Vento di terre lontane

If for no other reason watch this movie for its locations. The Grand Tetons are the show stealer here. It makes me want to travel to Wyoming even more than I had wanted to before. The movie is excellent as well, especially if you are a Glenn Ford fan.

Have not seen this film in years and enjoyed this story in which Glenn Ford, (Jubal Troop) is injured and falls onto a dirt road and is discovered by Ernest Borgnine,(Shep Hogan) and he takes him back to his ranch and in time offers him a job and then a full time position as his top ranch hand. This quick decision causes problems among the other ranch hands who have worked for Shep Hogan a very long time. Rod Steiger,( Pinky Pinkum) instantly resents Jubal Troop and suspects him of being a sheep herder and constantly tells him he smells like sheep poop. Valerie French (Mae Hogan) is a woman who likes to fool around with other men and has tried out most of the ranch hands and she instantly gets hot over Jubal Troop which starts another side to the story.

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

I love discovering old films that I'd never seen before. It's as if the stars became young again or alive again and made another film just for me. Glenn Ford, Rod Steiger, Charles Bronson, Jack Elam and others are gone now, (and I haven't seen Ernie Borgnine in anything in years-although he's still working per the IMDb), but there they are in a very fine wide-screen western from 1956.

The Western hit a peak in the 1950's. In the pre-war period, it was a specialty genre that was mostly for juvenile audiences with singing cowboys and such. Occasionally there was an historical epic. What was missing were A-level pictures with top stars, strong stories and good production values. When John Ford, after several years doing other types of films, returned to the Western with "Stagecoach" in 1939 that began to change. He and Howard Hawks and others proved the Western could be a major adult genre that major stars would want to be a part of. By the 50's every major star and most of the top directors did westerns on a routine basis. There must be three dozen 50's westerns that are at least three star movies on a scale of four and Jubal is certainly one of them. The era ended when the adult western on TV started giving people for free what they were getting on the big screen. Then the times changed and westerns started to seem passé'. Looking at the really good ones from this era shows us what we've lost.

Still, despite the quality of this film, you can't help but think of other films as you watch it. There's the Grand Teton scenery, reminiscent of the greatest of all westerns, Shane. The story is alternately out of Othello or maybe the Bible, whatever you prefer. Rod Steiger is basically playing the same character he did in the previous year's Oklahoma. But the thing that really jumped out at me is that here we have the two Marty's. Steiger played the Bronx butcher in the original 1953 teleplay and Borgnine won an Oscar for it in the 1955 film. He's picked it up on 3/21/56, two weeks before this film opened. One wonders how Steiger, who surely wanted the role, and Borgnine, who got it, got along with each other during the filming of Jubal. They even have a fist-fight scene. But they were two professional actors playing roles other than Marty, so it probably made no difference.

Actually, the roles they play kind of parallel their performances as Marty. Steiger in most of his roles is a tortured introvert. Borgnine is a misunderstood extrovert. That's how they played Marty and that's how they play their roles here. It fits the story like a glove. There's even several references to how Valerie French finds him ugly and repulsive. Maybe he should have married Clara, (the girl from Marty).

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.