Yellow Sky (1948)

the audience applauded

So much average

Best movie of this year hands down!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

One of the great westerns of Gregory Peck in the 1940s when he also "Duel in the Sun" and "The Gunfighter" this almost in 1950. Three western exponents no doubt. "Duel in the Sun" was a film done much to stardom Jennifer Jones to raise the western name. But over the following years it is both. It is an exceptional film. But in the case of "Yellow Sky" very competently directed by William Wellman we have a pure western, exciting, honest. The black-and-white photograph only the values ​​with outstanding play of shadows. Anne Baxter has a performance of the best. She could remain silent in the film all along that we would know exactly what she wanted to say. It was a wonderful actress. And the film dramatic load is intense. Richard Widmark a little outside the box hero who built later have a great performance as one of the bandits. And Gregory Peck is nothing less than the great actor we've come to see. A great movie that deserves to be reviewed as.

Band of bank robbers led by Gregory Peck head into the desert to escape. After wandering for days they arrive at a ghost town, dehydrated and exhausted. There they meet tomboy Anne Baxter and her kooky prospector grandfather. It doesn't take long before the outlaws get ideas, both about the old man's gold and pretty Baxter.Excellent western from William Wellman with a first-rate cast. Peck is a great bad-guy-who's-not-so-bad. Richard Widmark is a great bad-guy-who-IS-so-bad. Baxter has one of her best roles as the spunky tomboy. She fills out a pair of jeans quite nicely, too. John Russell plays a particularly repulsive member of the gang with only one thing on his mind. The rest of the cast are good, as well. Beautiful cinematography and direction. The story is simple but effective. Remade as the vastly inferior The Jackals with Vincent Price. It's pretty much a scene-for-scene remake except the location is moved to South Africa. Avoid that one.

This original story was written by W. R. Burnett which was later directed by William R. Wellman. The story as it appeared on the silver screen tells of a gang of bank robbers led by none other than Gregory Peck, who ride into a small town, Rob the local bank and escape with a Posse in pursuit. Unfortunately, they also ride onto the Salt Flats without a sufficient supply of water and nearly die of thirst. Instead they discover a Ghost Town with two people still living there. An old Prospecter and his granddaughter. For many fans, the selection of Gregory Peck as James 'Stretch' Dawson the leader of the bad men, was a miscasting. In addition, other notables that usually wear white hats, such as John Russell (Lawman) and Harry Morgan (MASH) played bad guys. Still they did their best to fill the scripted parts and put together an unlikely and unusual film. The only actor who did a good job with his role was Richard Widmark who played 'Dude.' The female lead was played by Anne Baxter. The story is slow to assemble and the 'gang' is ill formed with dual leaders. Indeed, with the pretty girl becoming a secondary goal and wild marauding Apaches never becoming a definite threat, the movie makes for a poor Western. Still it was interesting to watch top stars making the best of it. ****

Gregory Peck (Stretch) leads his band of outlaws to rob a town before being forced to take exile through the desert until they come upon the ghost town of Yellow Sky. Here they come across Anne Baxter (Mike) and her grandfather James Barton (Grandpa). The gang soon work out that these two have a fortune. Greed takes over.The film is a slight let-down in the action and tension department. Peck and Baxter are the best of the cast while outlaw Richard Widmark (Dude) is wasted. His character seems to be half missing and just about sparks into some kind of interest right at the end of the film. Too late – we don't connect with him anymore because he has been so boring and disappointing up to that point. Fellow outlaw John Russell (Lengthy) gives more of a performance as an adversary to Peck.It is a well made film and there are some quality moments of dialogue but the film cried out for more action and more involvement from the Apaches. They were sorely missed.