El valle de las sombras

A down-trodden girl, a mutt dog, and a criminal fugitive on the run. Sounds a lot like 1941's High Sierra, even down to lead actress Ida Lupino. But it doesn't matter that these elements got recycled, because Deep Valley is a really watchable 90 minutes of Hollywood melodrama. Sure, it's hokey at times, especially the weepy ending that's squeezed for all its worth. But the movie is also a testimonial to the demandingly high standards of Hollywood studio production-- scope out the great farm house that almost looks like Katrina hit it, and the road project that looks so real, I expect it was. There's also the exquisite b&w photography from cameraman Ted Mc Cord, along with expert direction from studio ace Jean Negulesco. But most of all, it's the absolutely luminous performance from Lupino in the central role. Was there anyone ever better at playing soulful parts. Here, her stuttering, long-suffering farm girl whose only joy is her dog and the great outdoors, is enough to move the Rock of Gibraltar, and is surely Oscar-worthy. Speaking of the outdoors, it's also a measure of the film's underlying romanticism that the lovers seek refuge in the liberating openness of nature, and away from the blessings of civilization. For each has been brutalized by societal forces larger than themselves. Dane Clark is very good too, even if he never got past second fiddle to John Garfield-- then too, his strictly blue-collar personality was a poor fit for the upwardly mobile 1950's, and by that white-collar decade, he was gone. Anyhow, this super-slick film again demonstrates how wonderfully vital B-pictures of the studio era could be, and is well worth a look see.

I caught this on Turner Classic Movies, during a showcase of movies that are not yet available on video. And what a shame, because this is a remarkably vivid, extremely well produced effort, featuring a typically marvelous performance from the so called "poor man's Bette Davis" Ida Lupino - her last as a Warner Brothers star. As well as an intense, believable turn from one of the WB's preferred non-glamour, refreshingly regular Joe's, Dane Clark.

She plays a stuttering, socially backward young woman living in a dark household where her petty, nagging father (Henry Hull) gloomily inhabits the first floor and her helpless, self-pitying mother (Fay Bainter) occupies the second one. Her only function, beyond tedious daily chores, is to be the convenient target of her parents' scorn and disappointment, the scorn and disappointment they actually intend for each other but are too weary to express - as they literally haven't spoken for years. Not helping matters is the fact that there are no other neighbors for miles, as the three of them are fenced in, both physically and now emotionally by the surrounding hills.

Lupino's only refuge is the woods, where she often blissfully roams for hours with her dog. During one of her excursions she stumbles across a work crew of convicts on a construction project, supervised by an agreeable WW2 veteran played by Wayne Morris. She is instantly captivated by one of the men (Clark, who is friendly towards her dog) despite the fact that the undoubtedly more respectable Morris soon drops by the house to get water for the crew and is clearly taken with her. But she prefers the dangerous Clark (from afar - they've only made eye contact) and is concerned that he has been placed in isolation as a result of a violent, if provoked, rage.

Soon, a terrible storm hits. Clark escapes his confinement in the mayhem, as does Lupino, deciding she can no longer withstand the unrelenting hopelessness her parents are inflicting on her. She and Clark run into each other in the woods and ... well, they fall in love.

I'd hate to give any more away but, as with all good movies, there are surprises in store and events to unfold. The characterizations are three dimensional, lived in, particularly those of Bainter and Hull as Lupino's folks. It would've been all too easy for them to have come across as simply nasty and grotesque, but they both do a wonderful job of shading their performances so that you can sense the buried humanity, the regret, the slender possibility of some kind of redemption. There's a tantalizing hint of mystery in Morris' nice guy supervisor as well. It's a relatively small role, but he seems TOO nice, TOO forgiving of and understanding of Lupino's stuttering and social backwardness. Though it's understandably left largely unexplored, you find yourself wondering about the guy's true intentions.

Wonderful film. There's a good amount of suspense too in the second half, as the authorities keep closing in and things get very tense. A colorful, cagey sheriff who appears to enjoy his work a bit too much comes out of nowhere and almost steals the show.

The director, Jean Negulesco, has put together a beautiful film. It's worth seeing for the stunning cinematography alone. Couple that with flawless performances across the board and an insightful, nuanced script ... "Deep Valley" has the richness and texture of an old hardback novel you pick off the shelves of a good used bookstore and can't put down. How do movies like this get so lost when mediocrities abound? (Didn't mean to rhyme.)

I unfortunately caught only a part of this film on TCM and I will look for it again to see the beginning. But I was stunned by its beauty and especially the cinematography, so I wanted to add my comments as a "Hear! Hear!" to the comment above.

Thank goodness there's a Turner Classic Movies. These Warner Brothers classics are gems I'd never have known otherwise. This film is visual poetry.

I had to turn to imdb.com in order to find out who the cinematographer and director were. Beautiful. One doesn't realize often enough what there was at Warner Brothers. Personally I get a thrill when I hear that introductory music.

The new Pacific Coast highway is being built and a meadow is being sacrificed from Henry Hull's farm for the job though he got some good money for it. Looking at the place it's kind of depressing and hopefully he'll fix the place up.

It's probably most depressing for Ida Lupino in one of her best films Deep Valley. She's a shy withdrawn girl with a stammer and she doesn't have outlets for socialization. She lives on said farm with her parents Hull and Fay Bainter who is one of those women perpetually sick. With a road crew under the direction of engineer Wayne Morris all of them at the farm actually lighten up with the arrival of human contact.

The crew on the road is convict labor and one of them, Dane Clark is a person of violent temper which is why he's there on a manslaughter rap. He escapes during a landslide and the whole county under sheriff Willard Robertson is on the hunt.

The shy and and backward Lupino discovers Clark and befriends him. She just wants to see the world and Clark is really a tragic figure, as socially regressed as she except that his temper makes him lash out.

Though some of the character development of the supporting players isn't quite well rounded when director Jean Negulesco is concentrating on his stars Lupino and Clark he's got a winner in Deep Valley. Color cinematography might have really given this film a boost, especially the outdoor scenes. On the other the black and white does accent the tragic elements of the story so take your choice.

This is definitely one of Ida Lupino's five best roles. For her fans Deep Valley is a must.

This film was a nice showcase for Ida Lupino--who normally was in second-tier films or played supporting roles in most of her films. Here, despite a relatively low budget, she has a nice opportunity to show her acting prowess.

The film is set in rural America. A road crew with convict labor is working near Lupino's home. She lives with her parents--an ineffectual and sickly mother (Fay Bainter) as well as an often cruel and moody father (Henry Hull). The father sees the foreman of the road crew (Wayne Morris) as a likely candidate to take his 'stupid' daughter off his hands--so he tries very hard to convince the two to spend time together. Odd, then, that instead of Morris, Ida falls in love with one of the convicts--one who has escaped and befriended her (Dane Clark). Much of the movie is spent with Clark hiding and meeting Lupino on the sly.

The plot is okay but the best part of the film is clearly Lupino--who plays a brow-beaten young woman extremely well. A great film? Nah...but for lovers of classic cinema, one well worth seeing.