L'homme de nulle part

This dramatic western is just what the doctor ordered. As fresh today as it was in 1956 when I was 2! The scenery alone is so impressive that watching Glenn Ford is just icing on the cake. These titanic actors really nail it on this film. I imagine the 'behind the scenes' horseplay was probably as good as what was captured on film. Ford is handsome as ever and decent down to his toes. Borgnine is a teddy bear that gets burned in the end. Steiger is the bad guy and is perfect for the role. A young Bronson in a small part shines. I watched this on the Western channel, which endlessly plays the same movies over and over. However I had never heard of this movie. Being a Glenn Ford fan, I figured that I'd at least watch the beginning. This film will not disappoint anyone who likes good writing, beautiful scenery and wonderful acting.

Jubal is directed by Delmer Daves and adapted by Daves and Russell S. Hughes from the Paul Wellman novel Jubal Troop. It stars Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger, Charles Bronson, Valerie French & Felicia Farr. David Raksin scores the music and Charles Lawton Jr. is the cinematographer. Out of Columbia Pictures it's a CinemaScope/Technicolor production, and location for the shoot is Jackson Hole, The Grand Tetons, Wyoming, USA.

Jubal Troop (Ford) is found exhausted out on the range and given shelter at a nearby ranch owned by Shep Horgan (Borgnine). Shep oversees Jubal's recovery and offers him a job as part of his ranch team. This is met with objection by Shep's leading man Pinky (Steiger), but Shep is undeterred and Jubal goes on to prove his worth in the position. Shep and Jubal get on great, but trouble is brewing because Shep's pretty Canadian wife Mae (French) has taken quite a shine to Jubal. This further enrages Pinky and a hornets nest is stirred, spelling trouble for practically everyone.

Delmer Daves' (Dark Passage/Broken Arrow) Jubal is often likened to William Shakespeare's Othello, that's something that, whilst being flattering, is best ignored. For Jubal, and its makers, deserve credit in their own right for producing such a tight, tense, adult Western. It's a film that's driven by characters who are caught in a web of jealousy and suppressed emotions, with the underrated Daves bringing some psychological dimensions into the narrative. He's also a director who knows that such a story benefits greatly by not including action and violence just for the sake of upping the tempo. He paces this film to precision, winding up the tension to breaking point, then to unleash all the pent up fury on the viewers - and even then he (correctly) chooses to keep some critical moments off the screen, gaining results far better than if stuff had actually been shown the audience (two shots in the finale are stupendously memorable).

This griping human drama is played out in front of magnificent scenery, where Daves and Lawton Jr. (3:10 to Yuma/Comanche Station) utilise the CinemaScope and Technicolor facilities to their maximum potential, filling the widescreen frame with majestic mountains,vibrant slanted forests and rolling grassy hills. The Grand Tetons location had previously been used in other notable Western movies such as The Big Trail, The Big Sky and famously for George Stevens' Shane, while post Jubal it served as a considerable purpose for Dances with Wolves. All of this grandeur for the eyes is boosted by Raksin's (Laura/Fallen Angel) score, with gentle swirls for the tender Jubal/Naomi thread and rushes for the posse sequences, it's an arrangement very at one with the mood and tempo of the story.

The cast list oozes star power and gets performances to match. Ford is a master at roles calling for underplayed intensity, and that's exactly what he gives Jubal Troop. Keeping the characters' cards close to his chest in the beginning, Ford pitches it perfect as the emotionally bottled up drifter. Borgnine, a year after his Oscar win for Marty, is perfect foil to Ford's calmness, he's in turn big and boisterous, often crude, yet under the bluster is a sweet and honest man. And there in the middle of the three men is Steiger bringing the method. Pinky is brooding, devious and one pulse beat away from being psychotic, but Steiger, with a menacing drawl flowing out of his mouth, is creepily mannered. Steiger and Daves clashed over how to play Pinky, the director wanting something more akin to Ford's serene like role play, but Steiger wanted it played bitter and coiled spring like - the actor getting his way when producer William Fadiman sided with him.

Valerie French (Decision at Sundown) looks beautiful in Technicolor, and in spite of an accent problem, does a neat line in how to play a smoldering fuse in a box of fire crackers. Felicia Farr (The Last Wagon) is the polar opposite, religiously comely and virginal, she's a touch underused but the play off with French impacts well in the story. Key support goes to Charles Bronson (The Magnificent Seven) as Reb, loyal friend to Jubal. Played with laid back machismo, it's something of what would become the trademark Bronson performance. Other notables in the support cast are the always value for money Noah Beery Jr. (Wagons West), John Dierkes (The Hanging Tree) and Jack Elam (The Man From Laramie).

Damn fine film that's worthy of being sought out by those interested in the best of the 1950s slew of Adult Westerns. 8.5/10

In the mid-1950's writer-director Delmer Daves made a series of superior westerns for Columbia studios. Too bad these films have not gotten their critical due from movie historians or critics. Perhaps it's because they lack the thematic continuity of a Buddy Boetticher or a John Ford to tie them together. Still each entry presents its own distinct virtues and all are greatly entertaining. If the compact, and tautly told "3:10 to Yuma" is the best of the lot, the scenic and sprawling "Jubal" runs a close second. This mid-series film features Glenn Ford's easy-going charm, a rowdy Earnest Borgnine, a luscious Valerie French, and the panoramic backdrop of Jackson Hole Wyoming. And in an odd piece of casting, which Daves seems fond of, method actor extrordinaire Rod Steiger appears as a treacherous ranch hand named of all things, Pinky! Following the dueling styles of Ford vs. Steiger is at least as interesting as the otherwise well-staged outbursts of gunplay.

Judging from other entries, such as 1958's "Cowboy", Daves seems genuinely intrigued by the real life of cowhands. Thus the cowhands in Jubal are more vividly drawn and distinctively presented than their usual role as faceless stage props. The story itself features a fairly explicit (for its time) woman in heat (French), whose scheming shenanigans set off a plot- driving chain of events, while shifting alliances among ranch hands and settlers round out a sprawling and sometimes over-generous plot. And, oh yes, making a sudden appearance half way through, a lonesome Charles Bronson in a tacked on role that perhaps provided a needed payday, (Daves and Bronson had been together in the earlier, oddball essay "Drumbeat".) If none of this sounds good, then just sit back and take in the beautifully photographed alpine landscape that has salvaged many a western much less worthy than "Jubal".

Very tough Western with great acting and masterfully made , it stars Glenn Ford as Jubal. Jube Troop emerges from the dust to stop awhile as a hired hand for jolly rancher, Ernest Borgnine, as he is a cowhand who drifts into trouble with his boss and the boss's seductress wife, the tempter and dissastified Valerie French. As the rancher seeks advice from a foreman about pleasing his spouse, but another cowhand, Rod Steiger, implies him that Jubal is extremely advising his wife. Along the way Jubal falls for a drippy Mennonite, Felicia Farr.

This movie has a formidable combination of fine performances, intense drama and spectacular outdoors. Director Delmer Daves aims for psychological realism with a contemporay treatment of adultery and about an innocent man being hounded and harassed. A blending of talent actors with great leading players of whom Steiger, perhaps, holds the plum character as a two-fisted cowhand, though he delivers an overacting, playing an "Yago" alike figure from play ¨Othello¨ by William Shakespeare, that threatens to overbalance everything. The hothouse plot drives mercilessly forward with twists and turns . The tale is strong one and the yarn is wonderfully located against a background of Montana mountains . Very good main cast , as Glenn Ford , Ernest Borgnine , Valerie French , Felicia Farr , including Rod Steiger who gives a hyper-neurotic interpretation as a cowhand with a lemon-sour nature and a sadistic streak . Support cast is frankly well such as Charles Bronson , Basil Ruysdael , Noah Beery Jr. , John Dierkes and Jack Elam . The literate storyline sustains interest thanks to the twisted relationships and enhanced by cinemascope cinematography by cameraman Charles Lawton Jr. Containing gorgeous outdoors exteriors from Grand Teton National Park . Being well accompanied by a sensitive and moving musical score by David Raskin.

The picture was compellingly directed by Delmer Daves. He was a fine filmmaker who mingled moral or ethic analysis , documentary , lyrism , and large open spaces . Daves made some Western masterpieces , he was one of the greatest directors . As he was a western expert, including titles as ¨Broken arrow¨, the first pro-Indian western with James Stewart , ¨Drum beat¨ with Charles Bronson, ¨The last wagon¨ with Richard Widmark , ¨The badlanders¨ with Alan Ladd and Borgnine, ¨3:10 to Yuma¨ with Glenn Ford, ¨Cowboy¨ with Jack Lemmon, ¨The return of the Texan¨ with Dale Robertson , and ¨The hanging tree¨ with Gary Cooper , among others . Rating 7/10. Better than average

JUBAL takes about forty-five minutes to set up its tale of revenge and murder and lust in the dust, but once the plot gets into high gear it becomes highly watchable until the conclusion.

GLENN FORD is an unhappy man on the run who's taken in by rancher ERNEST BORGNINE and his wife VALERIE FRENCH, earning his pay as a helper and suddenly promoted to foreman, much to the annoyance of ROD STEIGER, who wanted the job and also has his eyes on Borgnine's wife.

Ford spends most of the story trying to fend off the advances of Valerie French, who turns out to be a real Jezebel creating trouble between Ford and Borgnine when she makes her hubby believe the lies that jealous Steiger has told him. Before you know it, Ford is in deep trouble with nowhere to run except to seek the help of some peace loving pioneers on a wagon train, and a woman (FELICIA FARR) who wants to help him fight injustice.

Delmer Daves directs the actors through their paces with skill, except that he allows ROD STEIGER to chew too much of the scenery. Steiger struts about as if he's still playing Jud in OKLAHOMA! and never lets up for a moment being a nasty, snarling, cowardly villain. He's so despicable you can't help hating him.

On the other hand, CHARLES BRONSON shows considerable skill as Ford's friend, a gunslinger who saves Ford's life at a crucial moment. The film starts off a little too slowly before it gets to the mid-section where things really start to heat up. From then on, it's a top-rate western with strong performances from most of the cast.

Borgnine may be playing a "nice guy" for a change, but he's still obnoxious and boorish in his behavior and he sometimes overdoes the hearty laughter. His admission that he knows nothing about women or how to treat them, reminds me that "Marty" had the same problem.

Summing up: Good western, excellent photography, nice scenery and one of Glenn Ford's most underrated performances.