Califórnia

If back in 1946 when California the movie was made, let alone in the 1840s when California came to the USA via the Mexican Cession, people knew what a sprawling entity California would become, the idea of a separate California country that George Coulouris wanted to have might have been the idea might have been sold. As it is now California has about 9% of the House of Representatives and a population and budget bigger than most countries.

But we're back in the year of 1849 when trail guide Ray Milland is guiding a wagon train to the Pacific, to the newly acquired lands of the Mexican War. He's reluctantly allowed Barbara Stanwyck to travel with Barry Fitzgerald on the train. Stanwyck's been given a heave-ho out of town similar to what Claire Trevor got in Stagecoach. The two of them are mighty attracted to each other, but Milland thinks she's cheap and Stanwyck thinks he's stuck up.

It tears it for Milland when Stanwyck upon reaching California takes up with George Coulouris, a powerful, rich, and mysterious former sea captain who gained his fortune in the slave trade. He's a mean one to cross and his ambitions include nothing less than carving out a separate California Empire with himself as head.

So the political mixes with the personal as Milland fights Coulouris for California and Stanwyck.

California was a big budget item for Paramount that year, the only thing it lacked was Cecil B. DeMille directing it. The film was shot on location in Sedona, Arizona in gorgeous technicolor, courtesy of Ray Rennahan. You have to remember that Milland had won the Best Actor Oscar for The Lost Weekend the previous year and Paramount was now trying to take advantage of that.

Stanwyck loved making westerns and it sure shows here. This was Ray Milland's first starring western, he'd do a few more and not bad ones either. Fitzgerald steals the show of course in every scene he's in as the wise grape grower who sees vineyards in the Napa Valley as part of California's future.

The whole thing is nicely directed by John Farrow. And of course Coulouris will creep you out with his brand of villainy. Catch it when it's broadcast.

California really disappointed me. It is without question Barbara Stanwyck's least shown Western ( and the only one that eluded me). The problem is not that it is bad movie ( it isn't), it is that Barbara ( Lily) is wasted. Barbara in westerns from the beginning ( Annie Oakley) until the end ( The Big Valley) is the reason to watch. Not here: It is. Ray Milland's ( Jonathan Trumbo) Film all the way, and he dominates the movie. One major plus is the print. I am willing to bet that Universal remastered the movie because of how crystal clear the print is. I still cannot get over how disappointed I was in this movie. I give it 5/10 stars. All for Milland and the quality of the print.

"California" was an ambitious film from Director John Farrow and Paramount Pictures. In spite of its lavish Technicolr photography and a music score from Victor Young, it falls flat as a big budget movie.

The film is basically divided into three parts, the wagon train sequence, the arrival in California sequence and the fight for statehood sequence.

Wagon master Jonathon Trumbo (Ray Milland) is leading a wagon train of settlers to the promised land of California in the late 1840s. In one of the towns he meets "saloon gird;" Lily Bishop (Barbara Stanwyck) who is being run out of town by the ladies of the town. She asks to accompany the wagon train and wine maker Michael Fabian (Barry Fitzgerald agrees to take her along. When news of a gold strike in California reaches the wagons, the farmers catch gold fever and desert Trumbo and the train.

Later in California Trumbo arrives to find Lily in 'the employ" of ex slaver Captain Pharoh Coffin (George Coulouris) who has ambitions to take over the whole of California by blocking its bid for statehood. Trumbo recognizes Coffin and confronts him only to be beaten up by his brutish henchman Pike (albert Dekker). Although Lily loves Trumbo she still plans to marry Coffin (for his money of course).

The fight for statehood follows with Fabian representing the pro statehood side and Coffin leading the anti-statehood faction. Naturally, the pro statehood faction carries the day. Coffin attempts to force his will with arms, a blazing gun battle ensues and...................................

This movie, although it has its moments, plays more like a "B" movie, especially in the middle, than any thing else. One expects Zorro or The Cisco Kid to ride in at any moment. I mean a villain named Pharoh Coffin, come on. The shots of the wagon train are impressive (probably due to stock footage) and the shots of the landscape are equally appealing in glorious color. But the movie falls flat.

Ray Milland is not really that convincing as a hard nosed wagon master. Stanwyck, always better than her material, gives a good performance as the gold digging Lily. Coulouris' villain is melodramatic and fits more into a "B" movie than an "A" big budget feature. Dekker's brutish henchman is good, but he would have made a better Coffin than colorless Coulouris. Others in the cast include Anthony Quinn, Frank Faylen, Eduardo Ciannelli and Agentina Brunetti. To add to the "B" look of the film several "B" movie veterans appear in small supporting roles.

A better script, some casting changes and we could have had a much more memorable movie.

The Casting of Barry Fitzgerald as a Dirt Farmer/Politician/Saint.

And George Coulouris as a Former Slave Trader and Devil Incarnate.

Almost Ruin a Sprawling Technicolor Production.

Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck are Stalwart as in On Again-Off Again Romance Trying Desperately to Inject some Suspense and Intrigue in this Hopelessly Overblown Story.

John Farrow's Direction is Pedestrian with Few Flourishes that Make the Movie come to Life as it just Hops Around from One Direction to the Next.

A Huge Disappointment Considering.

The First Act with a Wagon Train that Stampedes as soon as the Word Arrives that Gold was Discovered in the Titled Territory.

The Second Act is a Gambling Hall with Stanwick and Coulouris being Infiltrated as Milland Shows Up.

Then there's Talk about California becoming a State.

The Third Act is Political and an Attempted Empire Building by Coulouris.

Buy this Time the Film has Worn Out its Welcome and Scenes Come and Go with Little Gravitas.

It just Runs its Course to the Predictably Flat Ending.

Worth a Watch with Very Low Expectations.

Definitely NOT a great movie, but very enjoyable, especially if one is a Stanwyck fan. Cinematography bounced back and forth from lush, to "quick, get it done" shots.

Ray Milland did not quite cut it as the hardened trail boss and buffalo hunter. But maybe that's because his character really is not-he deserted from the army for getting involved with a married woman. Stanwyck shines as the self-reliant lady gambler and flirt who has been tossed around her whole life, with a few exceptions.

Yes the movie is rather corny, but let's face it the movie industry was right in the middle of the Macarthy era and needed safe material to work with. It DID give a rather honest perspective of how many lost sight of what they really had set out for, and how others took advantage, at any cost.