Le Fils du désert

Not as well known as the 1948 John Ford version, this one does not spoon feed the issues to the viewer. Harsh, uncompromising and utterly devoid of false bonhomie, Boleslawski made this at almost the same time as the screwball classic, THEODORA GOES WILD.

Three Godfathers (1936) was directed by Richard Boleslawski.

This could have been just another 1930's Western film, but that's not how things turned out. Naturally, the movie is outdated, but the basic plot isn't.

Three outlaws rob a bank and escape. They are confronted with an impossible situation--a young infant who will die unless they get him back to the town from which they've just escaped.

The outlaws are portrayed by Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, and Walter Brennan. The two women who love one of the outlaws are played by Irene Hervey and Dorothy Tree.

Some readers may remember Walter Brennan. He was a superb character actor, who won three Oscars. For me, none of the other actors were people whose names I recognized.

Nonetheless, the actors were all solid professionals. They had long and relatively successful careers. (Tree's career was cut short because she was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee.) The fact is, although none of them were marquee stars, they all could act. The professionalism shows through each frame.

I liked this movie because it started hard and ended that way. The three outlaws didn't have hearts of gold. They robbed the bank just before Christmas, when the bank held money people were saving for buying presents. They shot people who got in their way. The younger man was basically a sociopath, with no scruples about anything. Not a charming gang. That's what made the film interesting.

This is seen as a Christmas movie, and that part isn't subtle. The town they rob is called New Jerusalem. The film is set right before Christmas. Three men find a young child in the desert.

Nevertheless, the movie is realistic and moving. We saw it on a small screen. Probably it would work better in a theater, but I've never seen it screened. So, small screen is how you'll see it.

It's not a great film, but it's an excellent film. It has aged well, and is worth watching. I recommend it.

A trio of desperadoes, fleeing from a violent Christmastime bank robbery, become THREE GODFATHERS after rescuing a dead mother's baby in the desert.

Here is a very fine little film, (largely forgotten due to its color remake years later starring John Wayne) which rewards the fortunate viewer with very good acting, excellent production values, some taut drama and a fair amount of humor.

Lewis Stone dominates the film as the thief with a conscience. Quietly intellectual & patrician, his tenderness for the infant is immediate and absolute. Stone's acting cannot be faulted; watching him painfully choose which of his beloved books to leave behind in the burning desert is to see a true artist at work.

Chester Morris does a dandy job of making the viewer both like and despise his character. Quick-tempered & revengeful, his attack upon the New Jerusalem bank is his opportunity to wreck havoc on both the town which rejected him and the decent young banker in love with his former sweetheart. Morris wants nothing to slow down his escape--not poisoned water holes or dead horses, and especially not a helpless baby.

Walter Brennan practically steals the entire movie with his portrayal of an old, illiterate outlaw whose childlike innocence and decency compels him to protect the infant. He also has some droll comedy sequences, especially at the Church Social, where he has a memorable encounter with a plate of asparagus. His scenes in the desert, with desperate thirst stalking his footsteps, show the consummate skill he would exhibit the rest of his life as one of America's favorite character actors.

In smaller roles, Sidney Toler is wonderfully droll as an itinerate dentist with a deadly aim; bucktoothed Victor Potel is his unfortunate customer. Rotund Roger Imhof plays the friendly sheriff of New Jerusalem; Dorothy Tree is the saloon hostess with a hankering for Morris. Pretty Irene Hervey does well as Morris' former love; her fiancé is nicely played by Robert Livingston, who finds the padding in his Santa suit to be most fortuitous.

In 1929 actor Chester Morris was nominated for an Oscar for his strong performance as an ex-con in Alibi; he spent a good deal of his life playing tough-guy roles, too often typecast in second-tier "B" roles; here, some six years later, he gives a dynamic, believable turn as the bad boy of the town, the man in black who revels in his nastiness, unredeemed by the love of a good woman or anyone else. He and two others pal up together to rob a bank during a church social, and run for the hills, there discovering a dying woman with a child; this could be a really silly melodramatic set-up, but director Richard Boleslawski knows what he is doing, knows how much melodrama to inject into a situation, is able to focus two of the best scene stealers in the business, Walter Brennan and Lewis Stone into producing distinctively compelling characters. This film is a remake of several silent versions, the most notable starring Charles Bickford in the Chester Morris role (and later, more sentimentally, by John Wayne in a color version from John Ford), but the sense of authenticity in the town scenes and the visually arresting desert scenery give the actors a canvas which they do not fail to brilliantly fill in. How often does a character in a Western film recite Macbeth's "Tomorrow" soliloquy from memory, or discuss the intricacies of Schopenhauer with a friendly but uncomprehending cowpoke? Lewis Stone manages a nice turn in his interchanges with Walter Brennan, himself putting the brakes on his usual cornball rustic. The transformation for Chester Morris from unregenerate bum to something admirable is powerfully done, and the intrusion of some 1930's sentiment not entirely unwelcome. In 1936, the Best Oscar nominees were Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, William Powell and Walter Huston; with a better agent, Chester Morris might have been among them.

Three Godfathers (1936)

*** (out of 4)

Extremely warm Western has three ruthless outlaws (Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan) robbing a bank at Christmas time and then heading off into the desert. While on their getaway they come across a dying mother and her young child so the men take the child to try and get it to some place safe. After a bit of bad luck the three find themselves nearing death themselves and to get the baby home it might cost them their lives. I'm sure most people are familiar with the John Ford vehicle with John Wayne but this version is so much better for numerous reasons. The biggest reason is that this version is a lot darker and more grittier than the Ford film, which always seemed a tad bit too cute to me. This film has a lot of dark moments and depends on religion a lot more as well. There's also some nice humor scattered through this film including a great bit with a Santa Clause. Both Morris and Brennan are very good in their roles with Morris giving a very good turn as a really mean guy. Stone steals the film as the older man who tries to talk the other two into having some good in their hearts. Sidney Toler has a small supporting role.