectly-rendered, while the chipper, strong-willed Elizabeth makes an interesting heroine. This interesting cast place The Hanging Tree in a league with the best character-driven Westerns: The Big Country, The Gunfighter, The Man from Laramie.

Delmer Daves captures some beautiful Yakima, Washington locations, highlighted by an intricately-constructed mining camp. The film is deliberately paced but Wendell Mayes and Halsted Welles' expert script keeps things interesting. Action is sparse but the violence, when it comes, is shockingly direct. Daves doesn't mind incorporating overt Biblical imagery into the finale, as the gold-crazed miners torch their own lodgings. In this context, the seemingly abrupt, convenient ending fits like a glove. Max Steiner adds a nice score, topped with cheesy Marty Robbins ballad.

Gary Cooper gives one of his best performances. Frail is a more convincing heel than Cooper's reformed outlaw in Man of the West since we actually see his nastiness, yet his vulnerability and misanthropy makes him interestingly complex. Maria Schell is appealing, even if her conversion from damsel in distress to tough frontier girl is abrupt. Karl Malden's (On the Waterfront) amiable bully and Ben Piazza's put-upon manservant provide solid support. Familiar face Karl Swenson (Major Dundee) has a larger-than-normal role as a friendly shopkeeper. The weak spot is George C. Scott (Patton), squandered in a bizarre role.

The Hanging Tree makes for interesting viewing. Delmer Daves and Co. craft an enjoyable film that's smarter than the average Western.

Delmer Daves Double Feature: Broken Arrow and 3:10 to Yuma

The past two days, I revisited two of Delmer Daves' classic "adult Westerns": Broken Arrow (1950) and 3:10 to Yuma (1957). I'd seen both of these ages ago, but it was nice to get a fresh perspective on each. Both stand among the best of their genre, mature and thoughtful films a far cry from shoot 'em up nonsense like, oh, let's say Bandolero!

Broken Arrow (1950)



Broken Arrow is an excellent revisionist view of Native Americans. Long before Dances With Wolves, it argues that Indians are people worthy of respect, without engaging in too much preaching on the subject.

Army scout Tom Jeffords (James Stewart) rescues a young Apache wounded by cavalrymen. Though taken hostage, Jeffords is released by Chief Cochise (Jeff Chandler) after witnessing the ambush of white scalphunters. Jeffords is used as a go-between for the whites and Apaches to try and negotiate a peace: he befriends both General Oliver O. Howard (Basil Ruysdael), a deeply-religious military man, and Cochise, as well as falling for Apache girl Sonseeahray (Debra Paget). The two sides negotiate an uneasy peace, but it's interrupted by renegade Apache Geronimo (Jay Silverheels) and a gang of white racists led by rancher Ben Slade (Will Geer).

Along with the Nazis, Native Americans were the go-to villain for Classic Hollywood, faceless monsters to be exterminated by the forces of good. Aside from John Ford's Fort Apache (1948), few films acknowledged that the Indians were human beings, let alone had legitimate grievances against white expansion. Later films would overbalance the ledger, portraying Nazi-like cavalry slaughtering helpless Natives. Finding a middle ground is wrought with incredible difficulty, and bound to piss someone off.

It's to the immense credit of Daves and screenwriters Albert Maltz and Michael Blankfort (working on an Elliott Arnold novel) that they depict Cochise and his tribe as balanced, believable people. Cochise is a wise man but a stern ruler, befriending Jeffords and summarily executing disloyal tribesmen. We see the Apache as a noble and proud people, but also see their war-like side, ambushing mailmen and torturing hostages, and their internal dissent over the truce. The romance between Jeffords and Sonseeahray is sweet and tastefully handled. It's easily the most balanced portrait of Native Americans in Hollywood history.

By the standards of later revisionist Westerns - Cheyenne Autumn, Little Big Man - Broken Arrow is fairly tame. Manifest Destiny is criticized only implicitly. There is ample racism among Jeffords' white colleagues, but the noble General Howard represents the US government. The movie opts for an even-handed "both sides have extremists" view, true in an immediate sense but not indicative of the big picture. Not to sound like a bleeding heart liberal, but one side was actively working to expel a people from their land, and the other wasn't.

Still, enough films have made this point that Daves can be forgiven for foregoing it. Certainly the film's balanced portrayal is preferable is preferable to the preachiness of Cheyenne Autumn, Dances With Wolves, or (God forbid) Avatar. Daves's primary goal isn't to decry white colonialism, but to show Apaches as human beings, and at this he succeeds marvelously.

Daves handles a brilliant production, making full use of Ernest Palmer's striking Technicolor photography and beautiful Arizona and California locations. The movie deftly mixes plot and action, with excellent shootouts and battle scenes, and an epic scope balanced out by intimate character scenes. Maltz and Blankfort's script is mostly good, and Hugo Friedhoffer contributes a fine, sensitive score.

James Stewart gives one of his best performances here, a perfect mixture of tough and thoughtful. Jeff Chandler is equally strong, making Cochise a balanced, believable personage. Debra Paget is beautiful and sweet as Jefford's wife. The supporting cast is full of fine performances: Will Geer (Jeremiah Johnson), Arthur Hunnicut (El Dorado), Basil Ruysdael (Jubal), Jay Silverheels (The Lone Ranger), John War Eagle (The Man From Laramie).

3:10 to Yuma (1957)



In complete contrast to the previous film, 3:10 to Yuma is a claustrophobic psychological Western, modest in scale and dependent on suspense rather than action. Despite a weak ending, it's a wonderfully taut, tense and engrossing Western.

Charming outlaw Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) and his gang hold up a stagecoach and travel to Bisbee to cool off. While Ben gets frisky with a saloon girl (Felicia Farr), a posse including rancher Dan Evans (Van Heflin) traps and arrests him. Evans, his ranch suffering from drought, agrees to escort Wade to Contention and guard hum until the titular train to Yuma Prison arrives for $200. Trapped in a hotel room, the two engage in a battle of wits, as Ben tries to bribe, charm and threaten his way to freedom, while his gang lies in wait outside.

3:10 to Yuma is essentially a thriller in cowboy garb. The recent remake wasn't bad, but it substituted plot for rip-roaring action, turning the Dan-Ben showdown into a trite psychodrama. Daves keeps a strict focus: the suspense and drama comes from our two characters. Rather than looking for motivation, the film shows two archetypes: Ben, the masterful tempter, and Dan, the rigidly moral, hard-working rancher. It builds to a thrilling climax, with Dan and Ben navigating a street riddled with concealed gunmen, which is unfortunately damaged by an awkward, cop-out ending.

Daves's direction is much more modest than the previous film, but no less impressive. Outdoor scenes make fine use of crane shots and landscapes, but the real action is in the hotel room. Charles Lawton Jr. contributes excellent black-and-white photography, with brilliant use of lighting, shadows and smoke (particularly in the train-station finale). The movie is remarkably tense, and not one second of its 92-minute run time is wasted. George Duning contributes a quiet but effective score, with a fine title ballad by Frankie Laine.

Glenn Ford (Jubal) dominates the film. Ford puts his charming persona to wonderful effect, making Ben the perfect mixture of creepy and charming. Van Heflin (Shane) is fine, though overshadowed by his co-star. Richard Jaeckal (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), Robert Emhart, Felicia Farr, Leora Dana and Henry Jones (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) give fine supporting turns.

Jubal

Delmer Daves has gained a reputation as a top-notch director of "adult Westerns" similar to Anthony Mann (The Man From Laramie) and Samuel Fuller (Forty Guns). His revisionist Indian film Broken Arrow and moody Western psychodrama 3:10 to Yuma are among the best Westerns of the 1950's, engendering a well-deserved cult following. The overlooked Jubal (1956) is even better than the above films, and perhaps Daves' finest work. A dark, character-driven Western, it heaps on the psychology and angst with verve, with strong performances and beautiful location photography.

Three-time loser Jubal Troop (Glenn Ford) is found by big-shot rancher Shep Horgan (Ernest Borgnine) and hired as a cowhand. Shep's long-suffering Canadian wife Mae (Valerie French) immediately puts the moves on Jubal; an unknowing Shep promotes Jubal to his This does not sit well with rancher Pinky (Rod Steiger), who has a history with and a giant chip on his shoulder. Pinky convinces Shep that Jubal and Mae are having an illicit affiar, resulting in Shep's killing. With the help of fellow ne'er-do-well Reb (Charles Bronson) and a group of Mormons, Jubal must prove his innocence and take down the perfidious Pinky.

Jubal is very much in the Mann vein, in its depiction of tormented cowboys and Old West intrigue. The film's plot loosely resembles Shakespeare's Othello (if Cassio were the protagonist and Desdemona a slut), but it's more of a general reference point than a direct inspiration. Jubal is a life-long loser whose motivation is only to find a bit of good luck and happiness for once in his life; he seems to have it with Shep, but events conspire against him. The sultry Mae is no damsel in distress, nor a femme fatale, but a sexually frustrated girl trapped in a rotten marriage. Shep is a bumptiously likeable guy but a wholly inadequate husband, and all too easily manipulated by Pinky, a slimy brute who lacks the cunning and charm of Shakespeare's Iago. The movie is a bit talky for a Western, but not so much that it detracts from the film; the focus is on story and character and the lack of wall-to-wall action is forgivable.

Daves' direction is excellent, handling his actors and story with due subtlety and letting the store unfold at a leisurely pace. Filmed on location in the Grand Tetons, the film has its share of striking scenery, beautifully captured in Charles Lawton's gorgeous Technicolor photography. Daves gives the film enough space and exterior scenes to keep it from being a set-bound genre piece. However, David Raskin's score is pretty by-the-numbers. The movie provides some obvious inspiration for Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - including a conversation about patting one's wife on the behind - that Western buffs will appreciate.

Glenn Ford, often a stiff and wooden actor, seemed to do his best work in Westerns. His charming bad guy in 3:10 to Yuma was excellent, and he's almost as good here as the tortured tough-luck cowpoke. Ernest Borgnine invests Shep with the same gruff likeability as Marty and The Wild Bunch, with a violent and quick-tempered edge to boot. Rod Steiger (Doctor Zhivago) plays his Iago figure with a heaping helping of ham and a typically bizarre accent, not unlike his Jud in Oklahoma! Valerie French is absolutely smouldering, and Felicia Farr (who would re-team with Ford and Daves in 3:10) is lovely in her debut role as a pretty Mormon girl. The supporting cast includes a young Charles Bronson, Basil Ruysdael, Noah Beery Jr., John Dierkes and Jack Elam.

Jubal is a fine adult Western that holds up well fifty years later.