Review of The Furies (1950) by Eileen M — 15 Dec 2008

You know, there was, for a long stretch of the movie, a simple solution to a lot of the problems, but it was one that wouldn't have been possible in a film from 1950. The obvious solution for the problem would have involved "miscegenation," a thing expressly forbidden by the Code. Oh, a white woman and a Hispanic man wouldn't have been as bad as a white women and a black man, but there still would have been problems. Barbara Stanwyck had to end up with a white guy, despite the fact that it in many ways caused more problems than it solved. Hence the runtime of the movie, for example.

T. C. Jeffords (Walter Huston in his last film role) owns an enormous ranch called The Furies. He has a son, Clay (John Bromfield), whom he considers worthless, and a daughter, Vance (Stanwyck), whom he allows pretty much free rein on the ranch. Clay gets married off in the first five minutes of the picture, and we pretty much never see him again. Vance, however, rides around being all proud and beautiful, getting her father's word that she'll be able to run The Furies. Their two great bones of contention are the Herrera family, squatters whom I suspect had the original land grant on The Furies, and Rip Darrow (Wendell Corey), the gambler she loves. Who betrays her, taking her dowry and leaving, as T. C. knew he would. It only gets worse when T. C. brings home Flo Burnett (Judith Anderson), who persuades T. C. to send Vance away, so she decides to take her revenge as only Barbara Stanwyck can.

In the world of the story, T. C. deserves whatever he gets. He Broke His Word. He had given his word that Vance should run The Furies. He had given his word that the Herreras should remain on The Furies. He had given his word that the money he issued would retain its value. None of these turned out to be true. Vance was essentially turned out of her own home; her actions toward Flo afterward only sealed things. T. C. (I don't think we ever find out what the initials stand for) has broken trust all over the place, and nothing can fix that. Vance is seen as making things as right as she can, but nothing will bring Juan Herrera (Gilbert Roland) back from the dead. Nothing will pay back the people who accepted T. C.'s at full price and ended up receiving ten cents on the dollar. It's a lot of broken trust.

Again, I think a lot could have been solved a lot sooner if Vance had just married Juan Herrera. I feel that her father would have respected him as much as her father respected much of anybody. It would have solved the squatter problem. T. C. wouldn't have made that ridiculous $50,000 payment to Rip to get rid of him; I think that can be seen as the beginning of T. C.'s downfall. Vance would not have been as easy to get rid of. And she did genuinely seem to like Juan, though he always, when she kissed him, said it was the kiss of a good friend. There are worse starts for marriages.

[i]The Furies[/i] was nominated for an Oscar for Best B&W Cinematography, but the Academy's website is down, so I can't tell you what beat it. I hope it was something pretty good. Like any good Western, this movie is full of sweeping vistas. Like any good Barbara Stanwyck movie, this movie is full of dynamic closeups on people in emotional disturbance. There are also claustrophobic shots, such as when Vance and Juan are in the Herrera stronghold, waiting for her father to kill or be killed. I've seen better filming, but I have to tell you--the filming is pretty much what saves this from a negative review. Otherwise, I would be forced to tell you how much the words "turgid melodrama" sprang to mind as I was watching it.