Le mystère des bayous

It is funny, because when I started watching this film, I told a friend, "This film is so old, Polly Bergen sounds feminine." Then I read in trivia her voice is dubbed. William Conrad runs uphill, which is the only amazing thing about this film. I've forgotten the rest. Nice shot of the old Bunker Hill though.

At first glance a rather ordinary thriller with a disillusioned cop (Barry Sullivan - pretty good) chasing an escaped con (Vittorio Gassman) deep into the swamps of Louisiana. However, delve a little deeper and you find a dark and cynical meditation on fear, obsession and personal honour.

Unlike ‘The Fugitive' this con is guilty but his crime, although serious, barely gets a mention. The script instead concentrates on the two protagonists and their similarities. Although on different sides of the law, both believe in family and personal honour and cannot compromise their beliefs. Both suffer as a result.

The justice system is portrayed as idle(a Prison Warden only interested in golf), bigoted (a Southern Sheriff who pre-dates ‘In the Heat of the Night') or just plain nasty (William Conrad scoring well as the cop's partner.)

On the down side, the female roles are seriously underwritten (virtuous wife & bayou trash hellcat) and the resolution is implausibly upbeat.

Overall, however, a good ‘B' thriller of its' day, surprisingly violent in places. Director Joseph H Lewis made better movies (‘Gun Crazy', ‘The Big Combo') but this one still begs the question; ‘How in hell did someone so talented end up making episodes of ‘Rifleman'& 'The Big Valley'?!'

A small marvel - but Warning: Swamp Proof Cigarettes...!

Seems there may be some viewers with expectations that are too high for small-budget works and maybe far too many pseudo-psychologists floating around to really do us much good...After reading certain comments I just about gave up taking the time to view this curious movie. It was the interesting title, combined with a marvelous cast and hard-working direction that convinced me, I had to at least watch it out of curiosity. What I saw took me by surprise, so much so I had to look further into how this little film could look so remarkable on such a modest budget.

The crew behind this overlooked gem, all surprisingly turn out to be veteran award winners! Cinematographer: the Russian-born Oscar-nominated Harold Lipstein (Pal Joey '57) ~ Art Direction: by no less than multiple award winner Cedric Gibbons along with fellow award winner Malcolm Brown. ~ Set Decoration: again by a multiple award winner: Edwin B. Willis and Oscar-nominated Ralph S. Hurst. ~ Film Editor: Oscar winner Conrad A. Nerving (Tale of Two Cities '35) ~ Special Effects: by A. Arnold Gillespie (Wizard of Oz '39) and Warren Newcombe (Singin In The Rain '53) both these men also multiple award winners! ~ In the Sound dept: none other than Douglas Shearer, yet another multiple award winner. How could this film not look anything but rather impressive? Still, some viewers expected more!

Add to the above a top cast with awards that just keep on coming: Vittorio Gassman as Jory, the desperate man on the run, a performer with honors stacked upon honors (Bitter Rice '49,Barabbas '61) ~ Emmy winner Polly Bergin: as the Detective's wife. ~ Barry Sullivan the Emmy nominated, constantly reliable performer, known for numerous strong roles (The Bad and the Beautiful '52) as the earnest detective totally dedicated to serving incorruptible justice.~ William Conrad as the sadistically inclined assistant to Sullivan (who also has his eye on his partner's job).

A couple of the support characters offer a not so subtle statement on some low-grade law enforcement attitudes - especially those to be found in backwoods counties during this era. It's here we find a good performance by reliable veteran, Harry Shannon as a very 'suss' sheriff. All this huge talent is then masterly guided by the highly-skilled and underrated winner of the distinguished Hollywood Film Artist award: Joseph H. Lewis.

As Director, Lewis has taken a screenplay by Jack Leonard who garnished an Oscar nomination just the year before with "The Narrow Margin". For this follow-up story, equally laced with observant comments and smart one-liners, Lewis turns it into a taught, exciting Bayou manhunt between two men with a high level of respect for each other's integrity (gained from earlier legal dealings) but,are now on opposing sides of justice.

I note that there are certain liberated Film Commentators who in retrospect - would now have us believe the men of this story are sexually attracted to each other...why so?, well seems it's because of the respect these men demonstrate toward each other (all fully understandable within the context of the story) - Consider one situation: after one has saved the other from a grueling certain death in quicksand they then, wait for it.... sit exhausted and quietly 'share' a pipe! "Hello"... I've heard of imagination but maybe these folk might consider using it with perhaps,a little more observance of cinematic intellect...?

Examining this aspect further; it's a documented fact that tobacco product manufacturers targeted personalities, filmmakers, actors, etc - 'donating' hundreds of thousands of dollars to ensure they would make all forms of smoking appear glamorous, and desirable, for both sexes of any age...Many times throughout the 30s -60s, foolish scenes (like the one being singled out in this film) would be deliberately 'written into' the screenplay for the sake of extra funding. In this particular case, it could not have been more obvious IE: - This pipe and tobacco had been crushed, immersed in swamp water, covered in mud (and quicksand!) but still they 'light-up' to pacify the weary heroes!.

Recent critiques I have read from Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward & Eddie Muller, don't seem to take these facts into consideration - instead, they quite simply interpret such actions as being homosexual tendencies! Should we perhaps expect a little better from these folk...or is this simply about pushing another agenda - who can tell?

Now getting back to better ideas; There are a couple of particularly striking scenes...one where a swamp fever-infected, delusional Sullivan, suffers what can only be seen as a spectacular and rather frightening hallucination. This sequence is designed and executed by first-class artists and is vividly convincing.

Another involves Sullivan and his partner who, while taking refuge in an abandoned swamp Cemetery, come into contact with a demented mourner, quite chilling in its Shakespearian feel and quality. Apart from a few minor script potholes (typical of the era) this work needs to be looked at through eyes that understand the limitations these major/minor projects were forced to overcome and did so quite handsomely.

TCM has given us yet another lost gem - the image quality of the Australian print was not as good as others being screened so, very pleased to see W. B. Archives have now released it on DVD -while it's only a M. O. D. The quality is good.

Like small-budget classic dramas? ~ then this could be for you.

This is a dark film, visually, and the heavy Cajun dialect inhibits communication. The leads are very good: Best I've seen from the underrated Barry Sullivan, and a very good turn by Vittorio Gassman.

Williams Conrad's character isn't likeable -- but he's terrific with it; best performance among the three male leads.

Strongest point is the dialogue, especially Sullivan-Gassman in the latter minutes of the show when they're camping near the bayou. Ending was somewhat predictable, almost too pat but understandable given Hollywood's needs via the production code and the idea of sending patrons (I gather there weren't many) home uplifted.

The parallel to The Fugitive TV series couldn't escape me, and it had nothing to do with Conrad narrating that terrific series.

LA cops Barry Sullivan and William Conrad pursue Cajun Vittorio Gassman into the deadly bayous of Louisiana.

With Joseph H. Lewis directing, you know you're going to get some interesting compositions, and some silly shots too. The latter occurs early on, when they're pursuing a suspect, who jumps on Angel's Flight and rides it to the top, while Conrad runs up beside it and emerges onto the street, not even breathing hard. Mostly though it's about Sullivan, am honest cop whom Gassman respects, while Conrad works over a witness who won't answer his questions -- just out of camera range, while Sullivan looks disgusted. That and strange Cajun culture and stock shots of alligator pulled from TRADER HORN. It's a good programmer, although a bit naive, looking back almost 70 years.