Broken Lance (1954)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Richard Murphy (screenplay)
Philip Yordan (story)

Release Date:

25 September 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Fury of the West's Most Lawless Feud!

Plot:

Cattle baron Matt Devereaux raids a copper smelter that is polluting his water, then divides his property among his sons...

Plot Keywords:

Flashback | Racial Slur | Half Brother | Courtroom | Family Relationships

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Matt Devereaux
Robert Wagner	...	Joe Devereaux
Jean Peters	...	Barbara
Richard Widmark	...	Ben Devereaux
Katy Jurado	...	Señora Devereaux
Hugh O'Brian	...	Mike Devereaux
Eduard Franz	...	Two Moons
Earl Holliman	...	Denny Devereaux
E.G. Marshall	...	Horace - The Governor
Carl Benton Reid	...	Clem Lawton
Philip Ober	...	Van Cleve
Robert Burton	...	Mac Andrews

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #16964, General Audience) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Though Katy Jurado plays Robert Wagner's mother in the film, she was only six years older than him in real life.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Matt is seen riding toward his sons off the side of the hill, he is sitting astride his horse, and his right hand is held up holding the reins, but when his son Ben takes him off his horse, he is already dead.

Quotes:

Mike Devereaux: He'll cool down... and when he does he'll make the deal. He's too smart not to. Ain't that right, Ben?
Ben Devereaux: I don't know. But anybody that throws $10,000 in a spittoon makes me nervous.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Memories of 'Giant' (1998) (V)

A first-rate adult Western...

Tracy is a believable cowboy, nicely balanced for handling a bull whip, riding dangerously the hills...

Tracy plays a despot, absolute ruler cattle baron "making the wrong move with the wrong people," using his force to restrain the pollution of his cattle's stream: "The river is on my land. You are on my land. You close this operation down."

His first three sons (Widmark, O'Brien and Holliman) were unanimously disappointing to him... He considered them cattle thieves, treating them harshly, without mercy... Only the fourth son and the youngest one (Robert Wagner) by his present wife, a Comanche woman played by the clever, quick-witted Katy Jurado has his affection and care... The other sons looks only forward to his demise so they may take control over his cattle empire...

Tracy — irritated and frustrated as a father — expends excessive reasons that arouses the sensation of hate provoking avaricious rebellion, and nearly destroys his younger kid Joe...

It was interesting to follow Dmytryk's study of racial prejudice against the Indian wife of a domineering white father... Interesting to compare the rough resilience of Tracy with his character—isolated by mortal danger in "Bad Day at Black Rock," a character enlightened with real feelings specially in guessing the conclusion... Somehow this is missing in Dmytryk's "Broken Lance" where the autocratic father seems so artificial, an unfavorable comment that can be aimed against the movie itself...

Widmark offers a fine performance as the unlikable eldest son, while Robert Wagner and Jean Peters manage the romantic interlude...

The screenplay, based on 1949s "Home of Strangers" wins an Oscar and the fiery-eyed Mexican star Katy Jurado was nominated for best supporting actress...

Filmed in CinemaScope and Technicolor and with great sceneries of the state of Arizona, "Broken Lance" remains a first-rate adult Western...