Il re della prateria

Average western with advantage of good cast. Don Murray is okay in the lead, he never really had that elusive something to be a great movie star but is a fine actor but a more magnetic actor, Robert Mitchum or Burt Lancaster for example would have raised the film up a notch. The supporting cast is full of familiar faces that all provide excellent work, the real standout is Lee Remick who offers up a delicately shaded performance of a girl whose life has been full of bad breaks and hard luck. It a shame her part is relatively small since she's the most compelling character and actor in the film. The color and cinematography are also noteworthy. Not a bad movie just not great.

These Thousand Hills casts Don Murray as a young cowboy who arrives in Montana broke but with an idea. Rather than have cattle feed on the open range in winter left to the elements, he wants to grow and store hay for winter feed. In order to do this he romances two women, banker's niece Patricia Owens and saloon girl Lee Remick. Murray's both a hard worker and a fast worker.

This film highlights a growing trend in the Fifties toward adult westerns. They wouldn't yet show it on television, but that Lee Remick is a prostitute is not left to any imagination. In fact even though Remick gave Murray the seed money for his ranch, Murray then objects to pal Stuart Whitman marrying one in Remick's friend Jean Willes.

And Murray's attentions to Remick among other things have made him a bad enemy in saloon owner Richard Egan. Basically you have all the ingredients of the story of These Thousand Hills.

The film really belongs to both Murray and Lee Remick who gives quite a portrayal of a battered woman, again most unusual for any picture in the Fifties let alone a western.

As entertainment the film still holds up well today, but I'd keep it from the littlest ones.

A TCF western means it's well produced on a bigger budget than most oaters. On the whole, it's a good movie, a little slow and talky, but then the story's a strong one. I like the way we follow Lat's (Murray) climb up the economic and social ladder. He's a 19th century entrepreneur, starting out with very little but with some good moneymaking ideas for becoming a rancher. Still, he needs start-up money, which he gets from dance hall girl Callie (Remick), who he romances.

With money in hand, he embarks on becoming a success, along with buddy Tom (Whitman). The trouble is that success causes him to lose some perspective, and he starts looking down his nose at Callie and Tom, and romancing society girl Joyce (Owens). Thus his challenge is not only in confronting bad guy Jehu (Egan), but in recognizing the moral debts he owes to those folks who helped him along the way. Thus, the story is more rewardingly complex than with most westerns.

Murray's boyish charm reminds me of a young Jimmy Stewart, and wisely the script doesn't require him to be the toughest guy in town. The movie also looks like an effort at promoting him into a studio star since he gets a lot of screen time on top of a strong supporting cast that ranges from a poignant Remick to the always commanding Dekker. There's also some of the most compelling scenery this side of the Happy Hunting Grounds (too bad IMDb doesn't credit the locations!). On the whole, it's a good western if you don't mind a lot of talk along with some good action, especially the dramatic lynching scene.

These Thousand Hills is a melodrama dressed up as an epic Western in the tradition of The Sea Of Grass (see my review). A sprawling, handsome production with an engrossing story line, it incorporates many traditional western elements, including a cattle drive, a horse race, a nice girl-naughty girl rivalry, and a climactic showdown. Well-turned-out sets and authentic costumes compliment the scenic, on-location, wide-screen, color cinematography. These fetching production values are all wrapped around a rags-to-riches story emphasizing drama and character development rather than action. All about a dirt-poor young cowboy (Don Murray) determined "to make something of himself" no matter how much suffering he has to endure himself or how many friends he has to step on to get to the top.

This picture's best asset is the beautiful, vivacious, and talented Lee Remick, as the good-hearted saloon girl who gives Murray his start. Only third billed behind Murray and Richard Egan, she seems to be the real star of the show. It's a shame she couldn't have had a leading man of matching charisma and talent. Don Murray surely runs a good race with Richard Carlson as the blandest leading man of all time. His lack of virility must shoulder much of the blame for why this well-mounted Western ultimately lacks punch, along with the usually exciting Richard Fleischer's flabby direction, and a less than inspired adaptation of A. B. Guthrie's novel by screen writer Alfred Hayes. Fortunately the rest of the cast helps to make up for Murray's inadequacy. Egan, usually wooden in his more frequently seen heroic roles, is quite spicy here as a sneering villain. A fine cast of supporting actors, all familiar faces in the celluloid West, includes Albert Dekker, Harold J. Stone, and Royal Dano. Brawny Stuart Whitman has a major role as Murray's shady but loyal pal. It would have been a much better picture if he had had Murray's role.

As it was These Thousand Hills was not bad. It was fun to watch for the fine production values, the engaging if slow-moving story, and Lee Remick, who both looked good and acted well. Unfortunately it never lived up to the promise of the exciting bronco-busting and horse racing scenes in the opening reels. Solid, if uninspiring entertainment from an era when Holloywood was starting to forget how to make them like they used to anymore.

I noticed that some complained that "These Thousand Hills" is a slow-moving film. I would have to agree that it is slow...or, as I like to see it, deliberately paced. But I didn't mind this and liked that the film is so very different...during an era when westerns were about all Hollywood seemed to be making!

Lat Evans (Don Murray) is a very ambitious young man. He works his butt off to earn as much as he can so he can buy a ranch and make something of himself. Well, after a few setbacks, he is able to get the money...thanks to a loan from a local 'fallen woman' (Lee Remick). And, his ranch becomes a huge success...so much so that the locals want him to run for the senate. Of course, Lat wants this, as he has huge ambitions and has worked so hard to get where he has. But then something strange happens....he starts to wonder if success alone is what he wants. Something more important becomes apparent...integrity...which leads to a dandy conclusion.

This film is slow paced but again and again, it avoids the usual cliches and has a lot to say about real masculinity and honor. Well worth seeing and a finer film than it's relatively mediocre score on IMDB would indicate.

By the way, my complaints are minor. One cannot be helped and that is that the print I saw looked almost smoky in the beginning and could use some restoration. The other complaint is that some of the music (the songs sung by some young singing star) were pretty bad and didn't fit the film.