Foxfire

I stumbled into this movie (thanks TCM) and figured I'd give it 5 minutes to see if caught my attention. I stayed until the end. From the very beginning, this is a movie full of stereotypes, melodrama, and over-the-top acting. The story ends up providing most answers (and a bit of education) over the course of 92 minutes. Chandler and Russell create steam and energy that propel the movie at a very entertaining pace. Taking it in context, this is a wonderful period piece.

Originally I read Foxfire before I saw the movie. When I was sixteen I read Anya Seton's novel Foxfire. I enjoyed it immensely. My mother told me that there was a movie based on the novel & I began watching the listings in the TV Guide, searching for the listing for Foxfire. When I finally got to see the movie I was greatly impressed. I was terribly romantic, this movie's theme was a revelation to me of the pettiness of some people. I always found bigotry & prejudice to be very offensive. The way that this was conveyed in the movie brought sympathy to both lead characters. Dartland, J. Chandler's role,was so over sensitized to prejudice & his wife was so naive as to its existence, that the confrontation between the two, made the audience think. There are many sides to ugliness in society & this story embraced many of the facets of prejudice & bigotry. Perhaps love does concur all, at least that, in my opinion, is the theme of this story. I would rate this story as a two hanky classic. Love this film!

1955's "Foxfire" has several things going for it -- mainly the star power of Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler. They are very sexy together and their chemistry permeates this film. Their performances are subtle yet resonate with honest emotion. Both actors have a natural style of acting which allows the viewer to swallow the script's melodramatic clichés without rejecting the whole scenario of a New York socialite impulsively marrying an Arizona miner. Here Russell once again shows that she was in the ranks of Mitchum & Gable -- two of her screen co-stars -- and that she knew how to make her acting look effortless and completely natural. However, given all the salacious publicity she received, rarely was her talent or her charismatic screen presence truly appreciated during her heyday. Here her usual tough and hard-boiled persona is toned downed and she gives a performance showing sensitivity and vulnerability. She is completely believable in a role that was originally intended for June Allyson! Chandler too is quite good: silent yet complex and he shows these characteristics without the histrionics typically used by actors in similar roles (i.e. Robert Stack). The gorgeous Technicolor enhances the Arizona scenery and the great Dan Duryea offers fine support as an alcoholic doctor in love with Russell. Mara Corday also shines in the small role of Duryea's nurse. "Foxfire" is not as stylistic or as over-the-top fun as Douglas Sirks' classic Universal sudsers, but very good in it's own right. The opening credits with Chandler singing the theme song (co-written by Chandler and Henry Mancini) sets the tone for a very good romantic drama starring two of the 1950s most underrated and sexiest stars.

This film needs to be released on DVD!!

I have just seen this film for the first time on TV. I thought it was a little gem of a film, with excellent roles filled by Jeff Chandler and Jane Russell. The authentic settings in Arizona also helped to make this an enjoyable and convincing film.

I am a particular fan of films made in the 1950's and 1960's which I regard as the golden years, when films contained real 'stars' and this one certainly fits the bill for me. I am just surprised that I have not come across this film before. I can recommend it as an ideal film to watch on a wet afternoon. Pity it is not available on DVD. The storyline also deals sensitively with racial prejudices arising from relationships between white people and the native Indians even in the modern times in which the story is set.

Rich Eastern socialite Jane Russell is out West, where she meets half-Apache mining engineer Jeff Chandler. They fall into lust, which in this 1950s Universal drama means they get married quick - Chandler only being half-Indian is why this is acceptable, far more so than if he had been playing a Jew, which he was. Miss Russell is happy to live in a bug-infested shack, but she doesn't take to being a bedtime hobby for her husband.

There's a bit of sociology and psychology that gives this movie some depth, but under the direction of Joseph Pevney it turns into another soaper about "love on my terms." Miss Russell seems the nobler for having to chase cockroaches down the sink, but Chandler's obsession is getting an old gold mine up and profitable on the reservation, creating job and wealth for his mother's people. That seems more useful to me; one contemptuous character remarks he has turned down good jobs back East in his futile-seeming quest.

William H. Daniels gets some gorgeous photography out of the beautiful leads and land around Kingman, Arizona. The cast is padded with Dan Duryea in a subplot that does nothing, Mara Corday as the woman who loves him, and the always worthwhile Barton MacLane.

The pretty pictures will keep you interested, but for me the ending, in which Miss Russell returns to Chandler, seems more a matter of what the audience expects than anything else. They appear to have both realized what's wrong with their relationship, but knowing it and doing something about it are two very different things.