Harrison's Reports (1950)

78 HARRISON'S REPORTS May 20, 1950 "Devil's Doorway" with Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern and Paula Raymond (MGM, July; time, 84 min.) The suffering of the American Indians when the white settlers started to take over their lands in the West is told with considerable effect in this outdoor melodrama, but many movie-goers, particularly the action fans, may find it too slow and tragic for their taste. Much sympathy is felt for the hero, an educated Indian, who, although a highly decorated Civil War veteran, is deprived of his property by the provisions of the homestead laws, and treated with con' tempt by greedy, prejudiced whites. Robert Taylor does a very fine job as the persecuted Indian; he cuts an heroic figure and makes the character a real and understandable man. Most of the excitement occurs in the closing reels, where Taylor and his followers engage in an all-out war against the white marauders in a determined effort to hold on to their lands. The picture ends on a tragic note, with Taylor and the other men of his tribe dying in a final skirmish with a troop of U. S. Cavalry: — Taylor, a full-blooded Shoshone Indian, returns home to Medicine Bow, Wyoming, after distinguished service with the Union Army at Gettysburg and winning the Congressional Medal of Honor. He soon learns that his war record meant nothing to the white men in town, for they long resented the fact that he and his father (Fritz Lieber) owned rich grazing lands, accessible only through a jagged gap in the mountains. Taylor's success as a cattle-breeder is dimmed by the death of his father, who succumbs when the local white doctor delays coming to his aid. He becomes increasingly aware of public sentiment on his next cattle-selling trip to town, when he is refused service at the saloon and insulted by Louis Calhern, an Indian-hating lawyer, who tells him that his land will soon be taken over by sheepherders under a new homesteading law. Concerned, Taylor seeks the advice of Paula Raymond, an attractive new attorney in town, who agrees to handle his affairs and stakes a claim on the land he already owns. When official word arrives that Taylor, as an Indian, is not a citizen but a ward of the Government and cannot file a claim, he vows to hold on to his land regardless of the law. Paula, sympathizing with him, starts a petition to allow Taylor to keep at least a part of his land, but Calhern, who had arranged for sheepherders to migrate to Wyoming, stops the signing by revealing that Taylor had just shot one of their number. Egged on by Calhern, the sheepherders set out to take over Taylor's lands by force. This move gives rise to a bloody battle, with heavy losses on both sides and with Taylor eventually compelled to retreat with his tribesmen to his cabin, where a stockade is built hurriedly. Paula, who had summoned the cavalry, arranges with the sheepherders to hold their fire while she pleads with Taylor to give in, but he tells her that an Indian would rather be dead than without his land. The shooting resumes, and later, when the soldiers arrive and join the attack, Taylor agrees to surrender on condition that the women and children are escorted safely back to the reservation. This done, Taylor surrenders, dressed in his old cavalry uniform with one sleeve now empty. He salutes the soldiers and falls dead. It was produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Anthony Mann from a story by Guy Trosper. Suitable for the family. "Return of the Frontiersman" with Gordon MacRae and Julie London (Warner Bros., June 24; time, 74 mm.) Aside from the fact that it has Technicolor photography, this is no more than a routine western melodrama of program grade. Since it does have several exciting fights and chases, it may prove acceptable to juveniles and the avid, undiscriminating western addicts. Others, however, will probably be bored with it, for the script is as commonplace as they come, and somewhat muddled to boot. The direction and acting are ordinary, but neither the director nor the players could do much with a script that is as undistinguished as this one. The title, incidentally, has little relation to the story. The photography is fine: — Gordon MacRae, son of Jack Holt, the sheriff who had brought law and order to the wild town of Laramie, Wyoming, gets into a saloon brawl with Ed Rand. Holt fines and sentences them to several days in jail, despite the protest of Rory Calhoun, the local newspaper editor, who claimed that MacRae had caught Rand cheating at cards. Shortly after both are released from jail, Rand is shot dead just as MacRae passes his cabin on the road. Aware that he will be blamed for the shooting, MacRae flees, but his father forms a posse and captures him. Taken back to jail to stand trial, MacRae, aided by Calhoun who slips him a gun, escapes, but is wounded in the process. He falls unconscious in a hayloft, during which time the local bank is robbed by a gang whose leader wore clothes just like those worn by MacRae, and whose horse was similar. MacRae, regaining consciousness, makes his way to the local doctor and, under threat of harming Julie London, his niece, compels him to take out the bullet. He then learns for the first time that he was suspected of the bank robbery. He flees into the hills, taking Julie along as hostage to make sure that the doctor will not spread the alarm. He tries to convince her of his innocence, but to no avail. Later, however, when both witness a stage holdup by the gang whose leader was dressed like MacRae, Julie believes him and determines to help him clear himself. With Julie's aid, MacRae manages to capture the man who was impersonating him, but the fellow is shot dead by a mysterious marksman before MacRae can bring him into town. In the complicated events that follow, MacRae comes across evidence proving that Calhoun, his supposed friend, was the man who had engineered the crimes charged against him This leads to a fight between Calhoun's outlaws and the forces of law, with MacRae and his father fighting shoulder to shoulder until the outlaws are subdued. With his name cleared, MacRae prepares to marry Julie. It was produced by Saul Elkins and directed by Richard Bare, from a screen play by Edna Anhalt. Harmless for the family trade. "Mystery Street" with Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest and Bruce Bennett (MGM, July; time, 93 min.) A pretty good murder melodrama. What makes it more interesting than the usual crime picture is the way in which the spectator is taken behind the scenes and shown the different scientific methods employed by Harvard University's famed Department of Legal Medicine in crime detection work. In this case human bones and a few strands of hair are the only clues provided to the Department, yet by reconstructing the bones to form a skeleton it is able to establish the approximate date of death, the cause, and eventually the victim's identity. All this is so absorbing that one feels as if watching the actual solution of a crime. Aside from the crime detection techniques, the story offers considerable excitement and suspense in its depiction of the plight of a young married man who is jailed for the murder, though innocent. The manner in which the real culprit is found out and captured is a bit too patly contrived, but this is a minor flaw in the generally well written story. Ricardo Montalban is effective as the detective assigned to the case. A most colorful characterization is provided by Elsa Lanchester, as a greedy, blackmailing landlady : — Briefly, the story revolves around the murder of Jan Sterling, a B-girl in a cheap Boston cafe, by a married Cape Cod socialite who had been running around with her. Her body, hidden on a sandy beach, is not discovered until three months later, when nothing more than human bones are found. Montalban, assigned to the case, takes the bones to Bruce Bennett, head of the Harvard Department of Legal Medicine, and together they establish her identity and pin the murder on Marshall Thompson, a young married man she had picked up on the night of her murder, and whose