"Broken Lance" is ultimately a tale of a father and his boys, as a very successful rancher, Matt Devereaux (a grandiose Spencer Tracy), fights hard for his rights, even instigating a fight with a copper mine after his cattle drink poisoned water. The story is related largely in flashback, as Matts' son Joe (Robert Wagner) has just gotten out of jail and visits the old family homestead. Joe is Matts' child from a union with an Indian woman (Oscar-nominated Katy Jurado), and the eldest son, Ben (Richard Widmark), has always resented his half-sibling.
Although this wonderfully shot CinemaScope Western is stacked with superb actors (Hugh O'Brian, Earl Holliman, E.G. Marshall, Eduard Franz, etc.), some of them don't get particularly meaty roles. O'Brian and Holliman don't have a lot to do in the great scheme of things, mostly following along in Widmarks' wake. However, we can see that Wagner "came along during good times", and has always been favoured, while Widmark has hated being treated for many years as a glorified hired hand. He's good as always in one of his standard antagonistic roles, making the most of the material, as does the excellent Tracy. By contrast, R.J. and Jurado are much more low-key. Tracy, playing a larger than life character, does well at playing this central figure around whom other individuals revolve.
Although not epic in scope, this does manage to tell a pretty good story, with efficient direction by the under-rated Edward Dmytryk, vibrant photography by Joseph MacDonald, and a lovely score by Leigh Harline. It does go off the rails in its final act, with Widmark turning into an outright villain rather than a more two-dimensional sort of character. Too bad, because one *can* understand him if not completely sympathize with him.
Overall, a good study of a dysfunctional family in the Old West, likened by critic Leonard Martin to a variation on Shakespeares' "King Lear".
Seven out of 10.
Although this wonderfully shot CinemaScope Western is stacked with superb actors (Hugh O'Brian, Earl Holliman, E.G. Marshall, Eduard Franz, etc.), some of them don't get particularly meaty roles. O'Brian and Holliman don't have a lot to do in the great scheme of things, mostly following along in Widmarks' wake. However, we can see that Wagner "came along during good times", and has always been favoured, while Widmark has hated being treated for many years as a glorified hired hand. He's good as always in one of his standard antagonistic roles, making the most of the material, as does the excellent Tracy. By contrast, R.J. and Jurado are much more low-key. Tracy, playing a larger than life character, does well at playing this central figure around whom other individuals revolve.
Although not epic in scope, this does manage to tell a pretty good story, with efficient direction by the under-rated Edward Dmytryk, vibrant photography by Joseph MacDonald, and a lovely score by Leigh Harline. It does go off the rails in its final act, with Widmark turning into an outright villain rather than a more two-dimensional sort of character. Too bad, because one *can* understand him if not completely sympathize with him.
Overall, a good study of a dysfunctional family in the Old West, likened by critic Leonard Martin to a variation on Shakespeares' "King Lear".
Seven out of 10.