Le Traître du Far-West

That's a good western from Paramount Pictures, starring a Joel Mc Crea at his peak in a role that has been his standard for decades. So, do not expect any surprise, only expect what you precisely expect: good cow boy fighting an evil one, a true villain, such as for instance a Brian Donlevy wearing a black suit....and you will obtain what you searched for. I have seen hundreds of this kind all over decades too, since my childhood, and now it bores me a bit. However that doesn't remove anything from the genuine quality of this film. It remains a great classic, starring a great western star. The usual good stuff, period.

This story, originally written by novelist Owen Wister is the granddaddy of the western genre. Western novels before that were usually about real life characters, Buffalo Bill, Wyatt Earp for example: that put them in these two dimensional heroic settings. Those things were nicknamed "Penny dreadfuls" and that they were.

Wister, who spent some time in the west, and was a good friend of cowboy president Theodore Roosevelt, developed his characters out of the people he met in the west. The strong silent hero, the demure schoolmarm, the cold hearted villain, all these appear in The Virginian and they're stock characters in westerns. But these are the original prototypes for thousands to follow. Owen Wister set the standard for folks like Zane Grey, Luke Short, Louis L'Amour,etc. to follow.

Joel McCrea was a fine actor, a combination of the best features of Gary Cooper(who did the role in an earlier version), Jimmy Stewart and a younger John Wayne. Nobody has done a better job in playing this character including Cooper. Brian Donlevy is the villainous Trampas and he never disappoints. Sonny Tufts probably has the best role in his career as Steve, The Virginian's friend who turns to rustling with Trampas. Barbara Britton is properly demure as the schoolmarm.

This novel, the play that Wister wrote based on it and all the versions to follow had the Presidential imprimatur. Teddy Roosevelt loved this book and recommended it to the youth of America. I remember a similar White House imprimatur for a western coming in my teen years. Back around 1965 the folks had CBS decided Gunsmoke had run its course and they were ready to pull the plug on the show. Well, up stepped Lady Bird Johnson to the plate and she declared that Gunsmoke was her favorite television show. That did it, the show ran almost another decade.

The crux of the story centers around the relationship with The Virginian and Steve. After warning him once, The Virginian catches Steve with stolen cattle and since there's no organized law in the territory, proceeds to hang him forthwith. The story then revolves on how The Virginian and others around him view the distasteful, but necessary duty he had to do.

I've often wondered how Theodore Roosevelt felt about that part of the plot and what he might have said to his good friend Wister. There is a famous story from his days in the Dakota Territory about how Roosevelt set out to trail some rustlers and caught up with them. There was no law within miles of where they were. But Roosevelt took them back to where there was a federal marshal and turned them over to the surprise of many including the marshal.

No doubt The Virginian was a great example of the manly virtues of the strenuous life that Roosevelt passionately advocated. But I often wonder what he and Wister might have talked about concerning this aspect of the story.

Remember folks if you see this and complain about clichés, remember the clichés started here.

Molly, an Eastern school marm, travels west to Montana to teach a semester and immediately becomes the romantic focus of two handsome cowpokes, Steve and the Virginian. Long on talk and spooning and short on action, unless a cattle stampede qualifies, "The Virginian" was based on a 1902 novel by Owen Wister. The popular book was adapted for the stage, filmed four times as a theatrical movie, made once as a TV movie, and became the basis for a television series. The romantic triangle at the story's core takes place against a backdrop of cattle rustling and the harsh realities of maintaining order on the frontier.

Not the most expressive actor, Joel McCrea is amiable as the titular Virginian opposite the ever- smiling Sonny Tufts as Steve, his competition for Barbara Britton's affections. McCrea seems too mild and gentlemanly for the deeds he ostensibly does, and Tufts appears a bit simple minded and assured that his grin and charm will always get him off the hook. Garbed head to foot in inky black, complete with black hat and black gloves, Brian Donlevy as Trampas, the head rustler, shouts "villain" before his first sneer or mustache twirl. Britton has little more expression than McCrea, and the romance lacks credibility. Despite good looks, little in either Steve's or the Virginian's character or personalities justifies any interest an educated school teacher might have in the two unpolished cowboys. Evidently, Britton was misinformed about the wild west, because she packed her finest to teach on the frontier; her Edith-Head-designed wardrobe dazzles, even when she goes riding in the wilderness. Despite the incongruity, her costumes, coiffures, and complexion are stunningly captured by Harry Hallenberger's Technicolor cinematography.

This 1946 version of "The Virginian" is more an adult romance on the range than a matinee oater. McCrea has appeared to better effect in other westerns, and director Stuart Gilmore was likely more suited to film editing, for which he received three Oscar nominations, than he was for directing. Despite the flaws, the film is pleasant enough with sumptuous color and attractive stars. However, western fans seeking action-filled entertainment need look elsewhere.

Cowpoke good guy , known as the Virginian, Joel McCrea , and his best colleague called Steve , Sonny Tuffs , both fall for Molly, Barbara Britton , the Eastern Schoolmarm who is come to their Wyoming town . Steve wants to make some quick money and joins up Trampas , Brian Donlevy , and his cattle rustling band .After that , the Virginian leads a posse against the cattle rustlers . Things go wrong when The Virginian must take a hard decission .

Good Western based on the 1902 classic novel by Owen Lister about a ranch-hand defeating the local bad guys . The main issue of the movie is an interesting premise , as The Virginian is forced to choose between frienship and the code of the west and Molly wonders if she can accept the country's harsh ways . It has fine interpretation from a top-drawer cast , such as Joel McCrea , Brian Donlevy , Barbara Britton . Joel McCrea gives a decent acting as the tough cowboy who is betrayed by his best friend , deciding between bring him to justice and alienating the pretty schoolteacher he is in love with . Donlevy is perfectly cast as the outlaw leader Trampas . And a very good support cast such as : Sonny Tuffs , Fay Bainter, Tom Tully , Bill Edwards , Paul Guilfoyle , Mark Lawrence , among others . The motion picture was well directed by Stuart Gilmore who was one of the best Hollywood editors . Although he also made a few fulms such as Captive man, Half-breed , Target and Hot lead.

There are several adaptation about this novel : First silent retelling The Virginian 1914 by Cecil B DeMille with Dustin Farnum , Jack Johnston . Classic early talkie 1929 by Victor Fleming with Gary Cooper , Walter Huston , Mary Brian , Richard Arlen . 1962 popular TV series mostly directed by Earl Bellamy with James Drury , Doug McClure , Lee J Cobb , John McIntire , Stewart Granger . TV rendition with Bill Pullman , John Savage , Harris Yulin , Colm Feore , Diane Lane . 2014 by Thomas McKowsky with Trace Adkins , Steve Bacic, Victoria Pratt

... and the comparison is made more interesting because this film is almost a word for word remake of the 1929 version starring Gary Cooper. Most remakes of early sound films had to make huge changes in the plot just to please the production code. Just take a look at the mess that the 1941 version of the "The Trial of Mary Dugan" is versus the 1929 version, which had its plot completely changed due to production code issues. Here, there is no such issue.

Joel McCrea, always overly humble when discussing his own acting ability, said that he'd get a script and after reading it, often know that the studio wanted Cooper and couldn't get him, and he was their second choice. I doubt that, but here we get to judge the two actors in the same role as "The Virginian" 17 years apart. The two films are practically the same even down to the visual and audio cues - Trampas dressed in all black, the bird call that is synonymous with affable but ultimately tragically lazy Steve, etc. The one thing they didn't do that would have looked just plain silly by 1946 standards is dress McCrea in all white as the good guy, which they did with Cooper as the hero in 1929.

I think I prefer Mary Brian as Molly in the 1929 version versus Barbara Britton in this version. Mary Brian played Molly as a strong smart woman, but a woman of New England, unfamiliar and puzzled by the ways of the west. Here Ms. Britton plays Molly as a bit of a befuddled weakling, easily evoked to tears. No befuddled weakling would travel across the continent to teach school in a wilderness.

If you've never seen the 1929 version, you'll probably like this one. If you like Joel McCrea I'm almost sure you'll like it, but if you've seen the early sound version the ghost of that early sound marvel is likely to raise its specter more than a couple of times as you watch it.