Vengeance Valley (1951)

Very well executed

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's springtime here in the Old West and the cattle is bein' brung down from the snowy mountains. Robert Walker and his adopted brother Burt Lancaster is two of the cowboys that's been gone all winter.The first thing they do is head towards the local pub where nothing much has changed while they've been gone -- except for one thing. Sally Forrest, the saloon gal, was pregnant and has done give birth out of wedlock. Nobody knows who dunner but whoever dunner, it's a big disgrace. Why Old Doc wouldn't even go out to the ranch to lend a hand in the birthing.Lancaster rides out to the ranch with a sack full of food and some five hundred dollars for Lilly and her baby. He finds his sister-in-law, Joan Dru, has been helping out, and Sally Forrest's brothers, Hugh O'Brian and John Ireland, has rid in from out of town too -- angry as disturbed wasps and ready to gun down the father, as soon as somebody knows who it is.Actually it doesn't look too promising, the kind of Western in which every well-dressed cowboy must wear an open vest, no matter how ragged his clothes. Yet, it's reasonably well written. There are small conversational exchanges that are unusual in a typical Western. (A man who just lost a fist fight can't "sit a horse until I get this hand fixed." His "hand". Not the kind of line you'd expect.) The musical score is pedestrian but the location shooting shows a Colorado that's colorful and inviting. Some nice footage of quarter horses at work.The two leads do well enough. Lancaster was an ambitious actor but never bravura. In a way his dramatic performances improved with age. I admired his casual walk, a half-crouch, arms wide, fingers apart, as if ready to leap on something.Robert Walker is the better actor but he's miscast. He's not a cowboy. He's Bruno, the half-mad and very urban psychopath. He's excellent at suggesting disdain and disbelief. He lies incandescently. But he's no cowboy. Sorry.The plot's been described elsewhere. Lancaster, the adopted son, is always covering for Walker's peccadilloes, until Walker goes too far. The dynamic was taken to excess in "The Man From Laramie," in which the Walker figure (Alex Nicol) is a snarling, vindictive, lying coward.It occurs to me, amid all the jokes about cooking, that those cowboys must have eaten a lot of beef. I wonder how they fixed it? I've had steaks from range cattle and they fought me back. They had the texture of white walled tires. I wonder if them cowboys has ever heard of beef bourguignon. Stroganoff?

Watching Burt Lancaster's early efforts (such as "The Rose Tattoo") might make one wonder why he was allowed to continue. Watching his later portrayals, one knows exactly why.Probably his looks, especially his physique, gave him his chance, but Burt Lancaster just got better and better as an actor."Vengeance Valley" is a good example.He was surrounded by good to very good actors but he didn't have to take second place to any, not even Ray Collins.Since a very large portion of his film roles was in westerns, probably no one should be surprised at how good a cowboy he was, but it is still a pleasurable surprise to see him horseback, in fights, drawing his pistol.He portrays the proper emotions, to the right degree.Besides the excellent Lancaster, every cast member seems perfect. I have to admit I did not recognize Hugh O'Brian behind his whiskers and surly manner -- meaning he was so good, he was submerged in his character.Big studio westerns were often overdone, with too much plot and too little action. "Vengeance Valley," though, shows what those studios could have done, much more often.There are several versions available on YouTube so you can watch it. And I hope you do.

I didn't read many westerns growing up, but more devoted readers of the genre spoke well of writer Luke Short, on whose novel this film is based (screenplay by Irving Ravetch). Another reviewer points out that Short was a city boy who didn't know the west, but the movie is full of cattle ranching and driving lore (more than the otherwise superior Red River).Above all the story has an impressively complicated plot--lots of moving pieces, with a large cast of characters variously related. A nice surprise was the voice-over narration by a somewhat marginal character who is nonetheless present at many crucial scenes. Add an outstanding cast: Burt's always a convincing action stalwart; Robert Walker plays just the kind of attractive weasel that people fool themselves into believing; John Ireland brings an air of implacable menace to the heavy; Joanne Dru and Sally Forrest make you want them to be on screen more often.The limits of the film's running time squeeze the women out from fuller development especially at the end, but their issues drive the plot with surprisingly adult themes: Dru's character raises questions about what the Old West did about divorce, and Forrest's character Lily finds a way to raise her illegitimate child even while her no-good brothers make trouble.The direction of the cattle drives against spectacular outdoor scenery and some good riding scenes are the film's best testimony for director Richard Thorpe. Otherwise the direction seems by-the-book, and the story concludes in a gun showdown that violates what we've learned of the characters involved. Other reviewers are correct that MGM's bland production values prevail. But within those limits, the various parts of the plot worked together well, and the excellent acting added depth and urgency.

Vengeance Valley is pretty good for a western starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Walker as brothers, one of whom adopted, whose rivalry leads to betrayal later on. Also liked the women played by Joanne Dru and Sally Forrest and Hugh O'Brian and John Ireland as the brothers of Forrest who want to kill the man who impregnated their sister. Lots of good scenes of cattle rustling and some exciting fight scenes come every now and then but there's plenty of good drama concerning the characters too. The Technicolor stands out in this location-shot picture. Loved the narration by Carleton Carpenter as Hewie. Worthy entry for any old movie western fan.