Uma Nação em Marcha

And I am not sure that everything here is accurate; anyway I don't consider it as a western. I did not find it interesting at all, it is destined to film goes to fill in their knowledge in terms of films, that's all. It is mostly talk, talks, the kind of films that Republic Pictures gave us in the late forties. I prefered Frank lloyd for MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, IF I WERE KING or RULERS OF THE SEA; after all, Frank Lloyd was a sea adventures film maker, not a western one. I prefered his LAST COMMAND, his last movie. But this one is an epic film, which tells a part of American history. As a French, Hmmm.

Since getting a channel exclusively devoted to Westerns, I've seen movies that are never seen on regular channels, like Wells Fargo.

Joel McRea, whom I'd enjoyed immensely in These Three, is impressive in a Western. He's rugged and tough, but goes beyond the stereotype, and is sensitive and understanding. He ages from his 20's to his 60's believably. The story of courier service extending out west makes me want to read more about these pioneers of exploration.

This film is a very fictionalized account of the early days of Wells Fargo---long before it metastasized into the gigantic mega-bank that charges innumerable service fees like it does today. However, instead of focusing on the big-wigs at the company, it focuses on a fictional man, Ramsay (Joel McCrea) and his many difficulties he had establishing banking, transportation and mail services in the wild west. It also focuses on his marriage--one that eventually became very rocky and problematic.

The problem with this film is that it is extremely episodic--with giant jumps in time here and there. As a result, it comes off more like a Cliff Notes version of a story instead of a rich and complete on. Compacting the story much more would have helped immensely, as the characters come off as very stiff and distant to the audience. Not a bad film but one that really should have been a lot better considering the large budget and cast. More money should have been spent on the script and less on extras and sets.

This sprawling saga takes us from the early days of Wells Fargo in upstate New York, into the westward expansion of the nation, and finally through the Civil War and its aftermath. Though apparently quite fictionalized, it is an interesting story despite losing some footing as it lurches from action to melodrama. The relationship between Ramsay MacKay (Joel McCrea) and Justine Pryor (Frances Dee), who becomes his wife, is rocked by Ramsay's long absences as he travels throughout the country to map out mail routes. The marriage is further strained by conflicting loyalties triggered by the Civil War. The latter subplot involves an interesting twist that leads to an acrimonious rift between the couple. While still married, there is a separation that is not resolved until Ramsay unexpectedly arrives at their daughter's seventeenth birthday party. All in all, Wells Fargo is worth watching.

Joel McCrea plays the man who did the daring deeds that made the Wells Fargo Company a byword for a national company, from transporting live oysters to Buffalo to California gold to Washington.

It's one of those big clunky movies that defined the A western in the 1930s, reeking of Manifest Destiny, and for a movie like that you needed Cecil B. Demille in charge, or Frank Lloyd. Here, with a a huge and sprawling cast of characters, it's held together by McCrea's scenes with his real-life wife as his character's wife. McCreaoften seemed awkward and unsettled in his roles, an aspect that was exploited brilliantly for comedy by Preston Sturges. Here he shows a tenderness and vulnerability that is surprising. Of course, we can attribute some of that to his screen lovemaking being with his wife. But Lloyd, although he was typecast as a director of epics, was far more capable than planning the big scenes, and it shows here.