User Reviews

20th Century Fox's BROKEN LANCE ('54) was -alongside "Garden Of Evil - the first western in the then new process of Cinemascope and Stereophonic sound! This was the splendid format which revolutionized picture making and throughout the fifties the studio was the forerunner, and were expert, at producing films in this new medium. Who can forget such memorable classics as "King Of The Khyber Rifles" (' 53), "Beneath The 12 Mile Reef" (' 54), "Untamed" (' 55), "The Last Wagon" (' 56) and "The Bravados" (' 58). All ablaze in that amazing new lifelike widescreen creation!

BROKEN LANCE was a western remake of the studio's earlier "House Of Strangers" (' 49) and the change of setting suited the highly charged taut drama quite well! Richly photographed in colour in the new process by the great Joe McDonald it was solidly directed by Edward Dmytryk. Splendidly written and developed by Richard Murphy from Philip Yordan's original screenplay it was well acted by a nicely chosen cast. Spencer Tracy - in one of his rare forays into a western - plays Matthew Devereaux, the irascible autocratic cattle rancher who because of his harsh nature and domineering ways causes great enmity with his four sons. With one son Joe (Robert Wagner) there is a mutual respect but he treats the three others with derision and dissension. This eventually leads the eldest son Ben (Richard Widmark) wanting to take over the ranch. After an altercation - which causes the father to have a stroke - the story culminates in the ailing Matthew riding out after his three errant sons to prevent them from selling off the land and dying in the saddle from the exertion and strain of the pursuit. It is a wonderfully executed intense and powerfully dramatic sequence!

Although he dabbled before in the genre and even played a cattle baron seven years earlier in "Sea Of Grass" (' 47) it is nonetheless unusual to see Tracy in a western! But he is excellent here in the role of the domineering patriarch out west and delivers the goods as if westerns were a common thing for him! (two years later he was to play a similar part in MGM's "Tribute To A Bad Man" (' 56) but was replaced by James Cagney at the last minute). The supporting cast were good too! Besides Wagner and Widmark the other brothers were played by Hugh O'Brien and Earl Hollimann. The lovely Jean Peters has the female lead but really has little to do in an under written part! But Katy Jurado gives a nice restrained performance as Tracy's Indian wife and earned an Oscar nomination for her efforts.

Besides the stunning Cinemascope/colour Cinematography on locations in southern Arizona the picture also has a stunning score by the ever underrated and little known composer Leigh Harline! Harline was an interesting movie composer! He was born in Utah in 1907. After attending the University of Utah he joined the Utah Radio Orchestra. In Hollywood from the early thirties he went to work for the Disney Studios where he wrote the music for "Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs" and also for "Pinocchio" (' 40) from which came the huge song hit "When You Wish Upon A Star". This tune assured lifelong financial comfort for Harline! He stayed in Hollywood and worked mostly on a free-lance basis. Alfred Newman liked his work and had him score many of Fox's top pictures such as "House Of Bamboo" (' 55), "True Story Of Jesse James" (' 56), "The Enemy Below"(' 57) and "Warlock" (' 59). His music from BROKEN LANCE is probably his best work! The Main Title is a powerfully dramatic and engaging statement for full orchestra! Scored for baying brass and striking bravura strings - with faintly humming female chorus - it is at once thrilling and exhilarating! This theme is used in different guises throughout the picture and creates great impact first as Devereaux and his ranch hands ride across some magnificent Cinemascope landscapes in hot pursuit of some cattle rustlers and then again for the final chase sequence! There is also an Irish melody to point up the main protagonist's Irish background and a gentle love theme for the film's softer moments for scenes with Wagner and Peters. Thankfully this fine score has been preserved on an excellent record album! Harline's last score was his excellent music for "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao" (' 64). He died in 1969!

So quite a satisfying movie all round! It perhaps is not, and never will be, regarded as a brilliant western but it will always be remembered as a splendid reworking of the "King Lear" tale in a most pleasing, handsome and dynamic Cinemascope setting!

This 1954 western won an Academy Award for Best Writing and Katy Jurado was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Spencer Tracy is Matthew Deveraux, a self-made Irish (with a name like Deveraux? -- Cajun maybe -- but Irish?) cattle baron owning a huge herd and ranch. He is absolute patriarch over his 4 sons and Indian wife (Jurado), ruling with little feeling for his sons who he treats as hired hands but doting on his spouse.

He does have a soft spot, however, for half-breed son Joe (Robert Wagner) which the other three sons from a previous marriage especially the oldest Ben (Richard Widmark) deeply resent. Joe has fallen in love with Barbara (Jean Peters), the governor's daughter further complicating things as the governor (E.G. Marshall) is highly prejudiced against Indians.

A violent dispute with a copper mining company polluting creek waters leads to all kinds of legal trouble and Matt must sign the ranch away to his sons. Joe becomes the sacrificial lamb and goes to jail for 3 years basically to keep his father free.

Meanwhile Ben now runs the cattle business as he sees fit and in direct defiance of his father's wishes.

The film has beautiful landscape photography that is not to be missed. Both Tracy and Widmark offer strong performances.

But there are some problems here that hold the film down.

Wagner's performance is flat and he is not believable at all as being part Indian. Jurado has little to say or do and how she was Oscar nominated is hard to fathom.

The other two sons portrayed by Earl Holliman and Hugh O'Brian are woefully underdeveloped just going along with whatever Widmark's character wants. By the end of the film they have disappeared entirely.

Compare this with a film like the "The Sons Of Katie Elder" where the group dynamic and personalities of 4 similar western sons are much better developed and explored and you may feel somewhat cheated by what this film could have been.

It's never quite clear (at least to me) why Joe has to go to jail since he did not even start the fight with the copper company. And why the copper company would care if anyone goes to jail (since they get everything they want in the settlement) is also a head scratcher. This just seemed a highly contrived plot device.

Finally, another Indian, Two Moons (Eduard Franz - a serious miscast if I ever saw one), saves Joe at a critical point in the film.

Wny he appears at just the right moment and his devotion to the Deveraux family is never fully explained (at least to my satisfaction).

In fact, there is a whole subplot about Matt Deveraux and the Indians that is touched on but never explored as well. Matt has a surprising respect for wolves (especially for a cattleman) that begged for some further explanation. He is a complex multi-faceted character that should have been better developed.

An average oater saved only by Tracy, Widmark, and the spectacular scenery. It could have been so much better.

If you want to see Spencer Tracy in a Western, you'll have to take what you get here in this story of a land baron who alienates his sons but expects their undying loyalty at the same time. Don't get me wrong, Tracy's good here in his role, but the story is a bit convoluted with the renegade sons, and relies on youngest half-brother Joe (Robert Wagner) to take the fall for his father's going off half cocked at a copper mine and destroying a good portion of the company's assets. I couldn't help but feel a little more work could have gone into the story line, and yet it won a 1955 Oscar for Best Writing. Go figure.

Just going by the cast list, this should have been something special. Richard Widmark, Hugh O'Brian and Earl Holliman portray the older three brothers, born of Matt Devereaux's (Tracy) first wife, but their characters were never really developed to any significant degree. All we get is that Ben (Widmark) is the strong willed oldest brother, and Denny is the whiny, sniveling sibling who has a penchant for being disagreeable. Quite honestly, I don't know why O'Brian was even needed in the story, did he even say anything throughout the picture?

Actually, it seemed like Katy Jurado was the force that kept the momentum of the picture on track as Matt's second wife and mother of Joe. Funny, but apparently she didn't have her own name in the story, she just went by Senora Devereaux. The more I see Jurado in these kinds of roles, the more I seem to like her. I guess I'd have to say I enjoyed her best in 1952's "High Noon", a movie that's just about on everyone's favorite Westerns list.

Told in an extended flashback manner, the story eventually catches itself back up in real time to find Matt Devereaux attempting to wield his authority one last time to prevent his sons from selling off parts of his empire to fund other interests. Senora Devereaux uses her influence with son Joe to stop him from seeking revenge on his older brothers, though there is a neat fight between Ben and Joe near the top of a rocky outcrop. My vote for best performance goes to the two stuntmen who filled in at that point; the way they rolled down the side of that mountain looked like it would have been mighty painful.

This film was a western remake of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1949 terrific movie, "House of Strangers". Director, Edward Dmytryk does a great job of opening up the story from an urban one to the sprawling west and directing a strong talented cast. Richard Murphy's screenplay is a character study of a domineering patriarch, Matt Devereaux (Tracy) and his four sons. The youngest is a progeny from a second marriage to a Native-American woman well-played by Katy Jurado. Murphy's story is sleek and fast-paced and includes a sub-plot of racial prejudice rare for Hollywood films of the time. But it is the actors who really are the strength of the film. Robert Wagner turns in a fine performance as the half-Native American son, Joe. Wagner has had a lengthy career and is today mostly known for being "Number 2" in the Austin Powers films. Few people recall the string of great films he performed in during the '50's like this one. Wagner's acting was on a par with the variety of heavy-weights he was often paired off with. Spencer Tracy, not one to suffer fools thought a great deal of the young Wagner and performed in one other film with him a few years later ("The Mountain").

Richard Widmark is terrific as the oldest son, Ben. Very underrated and one of the best actors of his generation, Widmark is the long-suffering son who bears the brunt of the hard-times suffered under his tough father's ambitions for success as a rancher in the roughest of times in the west. The other two sons are ably played by Hugh O'Brian and a young Earl Holliman. Jean Peters is fine as Wagner's love interest. Katy Jurado does a great job in a wonderfully under-stated role as Matt Devereaux's second wife. The rest of the cast includes some great film and theatre veterans, Carl Benton Reid, Eduard Franz, and the great E.G. Marshall.

With all these fine talents this is still Spencer Tracy's film. This is a perfect larger than life character that Tracy fills out so well. Charismatic, strong and appealing, Matt Devereaux is a role that could've been one-dimensional in the hands of a lesser talent. Tracy's presence is even felt in the scenes he isn't in.

This is a fine film entertainment that is sprawling in size in the true measure of 1950's cinema-scope. You'll enjoy it again... and again!

As the film begins Joe Devereaux is picked up and told that he is being taken to see the state governor; when he gets there he learns of a deal that has been struck between the governor and his three brothers… he has just finished a three year jail sentence and they want him well away; to this end they give him ten thousand dollars and instructions to be on the night train to Oregon. Instead of accepting the deal he throws the money in the spittoon and rides back to his family's ranch; it has been abandoned for some time but a portrait of his father still hangs over the fireplace. The action then jumps back a few years to when his father Matt Devereaux was still alive and running the ranch. We quickly learn that he is a hard man who pays his sons the same amount that he pays the rest of his hands and thinks nothing of trying to trick Barbara, the governor's daughter, into eating a chilli pepper during dinner. She eats it even after being told what it is and after dinner she and Joe spend some time together and grow close. Shortly afterwards the governor tells Matt that he doesn't want Joe seeing her because he is half Indian; it is clear that this prejudice is the thing that offends Matt the most. Soon afterwards they discover some of their cattle dead; poisoned by the run-off from the nearby copper mine. When they go to visit the manager a confrontation ensues and the mine buildings are destroyed. This is the beginning of the end for Matt; taken to court, he faces losing everything till Joe claims to have drawn first; he is jailed so Matt decides to settle… his other sons won't allow it though. Joe ends up spending three years in jail and his father gradually fades away and dies while his brothers run the ranch the way they want under the leadership of eldest brother Ben. When events catch up with what we saw in the opening scenes Joe says he intends to leave with Barbara; Ben has other ideas though and the two of them must confront each other.

This western was different from most I've seen; usually the cattlemen are fighting each other or trying to run farmers off their land but here a cattleman is in conflict with a mining company and the conflict is resolved on the floor of a courtroom not in the middle of the street with a pair of six-shooters. Spencer Tracy did a fine job as the elderly Matt Devereaux; portraying him as a strong, harsh man who did have a protective side towards his Indian wife and half-Indian youngest son; as his character became broken he remained believable. Robert Wagner did a good job as Joe and Richard Widmark impressed as Ben, the eldest brother who had a long standing, and to a degree justified grievance against his father. Often in films of this era the Native Americans are portrayed as the villains but this film treats them far more sympathetically with one protagonist married to an Indian woman and the other, his son, half Indian; this made a refreshing change. While this isn't this most action packed western I've seen it has enough and the story is good; I'd certainly recommend it to fans of the genre.

This film had quite the stellar cast. Spencer Tracy plays the patriarch of his family. The sons are played by Robert Wagner, Richard Widmark, Hugh O'Brian and Earl Holliman. While the actors playing the sons are pretty impressive, as I watched the film I thought that the casting was odd. The bottom line is that Robert Wagner was just way too pretty to be playing the toughest of the four sons. Seeing him in a western was difficult enough to believe and I think he is a fine actor--just outside his range here. I really don't know why Twentieth-Century Fox cast him in the role. Now I am not saying he was bad--he just didn't look the part and seemed better suited to romantic roles.

The film is a remake of the wonderful Edward G. Robinson film "House of Strangers"--which itself seems to be a retelling of the story of Joseph and his brothers from the book of Genesis. Both films are about a very controlling, stubborn and sometimes cruel patriarch who bullies his sons. Here, Spencer Tracy is a cattle baron who is one of the most powerful men in the state. While the viewer naturally dislikes him (he plays a jerk who treats his sons with contempt) in the essential struggle in the film, he is in the right...for once. Apparently he has sold some mining rights on his property BUT when the miners use arsenic to mine for gold (a common but insanely deadly practice in the 19th century) it kills off some of Tracy's cattle. The miners don't seem to care so Tracy takes the law into his own hands--after all HE is always right.

Eventually, Tracy's actions land him in court and it looks pretty bad for him. After all, you can't shoot at people, beat people up or threaten to hang people whenever you like! His most loyal son, Wagner, decides the best thing to do to help is to perjure himself on the witness stand. However, the other brothers obviously hate their father and Wagner is only their half-brother, so they refuse to perjure themselves as well--leaving Wagner to go to prison and Tracy to lose his case. The bottom line is that the three sons were just waiting to see Tracy fall--like sharks waiting around as another shark got sick and showed weakness.

Overall, a wonderful story. It's gritty, well-acted and involving. The only problem is that although it's all very good, the original story was perhaps even better--plus it was original. Because of this, the film needs to lose a point. It's well worth seeing but I say first see the original.

Some things you just don't do for dear old dad. Autocratic cattle baron Matt Devereaux(Spenser Tracy)leads a raid on copper mine activities that are polluting his water. The more faithful of his sons Joe(Robert Wagner)takes the rap and upon release from prison butts heads with his brother Ben(Richard Widmark)concerning the circumstances of their father's demise. Stepmother Senora(Katy Jurado)becomes closer to Joe and in spite of the fragmentation of the family; the legacy of Matt Devereaux is restored.

Tracy is close to flawless. Wagner and Widmark's rivalry is very believable. There is a star-studded cast in support: E.G. Marshall, Hugh O'Brien, Earl Holliman and Jean Peters.

I've been watching in order as many of the Spencer Tracy films as I could as I read the new biography about him. When you pop this film into the DVD player from that perspective, you realize that even though Tracy had starred in a good many great films, with this film he entered truly modern film making.

Here you had wide screen photography, on-location shooting, rich -- but realistic -- Technicolor (I believe this was only his second color film, the first being "Northwest Passage", 14 years earlier), and what I'll call realistic modern (aka gritty) acting by the principals.

There were so many times while watching this film that I thought to myself, "God, what a great actor Spencer Tracy was". And, surprisingly perfect for this particular role. His many years of playing polo, though in the past, made him look very natural in the saddle. As a man, I hate to say this, but his beautiful gray -- almost white -- hair made him look the part of tough western father so perfectly. And his diction, whether being rough on his foolish sons, or tender with his Mexican wife. Even though I had this on my DVD shelf, I'd only watched it once before, but I would have to say this was one of Spencer Tracy's finer performances, and actually a very different role for him.

It's been said that Tracy liked the then young Robert Wagner, who plays the favored (though racially mixed) son in this movie. I've always been rather neutral about Wagner -- liking him in some films, and not so much in others. Here he does an admirable job and manages to look the part. On the other hand, Richard Widmark, who had to suffer through 4th billing on this film, is a wonderful actor, but his scenes in the first half of this film are minor, weak, and his role is just too negative to like his character at all. His stronger scenes come later in the film when you begin to see how impressive his acting could be. Jean Peters and Katy Jurado are excellent, although make no mistake, this is a man's picture. The two other sons -- Hugh O'Brien and Earl Holliman have minor roles -- often in the frame, but with little significant dialog. There were a number of films where Earl Holliman was a whining-son type, and this is one of them...very unlikable type of role, and not demonstrative at all of the level of work he was capable of. Another notable character actor here -- E.G. Marshall -- plays an important role, and does it well, though he does not have much screen time.

There was a time, of course, that Westerns were a dominant force in both motion pictures and television. And, when I was young I loved them. But Westerns are passé, and it is a rare Western that can hold my attention today. This is one such film. It isn't often that I give an "8", but I will here. This is a extremely fine motion picture that deserves a place on your DVD shelf.