La valle dei monsoni

An old fashion moral tale with sweetness. John Wayne gives a great performance, and Sigurd Gurie shines as the daughter of a Viennese Surgeon (Charles Coburn). The historical significance of this picture is accurate and compelling, though rather melo-dramatic. Ms Gurie gives a kind and sensitive performance in one of the finest roles of her brief career. The Oklahoma dust bowl is the setting for this early 20th century tale that keeps an eye on several moral issues. It tells the brave tale of poor farmers who were strongly bonded with "good honest sweat", and who face a decision to stick together and head west. Spencer Charters, playing the town veterinarian/comedian gives a fine performance as do many of the players in this one. Well worth a watch.

As part of a program relocating European refugees, Viennese surgeon Charles Coburn is sent to Dust Bowl-stricken North Dakota where people are in desperate need of a doctor. Where's John Wayne figure into all this? He's the unelected leader of the town that falls for Coburn's daughter (Sigrid Gurie). This is an odd movie. A mixture of WW2 flag waver, social messager, and western (Duke leads the modern equivalent of a wagon train). The plot is also a bit of a mess. A short time after the doctor arrives in North Dakota, the decision is made to pack up all the townsfolk and move to Oregon. Why not just send Coburn and Gurie to Oregon first and explain that these people had to relocate there and need a doctor? I guess then we couldn't have had the scenes of Gurie insulting the poor townsfolk who have just given them a home. I kept expecting Duke to say "Go back and try your luck with the Nazis if you feel that way about it."

Coburn is likable but this isn't the kind of role he was best suited for. And the less said about his attempt at an accent, the better. John Wayne does fine but this is just another forgettable role made between John Ford films as his star was still on the rise. Sigrid Gurie is the latest in a string of tepid romantic interests for Duke that would continue throughout the 1940s. He was paired with many fine actresses, but the chemistry was often just not there. It's not a bad film, just not a good one. Kind of boring and more than a bit disappointing they didn't explore the Dust Bowl story longer.

I feel this movie doesn't get what it deserves. Was an excellent story line. Good acting. Its got everything. Farmers work hard to make it work while being hard hit by the drought and dust storms. Two refugees, a medical doctor and his 20?-year-old daughter arrive in the USA from Nazi-annexed Austria. They eventually are convinced...??? Its got it all. Much more happens and is very exciting. In a small North Dakota farm town. Love it. John Wayne is the man in this movie. This film is not well known and hasn't got the attention as his other films but to me it is one of his best and maybe his best Drama film in the 40's. Get this one you wont be disappointed.

Viennese surgeon Charles Coburn and daughter Sigrid Gurie arrive in America and are placed in a rural area of Oklahoma. They stay in a large old house with John Wayne and Spencer Charters. Pretty soon, despite Gurie's homesickness, they are involved in the social and political life in the area.

This is the famous Oklahoma dust bowl era when drought and poor cultivation practices brought about a drying up of once fertile farm land. Wayne and the other farmers do their best to save the land, but in the end except a government offer to homestead new farm land created by a dam built in Oregon, I presume on the Columbia River or one of its tributaries.

Gurie of course falls big time for the Duke. But she hears that Roland Varno who saved them from the Nazis and who she thought dead is still alive. Wayne of course leads a modern day wagon train to Oregon with automobiles instead of Conestoga wagons. He's got his own problems with Trevor Bardette, another farmer who's constantly trying to undermine his leadership.

23 years later John Wayne made McLintock which is more a serious statement of his conservative political and economic philosophy than one realizes. In Three Faces West we have him accepting a government program's help, albeit a self help type program. The film though is couched in terms good enough to satisfy any free marketeer.

One thing I could not understand. Roland Varno purportedly risked his life to save Gurie and Coburn from the Nazis. But when both of them meet up with Varno in San Francisco, he's now a big time Nazi supporter and wants to take them back to Vienna to aid in his new cause. They are taken aback and walk right out on him.

I'm somewhat taken aback myself. For the life of me I don't understand Varno's about face. The script gives us no explanation. It's a big hole in the plot.

Three Faces West also labors under the handicap of coming out in the same year as The Grapes of Wrath. A much better film about the dust bowl and its economic effects.

This film fits into an odd gap - in John Wayne's career, into the tenor of the times, into the evolution of cinema. But it's highly entertaining, at times visually spectacular, and really a lot better than it has any right to be.

The depiction of the Dust Bowl is remarkably strong. There's grit and dust in every shot. Many of the scenes are painted in strong, noir-ish tones. Against this backdrop, we have a solid little story about an Austrian doctor and his daughter finding a new new home. It could have been mere Hollywood fluff, but it all rings quite true. The touch of propaganda you might expect in a wartime production is restrained and palatable, with a positive focus on emotions rather than a negative one on ideologies.

All this is abetted by strong performances from the three leads. John Wayne is only about a year along from his breakthrough role in Stagecoach, and proves himself capable of surprising depths. He's as likable here as he's ever been, but also more human. And much more of an acting talent than we might usually give him credit for. This is one of those overlooked Wayne entries, like Island in the Sky, or Hondo, where you can really see how he earned his star billing. Sigrid Gurie is a perfect match. She runs a gamut of emotions, yet remains always appealing.

It's true that the second part of the story does cover some of the same historical ground as The Grapes of Wrath. But the two films don't really overlap. We have here a happier outcome, and much more of a small-scale adventure-drama than an allegorical social commentary. Obviously, this film isn't on the same level artistically as John Ford's masterpiece. But it's also far better than the mere B-movie it might have been.

If you're a fan of John Wayne, or have any affection for the workmanlike dramas of Hollywood's golden era, this film is going to be a very welcome discovery.