Californie terre promise

I always thought Barbara Stanwyck had the measure of any of the men she co-starred with in westerns, and here she certainly holds her own as the manipulative "Lily". She joins a wagon train heading west, but the gold rush rumours split that up and so she proceeds to the coast where she quickly ends up owning quite a lucrative saloon. She's pretty much sharing control of the town with the odious storekeeper/daylight robbery merchant "Pharaoh Coffin" (George Colouris) when her erstwhile pals "Trumbo" (Ray Milland) and "Fabian" (Barry Fitzgerald) arrive, all amidst increasing calls for Californian statehood. Needless to say, those in power locally want the status quo - the new arrivals want something more "democratic". What now ensues are a series of cat-fights that keep this moving along well enough until, what I must admit to feeling was a bit of a disappointing denouement. Stanwyck stands out, and Fitzgerald and the rather oddly cast Coulouris are also effective. Milland, however, well he doesn't quite cut the mustard and there is way, way too much dialogue as this story takes far too long to get up any head of steam. Still, it's got a pioneering sort of spirit to it that I quite enjoyed.

"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.

In this movie John Farrow shows the great director he was. The camera work is exceptional, with scenes lasting more than 4 minutes filmed in just one take!. Although there are several of this scenes in the movie, there are other aspects to comment also. The actor's direction is superb, obtaining the most of all of them, in particular the performance of George Colouris (the villain) is outstanding. Moreover, this is not the typical western; the plot shifts unexpectedly from the line one assumes it will follow, to a very different one, and the movie maintains its coherence perfectly. A real gem.

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.

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.