Track of the Cat (1954)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay)
Walter Van Tilburg Clark (novel)

Release Date:

27 November 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

Human Emotion Stripped Raw!

Plot:

A family saga: In a stunning mountain valley ranch setting near Aspen, complex and dangerous family...

Plot Keywords:

Panther | Ranch | Neighbor | Alcoholic Father | Father Son Relationship

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Robert Mitchum	...	Curt Bridges
Teresa Wright	...	Grace Bridges
Diana Lynn	...	Gwen Williams
Tab Hunter	...	Harold Bridges
Beulah Bondi	...	Ma Bridges
Philip Tonge	...	Pa Bridges
William Hopper	...	Arthur Bridges
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Joe Sam (as Carl Switzer)

Also Known As:

William A. Wellman's Track of the Cat (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certicate #17120) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts) | UK:PG (video rating) (2007) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~10 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~9 seconds.

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Studio One: Track of the Cat (#3.21)" (1951)

Boring and Unpleasant Family Drama

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, the dysfunctional Bridges family lives in an isolated ranch in the mountains of Aspen. The family is dominated by the beata and manipulative matriarch and the merciless arrogant middle-son Curt (Robert Mitchum); the elder son Arthur (William Hopper) and his sister Grace (Teresa Wright) are never listened; the father is an alcoholic man; and the younger son Harold (Tab Hunter) does not have personality to impose that he wants to marry with his despised girlfriend Gwen Williams (Diana Lynn). When a panther kills four bulls in the Bridges' cattle, Curt forces Arthur to track down the beast, and his brother is killed by the panther. Curt chases the deadly animal while his family argues in the ranch.

"Track of the Cat" is a boring and unpleasant family drama despite the name of William A. Wellman in the direction. The cinematography is extremely beautiful in the snowing mountains, but I disliked all the characters, some of them for their nastiness and the others for their weakness. Further, the plot is disclosed in a very slow pace and with repetitive jokes of the father taking hidden bottle of whiskeys from the most unusual places; the result is a very disappointing movie. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Dominados pelo Terror" ("Dominated by the Terror")