Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence

In film school, when the 'chewing up the scenery' class comes up, this B movie is the feature presentation!

Four likeable, yet different characters traverse the country from East to West. They are all fairly aimless, but the general goal is to find the unseen treasure that Glenn Ford has sold his soul for... a ranch in Arizona.

Despite the terrible conditions, this somehow manages to maintain a high level of comedy and the travelers rarely complain. In fact, it's a lot of fun (mainly) and a rewarding way to spend time.

Glenn Ford, a New York boy who has been saving his cash, thumbs and hobos his way to the Arizona ranch he has bought, where he hopes to find HEAVEN WITH A BARBED WIRE FENCE.

A film with a Dalton Trumbo script and story, directed by villain extraordinaire Ricardo Cortez, and starring the frequently twitchy Glenn Ford and the restless Richard Conte just shouldn't be so bloody nice. Though the system -- mostly seen as mean cops and railroad bulls and real estate con men -- is as awful as one might expect from the leftish Mr. Trumbo, every single proletarian is just so sweet and nice and salt of the earth that one feels nausea. It doesn't help that the heroine -- a sweet blonde thing who is an illegal alien refugee fleeing Franco's Spain -- is annoying for reasons of both scripting and acting.

So why watch? Richard Conte, in his first role, already has his persona and a pretty good part. And there are some moments of 30s leftist camp that are pretty astonishing. (Did Dalton absolutely have to set a major portion of the movie in the Russian Worker's mission? All that was missing was a portrait of a beaming Joe Stalin!) Also, this is Glenn Ford's first substantive role (though his performance isn't good).

Why not watch? Essentially, the movie offers an unconvincing vision, is wedded to a political viewpoint that is risible, and the two leads have made much better movies. Also, the strengths of Dalton Trumbo as a screenwriter are nowhere in evidence. Instead, we get a film that the Coen Brothers Barton Fink could have written in a flash (and avoided that hellish bout with writer's block).

"Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence" is a film written by Dalton Trumbo and directed by, of all people, by Ricardo Cortez! It also happens to be the first starring film for Glenn Ford...who had only been in a short, "Night in Manhattan". Despite receiving fourth billing, clearly Ford is the star of the film and every scene features him. I think such low billing was because he was a complete unknown...but it is the starring role he received.

I noticed that one reviewer seemed to think that the far leftist, Trumbo, had created some sort of communist story here. However, I think quite the opposite...that the film COULD have had much more of a left slant but the writer avoided making much of a political statement with this film. So, instead of being any sort of propaganda, it's just a slight yet entertaining yarn. The story is set during the Great Depression and yet few 1930s films really talked about this one. It's about poor folks and hobos but as I said above, the story didn't seem to have much of an agenda. They were poor but the film didn't seem to push for any action or change.

Joe (Ford) has a dream of owning his own ranch and growing things and raising stock. So, for some time he's been saving his money and recently purchased a small parcel of land in Arizona. He calls it his 'ranch' but at 20 acres, it's not exactly the Ponderosa! He's also not seen the land and trusts that it's everything they advertised. But he has a problem...he's ready to head west to his new property but he hasn't any spare money. So he begins walking, hitchhiking and riding the rails in order to get there....and along the way he encounters some new friends...as well as a lady friend. What is next? See the film.

This story is very slight and not a lot of huge twists...but it's consistently well acted and enjoyable. My only complaint is a minor one. Jean Rogers plays a woman who is supposed to be an illegal alien from war-torn Spain. But her accent doesn't sound Spanish (more Swedish) and she doesn't seem at all a good choice for this part because of this.

I saw this movie when I was 8 years old, so my memories are not nearly as cynical as the previous comments. I've never forgotten a funny scene when Glenn Ford is sitting at the counter in a restaurant. He asks for a cup of hot water and proceeds to add ketchup, salt , pepper, and crackers. He's making soup, for free. When the owner realizes what Glenn is doing, he removes the doughnuts from the counter. Disparage his acting, if you want. I remember being so struck with Glenn Ford looking for Shady Acres that I watched for his other movies. The Depression didn't really end until 1942 with the beginning of WW2 and full employment. But even an 8 year old could see this was a future star.

This is a wonderful movie! Really. It's not a 'Blockbuster" by today's standards, but it IS extremely heartwarming, well acted, and you-never-know-what's-going-to happen-next type film. Sure, most of us have money, now, to buy groceries and essentials, but what if that all changed?

With such a bumbling potato-head in the WH, right now, who knows what can happen? This film depicts life in the 1930's. For many of you who don't remember that era, or if your 'History Book' conveniently left that part of our recent heritage out -- this was after the Great Depression -- hardly anyone had anything. My parents grew up in that era, and they made their way through it; but they didn't talk about it much.

This film depicts that era. If 'Something Happened', and grocery store shelves were empty and/or you had no money -- or your money was worthless, what would YOU do? How long could you really survive on your pitiful stockpile of "Prepper supplies"? It's worth thinking about.

Watch this movie. Yes there is camaraderie among relative strangers, also fights, trouble with the Law -- however, it all comes out OK -- and it's worth your time to view this film!

I hope to God that part of our History does NOT repeat itself; but NEXT TIME be more careful who you vote for -- AND be far MORE careful about who counts the Votes!!!!!! Oh, and get out of your comfy easy chair -- and GET INVOLVED with politics and governance at your LOCAL levels too!!!