Daily Archives: June 4, 2016

Forty Guns
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller
1957/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Globe Enterprises
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Jessica Drummond: I need a strong man to carry out my orders.

Griff Bonnell: And a weak man to take them.[/box]

Fun Sam Fuller Western confirms my opinion that Barbara Stanwyck aged the most gracefully of the classic actresses.

Jessica Drummond (Stanwyck) is the boss of Cochise County, Arizona.  She backs up her iron rule with forty hired guns and the allegiance of hand-picked sheriff Ned Logan (Dean Jagger).  Logan (Dean Jagger) also has an unrequited passion for the wealthy Jessica. Jessica has been saddled with little brother Brockie (John Ericson), now a mean alcoholic loser, since his birth.

U.S. Marshall Griff Bonnell (Barry Sullivan) rides into the territory with his two younger brothers, Wes (Gene Berry) and Chico.  He aims to take fugitive Howard Swain, Jessica’s top gun, into custody.  As soon as the Bonnells arrive in town, Marshall John Chisum (Hank Warden) pleads for help but Griff refuses to lift a finger for him.  The almost blind Chisum is promptly gunned down by Brockie for kicks.

Things take their brutal course.  In the meantime, Jessica and Griff, who have a lot in common, fall in love setting up a triangle with the jealous Logan.  Brockie and Griff are inevitably drawn into conflict leaving Jessica in a sad dilemma.

I enjoy this movie a lot.  It is short, taut, and features some stunning shots of men on horses. Stanwyck retains the dignity and looks to be a believable middle-aged love interest.

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Abandon Ship (AKA Seven Waves Away)
Directed by Richard Sale
Written by Richard Sale
1957/USA/UK
Copa Productions
First viewing/YouTube

Edith Middleton: Why are the wicked always so strong?

This “lifeboat” type movie goes a little overboard.

A ship is sunk by a derelict mine.  Ship’s officer Alec Holmes finds himself and a few others clinging to some debris.  He swims off to rescue nurse Julie White (Mai Zetterling).  They are attacked by sharks and end up on the captain’s skiff with an assortment of passengers and crew.  Many of these people, including the captain, are grievously injured. The skiff is designed and equipped to hold nine people.  Twenty-seven people are on board or clinging to the side.

With his dying breath, the captain puts Holmes in command.  He is immediately confronted by a barrage of demands and complaints and must immediately establish himself as the unquestioned authority.  Fortunately, he has a couple of pistols at his disposal. Eventually, the radio man reveals that he did not get a chance to send an SOS. Some of the passengers and a wounded fellow crew member (Lloyd Nolan) advise Holmes to sacrifice some of the occupants so that at least some can survive.  Holmes initially resists this but a storm makes him question that decision.  Steven Boyd, Kenneth Moore, Finlay Currie and Gordon Jackson share the boat.

The movie has a motley cast of characters and setting very reminiscent of Hitchcock’s Lifeboat.  The film presents the interesting moral question of whether some should be sacrified for the good of the group and, if so, who is the most dispensable.  The script is good at drawing a large number of well-defined characters.  Unfortunately, the acting and dialogue seemed too melodramatic for my taste.  This is a very highly rated film, though, and others probably will enjoy it.

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