Il segreto del lago

I just want to say that this is a better than average western with a good cast. The first half was rather slow, boring and uneventful. I was about to turn it off, but I fortunately stayed with it. The second half really came to life with lots of action, a fast moving intricate plot and soap opera-like goings on.

It's interesting that the resolution is similar to Glen Ford's oater "The Fastest Gun Alive," another good Western.

The whole cast shined. Besides Ford and Tierney, Zachary Scott and Ann Dvorak were compelling.

Though not an "A" production by 20th century Fox, it was far from the typical "B" production values. The cinematography (Leo Tover), acting, music, dialog, etc. were all top-notch.

The Secret Of Convict Lake is based on the proposition in the title, if you're a thief you think everyone steals. So when Glenn Ford who was framed for a robbery and murder leads a breakout in a Nevada prison and takes six men over the Sierras to a remote town in the foothills. Ford is looking to even the score with the guy that framed him, but the others who include Zachary Scott, Cyril Cusack, Jack Lambert, and Richard Hylton don't believe him, they believe he's hidden the stolen money there.

One of their number dies, frozen to death on a mountaintop, but the others arrive at a small settlement on a mountain lake. The men are gone and the women are led by tough old pioneer lady Ethel Barrymore. Ford has a tough time keeping the others in line, especially Scott who definitely has his own ideas.

It's pretty tough among the women as well, they haven't seen their men for weeks and some of them are looking good. For Barbara Bates especially, a young inexperienced girl who Hylton takes a fancy to. By the way in those days of The Code, Hylton's portrayal of a sex offender was pretty daring.

Barrymore and Gene Tierney are pretty good at reading character and realize Ford is not a real criminal type. How that all works out you have to see The Secret Of Convict Lake.

The film was shot in another remote Sierra town called Bishop, California and in Durango, Colorado. The cinematography is both stark, forbidding, and strangely beautiful. It happens to be based on a true story at a place called Monte Diablo Lake renamed Convict Lake as per the film.

According to Peter Ford's biography of his dad, Glenn sustained a serious eye infection during the shoot and wore a patch over the infected eye when the cameras weren't rolling. He also had a great admiration for Ethel Barrymore as actress. And he and Gene Tierney found each other's company delightful.

The Secret Of Convict Lake is a must for Glenn Ford's legion of fans.

From 1951, The Secret of Convict Lake stars Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore, Zachary Scott, Robert Hylton, Ann Dvorak, Jeanette Nolan, Helen Westcott, and Ruth Donnelly.

This is a departure from your usual western: First of all, it has strong female characters, including Ethel Barrymore, Gene Tierney, and Ann Dvorak.

Six escaped convicts are stopped by a blizzard in the Sierra Mountains. Jim Canfield (Glenn Ford) accompanies them, though he doesn't consider the other convicts buddies.

One is a slimeball, Johnny Greer, played by Zachary Scott, who is after $40,000 that he is sure Canfield stole, which is one reason Canfield was in prison, that and murder. There is also a psycho rapist and murderer, Clyde (Richard Hylton). One escapee died along the way.

The men approach a settlement, occupied by women whose men are away. They are treated decently by the women, but they are told to keep their distance. Canfield seems especially interested in Marcia (Tierney) who is engaged to marry Rudy, the brother of Rachel (Dvorak).

Canfield insists that he did not steal the $40,000 that Greer is after. He has his own reasons for being at the settlement.

As far as keeping their distance, it's difficult due to a love-hungry spinster (Dvorak) and an innocent young girl (Barbara Bates). There's bound to be trouble, and there is.

The ending is very unusual for the times, but to me satisfying.

Very good performances all around, big finale, and an effective snowstorm.

In "The Secret of Convict Lake" danger looms in the winter of the 1870's when escaped prisoners hide out at a colony consisting mostly of women. There's enough drama to hold your interest as the ladies unleash some of their own frustrations as they contend with some slimey characters. Of course the "secret" is another matter which I won't reveal. The exceptional cast includes Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore, Zachary Scott, Ann Dvorak, Jeanette Nolan, Helen Westcott and Ruth Donnelly. There's also an impressive performance from Robert Hylton an actor with potential who should have had a bigger career in Hollywood.

I first saw this peak time one Saturday night on UK ITV in the '70's and it's always stuck with me. It's a B+ Western with a good story and production, good acting and photography, and the very definition of Simple Yet Effective.

Six convicts on the run from a posse in blizzardy California in 1871, become five and then apparently stumble across a small settlement solely er manned by women. It turns out that their menfolk are away on some premise but on their way back while the good convict handsome Glenn Ford was waiting for one of them to return so he could kill him for revenge. Slimy Zachary Scott played the main bad convict manically convinced there was a fortune to be stolen somewhere. The women were in the main only lonely but the bad men were hogged up and dangerous even when not armed, and confirmed main old dame Ethel Barrymore's concern that they were wild bears and not men. The characters were all strong and strongly delineated, if made today the sex would probably be literally in your face but there'd also be a much greater sublety in everything as films are taken more leisurely nowadays. Everyone followed their correct moral paths right down to the morally ambiguous ending – however I suppose Glenn Ford should really have owned up to save the moral dilemma he put both the townsfolk and the majority of us viewers through who think it a good ending to a good little film.