La frustata

54 miles from any civilization or help and Donna Reed dismounts never bothers to tie up her horse. Not too smart. She must also have been the best dressed gal in the west, always in new, clean clothes. The various "cowboys" clothing is right out of 1950, not 1850. Good scenery and atmosphere, but pretty corny.

"Backlash" is a conventional 1950s western, but it is sound and nice and has several merits. The director John Sturges (almost) never disappoints you. The entertaining story is a typical one by the great western-writer Borden Chase: plenty of twists of the plot, of surprises, of double-crossing, of complicated kinship relations between the many characters. The finale is rather original. The action scenes are very good: Sturges is a master of that. The cinematography is stunning: it renders with the full force of a glorious technicolor the wonderful beauty of the Arizona landscapes.

The job by the cast is first-rate. Richard Widmark is a great actor in every role: either as the good guy (here), or as the villain (in many other movies). John McIntire is excellent in his trade-mark role of the sneaky outlaw. But I was even more impressed by the depth of Donna Reed's talent. I remembered her as the paradigmatic loving spouse and mother in "It's a wonderful life". Here she's fully convincing in the role of the tough, cynical woman with a turbulent past. Donna seems even more beautiful and appealing in "Backlash" than in the Capra's movie (in fact she's really gorgeous). Is she so good to be able to improve her looks, depending on her role?

Predictably enough, "Backlash" oozes amiable cliches and naive flaws, which, however, almost increase the pleasure of us old western-movies-fans. First: what's the point of the title? No wips are seen along the movie. Widmark wrestles with an Apache sentry for some thirty seconds, without the Apache screaming to give the alarm to his companions. Where does Donna Reed keep the many beautiful dresses she wears? She travels on horse-back... And we have the usual geographical oddities of old classic westerns: the guys just cross a mountain and they pass from Arizona to Texas!

I like "Backlash" and I recommend it: see the movie, relax and have a good time.

then this movie is great one to watch. I really don't understand all the love for this movie, but accept that it is what it is.

For me, the script and screen writing is pure high school level. There is simply no rhythm to this film. The acting, given the quality of script, is not bad, though wasted. The relationship between Reed and Widmark develops implausibly. In fact, every relationship in this less than epic oater develops with with an expedition better suited to humor an audience than to lasso them into believability.

A sample: The scene where Widmark takes the dead deputy into Silver City is ridiculous. The "sheriff" (Ed Platt) doesn't even ask the circumstances surrounding the death of his deputy and makes force-less demands of Widmark to remove his gun. Next thing you know, Widmark and Reed are ordered out of town. For what?? Defending themselves?? What does not make sense here is that Platt is demanding accountability from Widmark and Reed, but none from aggrieved brothers of the dead deputy. Silly.

The whole film is loaded with these sorts of inconsistencies.

Reed is gorgeous and thus competes agreeably with the natural beauty of the western landscape where this film was shot.

A lot of stars perform in this effort, but not a lot of stars in my rating.

Backlash (1956) is directed by John Sturges and adapted by Borden Chase from the novel written by Frank Gruber. It stars Richard Widmark, Donna Reed, John McIntire & William Campbell. It's shot in Technicolor by Irving Glassberg on location in Tuscon, Arizona.

1870 Arizona, and Jim Slater (Widmark) is searching for the truth about what happened to his father during the Apache ambush at Gila Valley. This brings him into contact with strong willed Karyl Orton (Reed), who courtesy of her missing husband also has an interest in the events of that raid. Missing family members and missing gold, the can is now open and worms are pouring out every where.

It's about the writing and the characters here. From the off it should be known that this is no high octane actioner. We are dealing in a mystery, with what amounts to a detective story played out in a Western theme. It's a touch unusual but never less than interesting as Chases' unconventional script gives birth to a myriad of characters, some complex, others just stock genre story fleshers. There's some clichés spliced within the piece, but they are off set by some nice twists in the story. And while this is no Anthony Mann/Borden Chase psychologically tinted production, it doesn't cop out with its big decisions. Glassberg's cinematography is first class, really vibrant and bursting out from the screen as they nicely film it on location of where the story is set. The cast is real strong. Widmark is excellent as the tough as nails hero and Reed looks stunning whilst neatly essaying a prickly femme fatale type. McIntire gives another classy supporting turn and Campbell is enjoyably OTT as hothead gunslinger Johnny Cool.

The principals have all done far better work in the genre, but this is a nice change of pace for all of them. It's unlikely to raise the pulses of the action seeking fan, but for those of a more literary persuasion this should hit the spot. 7/10

Richard Widmark, (Jim Slater) played the role of a young man who was a gunslinger and had reason to believe his father was killed up North while he hit it rich in a gold discovery. Jim learns little by little just what happened to his father. Donna Reed, (Karyl Orton) is also searching in this same town of Silver Creek for the killer of her husband. However, when Karyl and Jim meet up with each other they fight like cats and dogs and Karyl many times attempts to kill Jim. John McIntire, (Jim Bonniwell) and Barton McLane, (Sgt. George Lake) give great supporting roles along with great photography and a very good story with many twists and turns. Enjoy