La straniera

From the onset, you will probably notice how strange the casting is on this one. After all, of all the actresses to be in a Western, Greer Garson is probably the last you'd expect to see! It gets even weirder when you see she's playing a lady who was born in Boston, as her accent is as much Boston as Brigitte Bardot's! Why didn't they just say she was from England...now THAT would have made sense! And, to make it worse, her brother in the film is played by Cameron Mitchell--who is NOTHING like Greer...NOTHING.

The film is set in Santa Fe during the late 19th century. It begins with a plucky female doctor (Garson) arriving there not only to see her no-good brother but also to live there. However, there already is one doctor in town (Dana Andrews) and he's a sexist who insists that women aren't cut out for 'man's work'. Not surprisingly, the pair eventually fall in love. However, it's the stuff in the middle that makes the film interesting...but I'll let you see that for yourself.

"Strange Lady in Town" is a great example of a decent film despite insane casting decisions. While the film is far from a classic (as it's awfully predictable in some ways), it never was dull and is worth seeing. Plus, while miscast, Garson tried her best and Andrews was, as always, excellent.

By the way, the film shows an insane cliché. When a guy is getting a tooth pulled, his 'friend' bashes him on the head with his gun butt to knock him out!! Kid's DON'T try this at home...all you'll really achieve is brain damage!

It's 1880 Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Julia Winslow Garth newly arrives in town from back east. She's an oddity. She's a woman AND a doctor.

The most interesting actor for me is Lois Smith who plays Spurs O'Brien. I've only known her as an old woman. It's weird to see her as a fetching twenty something. It would have been interesting to see a buggy crash after a buggy chase. This western romance struggles to be interesting. There is no heat in the lead romance which generates no tension. Greer Garson starts off interesting but only for being a doctor. Dana Andrews is doing nothing after screaming for his buggy. The two of them really face no real hurdle. There is more energy in Spurs' crush. At least, that has a bit of drama. At two hours, this simply drags on too long with no intensity.

First off it's Garson's last film. And secondly it features a very distinct difference in acting styles. Garson displays her grand style in use of language and presentation as if she were back on the stage. Andrews displays the man from "The Best Years of Our Lives" years on who opted to not so much act as be present. And then there's the new kid, Lois Smith. Her very contemporary (for 1955) Brandoesque inhabiting of "Spurs" puts all of this together in the strangest way imaginable. I think SHE was the "Strange Lady in Town" or at least this movie.

There is also the reality of how women Hollywood films seem to be retired once the aging process makes them too old for leading ladies. Garson isn't the best representative for this argument because her acting style was of another era. But she should have been able to continue on were she not so much a star. That comes through here loud and clear.

I watched this on TCM first, didn't think it good enough to keep, though there were parts I really liked. I'm a big fan of both Garson and Andrews- I thought Garson's character well-acted and inspirational (strong, principled, etc.), while Andrews' was bizarre and his character development made little sense. He acted like a nutcase. This had partly to do with the writing, of course. That said, there were lofty, and quite profound, ahead-of-their-time ideas expressed (like "enabling"), one reason I think it worth watching. Also, I found the character development of supplemental characters (Garson's brother and Andrews' daughter) intriguing and integral to the plot. The main critique I have is of Andrews' whacko behavior and a failure to show how he went from point A to point B. The way Latinos were depicted was also cringe-worthy. But I never found the film boring, and I liked the ending.

Greer Garson was 51 when she made this movie, and still beautiful. I say "still" because in Hollywood in that era 40 was considered over-the-hill for a leading lady, so kudos to the studio for having her play the lead, and not someone's aunt or spinster older sister. Unfortunately, this movie doesn't have a lot going for it outside of Greer's considerable charm and acting ability. I'm a fan of Dana Andrews, but as others have noted, his acting style does not compliment Greer's, and his character is such a mean-spirited misogynistic jerk that it's hard not to intensely dislike him. Of course we know we're being set up for the ultimate romantic happy ending, but that's another issue with this movie. Everything is predictable.

Maybe the most interesting aspect of "Strange Lady in Town" is the chance to see a young Lois Smith in a major role. She went on to a very long, distinguished career as a character actress in movies and TV. (literally now in her 7th decade). Her 'Spurs' in "Strange Lady" is a little bit out there, but that's been true of many of her roles over the years. I recently saw her as an emotionally disturbed psychic on an episode of "Route 66" from the early '60s. She was a favorite of that show's producers, and made several appearances.