Broken Lance
| Broken Lance | |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Edward Dmytryk |
| Produced by | Sol C. Siegel |
| Written by | Philip Yordan (story) Richard Murphy (screenplay) |
| Starring | Spencer Tracy Robert Wagner Jean Peters Richard Widmark Katy Jurado |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | Joseph MacDonald |
| Editing by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox |
| Release date(s) | 1954 |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,685,000[1] |
| Box office | $3.8 million (US rentals)[2] |
Broken Lance is a 1954 Western film made by Twentieth Century-Fox, directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The movie stars Spencer Tracy and features Katy Jurado, Richard Widmark, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Eduard Franz, Hugh O'Brian and Earl Holliman.
Shot in color and CinemaScope, the film is a remake of House of Strangers (1949) with the Phillip Yordan screenplay (based upon a novel by Jerome Weidman called I'll Never Go Home Any More), transplanted out west, featuring Tracy in the original Edward G. Robinson role, this time as a cowboy cattle baron rather than a Lower East Side Italian immigrant banker in New York City.
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[edit] Plot
In this Western , Matt Devereaux (Spencer Tracy) is a ranch owner who has tried to raise his sons to carry on the fierce, hard-working Irish settlement spirit that helped make him a success. However, as a consequence, he never learned to show his three sons from his first marriage with the affection they yearned for and treats his boys little better than the hired help. Joe (Robert Wagner), is Matt's son by the Native American Princess, Matt's wife "Señora" (Katy Jurado). The town's people call her Senora out of respect of Matt but not out of respect for her. Because of Joe's mixed ethnicity, he is treated prejudicially by his three half-brothers, Ben (Richard Widmark), Mike (Hugh O'Brian), and Denny (Earl Holliman) -- all Caucasian sons of Matt's first wife. Joe loves his father and would do nearly anything for him, but his siblings resent Matt's emotional distance. The two middle kids cattle rustle and get two Mexicans killed, then get caught and shot by Matt and two Indians (who they sacked the year before) ride away. Soon after 40 head of cattle die at a river dry king spot, Matt discovers a copper mine 20 miles away is polluting a stream where he waters his cattle. He becomes furious and leads a raid on the mine. The land the mine is on is Matt's land, but he does not have the mineral rights. That causes the law to visit the ranch; the police have a warrant to arrest whoever was responsible for the attack. To spare his father the agony and humiliation of a stay behind bars, Joe claims responsibility and spends several years in prison. When he's released, he discovers that Ben and his other brothers rebelled against their father with such extremity that the old man suffered a fatal stroke. While Señora tries to persuade Joe not to seek revenge, Ben is more than willing to fight his brother for taking his father's side.
[edit] Cast
- Spencer Tracy as Matt Devereaux
- Robert Wagner as Joe Devereaux
- Jean Peters as Barbara
- Richard Widmark as Ben Devereaux
- Katy Jurado as Señora Devereaux
- Hugh O'Brian as Mike Devereaux
- Eduard Franz as Two Moons
- Earl Holliman as Denny Devereaux
- E. G. Marshall as Horace - The Governor
- Carl Benton Reid as Clem Lawton
- Philip Ober as Van Cleve
- Robert Burton as Mac Andrews
[edit] Awards and nominations
The film won the Academy Award for Best Story for Philip Yordan. Katy Jurado was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Jurado's role was originally for Dolores del Río. The film also won a Golden Globe Award as Best Film Promoting International Understanding.
[edit] DVD release
The film was released on DVD on May 24, 2005. Viewers have the option of watching either a "pan and scan" full screen version or the original wide screen version in the CinemaScope aspect ratio. Both versions have stereophonic sound and have been digitally restored.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p249
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p225
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Lance-Spencer-Tracy/dp/B0007PALKC
[edit] External links
- Broken Lance at the Internet Movie Database
- Broken Lance at the TCM Movie Database
- Broken Lance at AllRovi
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