User reviews

Three Faces West presents two stories, that of a highly respected elderly Austrian doctor (Charles Coburn) and his daughter (Sigrid Gurie) who have fled the Nazi regime and come to American seeking a place to practice medicine, and also that of a small dust-bowl town in North Dakota in need of a doctor which is personified by John Phillips (John Wayne) who is a farmer and community leader. Initially the doctor and more particularly the daughter are not prepared for the hardships they find and wish to leave but a growing romantic relationship brings everyone closer together. A story like this wouldn't be complete without some more obstacles, and in keeping with the two part tale we have two obstacles one for the budding romance and one for the struggling town.

The film is definitely very much about the message and it essentially has two messages to deliver, there is the message about tyranny and the sacrifices that may be necessary by those who oppose it and also that of the community and working together to overcome adversity. In light of the era that this was made it is not surprising to see such an approach. It is interesting from an historical point of view to observe the attitudes towards Nazi Germany in the United States of 1940 before they had entered the war.

Beyond the good performances from the three principles as well as Spencer Charters in the side kick role there is nothing particularly impressive about the production, but a well intentioned story coupled with an atypical role for Wayne and the interesting historical perspective on both the dust bowl and early years of WWII make this worthwhile viewing for me. It's interesting to note that Sigrid Gurie despite a solid performance would barely make a dozen films over her career. On the other hand Charles Coburn who played her father wouldn't make his first film until he was 56 and continued into his eighties, he also won and Oscar and was nominated for two more.

Viennese surgeon Charles Coburn and daughter Sigrid Gurie arrive in America and are placed in a rural area of Oklahoma. They stay in a large old house with John Wayne and Spencer Charters. Pretty soon, despite Gurie's homesickness, they are involved in the social and political life in the area.

This is the famous Oklahoma dust bowl era when drought and poor cultivation practices brought about a drying up of once fertile farm land. Wayne and the other farmers do their best to save the land, but in the end except a government offer to homestead new farm land created by a dam built in Oregon, I presume on the Columbia River or one of its tributaries.

Gurie of course falls big time for the Duke. But she hears that Roland Varno who saved them from the Nazis and who she thought dead is still alive. Wayne of course leads a modern day wagon train to Oregon with automobiles instead of Conestoga wagons. He's got his own problems with Trevor Bardette, another farmer who's constantly trying to undermine his leadership.

23 years later John Wayne made McLintock which is more a serious statement of his conservative political and economic philosophy than one realizes. In Three Faces West we have him accepting a government program's help, albeit a self help type program. The film though is couched in terms good enough to satisfy any free marketeer.

One thing I could not understand. Roland Varno purportedly risked his life to save Gurie and Coburn from the Nazis. But when both of them meet up with Varno in San Francisco, he's now a big time Nazi supporter and wants to take them back to Vienna to aid in his new cause. They are taken aback and walk right out on him.

I'm somewhat taken aback myself. For the life of me I don't understand Varno's about face. The script gives us no explanation. It's a big hole in the plot.

Three Faces West also labors under the handicap of coming out in the same year as The Grapes of Wrath. A much better film about the dust bowl and its economic effects.

Beginning like 'The Wind' and ending as a more upbeat 'Grapes of Wrath', the original title sounds like a western, but it actually starts as a very contemporary tale of a pair of Austrian refugees arriving in America after fleeing the Anschluss.

Both the director and one of the scriptwriters - one of the Hollywood Ten, no less - were later blacklisted, so I hope they avoided discussing politics with John Wayne on the set.

This is by no means a great movie, but not a terrible movie either. This really is an update of a frontier movie with some good ol' American spirit thrown in. This is basically the story of an Austrian doctor and his daughter who come to America seeking refugee from the Nazi's. Then end up in a small town who have farmed the land to death and who themselves are seeking new land to make their lives. John Wayne does his normal thing as the so called leader of the townsfolk dealing with conflict along the way, and also the inevitable love interest of the doctor's daughter. Plodding and really so much inferior to the similar 'Grapes of Wrath'. Not one for me to be watching again.

As part of a program relocating European refugees, Viennese surgeon Charles Coburn is sent to Dust Bowl-stricken North Dakota where people are in desperate need of a doctor. Where's John Wayne figure into all this? He's the unelected leader of the town that falls for Coburn's daughter (Sigrid Gurie). This is an odd movie. A mixture of WW2 flag waver, social messager, and western (Duke leads the modern equivalent of a wagon train). The plot is also a bit of a mess. A short time after the doctor arrives in North Dakota, the decision is made to pack up all the townsfolk and move to Oregon. Why not just send Coburn and Gurie to Oregon first and explain that these people had to relocate there and need a doctor? I guess then we couldn't have had the scenes of Gurie insulting the poor townsfolk who have just given them a home. I kept expecting Duke to say "Go back and try your luck with the Nazis if you feel that way about it."

Coburn is likable but this isn't the kind of role he was best suited for. And the less said about his attempt at an accent, the better. John Wayne does fine but this is just another forgettable role made between John Ford films as his star was still on the rise. Sigrid Gurie is the latest in a string of tepid romantic interests for Duke that would continue throughout the 1940s. He was paired with many fine actresses, but the chemistry was often just not there. It's not a bad film, just not a good one. Kind of boring and more than a bit disappointing they didn't explore the Dust Bowl story longer.

An American drama; A story about a Viennese surgeon and his daughter, refugees in a small North Dakota town. When the winds of the Dust Bowl threaten they are led away from doom by a farmer leader to Oregon whence he falls in love with the daughter but their future together is complicated by her past. This film's first half is tightly scripted, a contempory tale of 1930s hardship and hostile environments, a celebration of the pioneer spirit. Then comes a theme about migration and scenes become shallow as the character stories fall away, then tension with anti-Nazi propaganda, then a love triangle. This busy progression gave the film an over-engineered feel and perhaps inevitably it led toward a mediocre end. It has good production design and it is photographed handsomely. The cast performed adequately well too. John Wayne has vigour in his part while Sigrid Gurie manages with her poorly written part, but they lacked chemistry.

In a subdued and understated role, John Wayne is excellent.

Other commenters have placed the action in North Dakota and in Oklahoma, but I never heard a home stated. In fact, I thought the script specifically avoided mentioning one. (Maybe like the Simpsons' Springfield?)

The situation and the timing would seem to indicate Oklahoma, but in truth it really doesn't matter, and the film can be seen as somewhat of an allegory, as representative of the dilemma many poor farmers faced during the Dust Bowl and Depression days.

Regardless, it is worth saying again that John Wayne gave one of his best performances, that his character was a different one from what he so often played and he demonstrated that he was by gosh an actor!

The chief bad guy also stood out, and should have, being played as it was by the great Trevor Bardette.

The subplot, the almost thwarted love story, was poignant and timely, and there was a wonderful line spoken by the Wayne character: "We get all tangled up in other people's feelings and duties and obligations," a fact that gets so many people, and even nations, into trouble.

"Three Faces West" is a very good movie, with great direction, some superior camera angles, and possibly some great stock footage, as well as great acting, from Wayne to the atmosphere players.

All of that with an intelligent script makes it well worth watching.

I did not think that this was a very good movie. It bored me. It was largely a propaganda film, with John Wayne spouting clichés and inspirational fluff, presumably to uplift the morale of the nation as war rages in Europe and Asia. It also carried an anti-Nazi propaganda portion, (which is fine by me) but I sort of thought that Hollywood was OK with Germany in 1940, since they were allied with the Soviet Union at that time. Wayne, of course was a noted conservative and anti-communist, but I'm not sure how much power he wielded at the studio in 1940. The whole film just came across as preachy and fake. I don't really recommend it to anyone, not even John Wayne fans.

Three Faces West isn't a western, but you'll still find John Wayne out on the prairie. He lives in a small North Dakota town with a lot of sick people and no doctor willing to stick around for longer than a day. They hear a radio program offering foreign doctors who have been granted asylum from the United States at the outbreak of the war, willing to travel to any remote town who wants them. Duke's town sends away for Viennese Charles "Piggy" Coburn and his daughter, Sigrid Gurie. Piggy's casting is quite silly, since he's from Georgia and everyone knows it. But if you're able to look the other way on his accent, more power to you.

Sigrid's character is odd, irritating, and practically ruins the movie. She can't stop complaining when she first arrives in town, so much so that she's adamant on leaving within twenty-four hours. She claims she's exhausted from assisting her father through all his house calls - but she's acted as his assistant for years. She nearly weeps at seeing the dusty state of the house they've been given - but they've literally been given a furnished house. She isn't moved by the sight of crippled children and sick old men. What kind of doctor's assistant is she? And why would John Wayne fall all over himself for her? Is she the first single woman his age he's ever met?

There are other, far better, Dust Bowl dramas you can watch. If you're going to watch this one, it's because you think John Wayne is just the cutest and you can't live without him. I couldn't get past Piggy's bad accent - I don't care how cute Duke is.

An old fashion moral tale with sweetness. John Wayne gives a great performance, and Sigurd Gurie shines as the daughter of a Viennese Surgeon (Charles Coburn). The historical significance of this picture is accurate and compelling, though rather melo-dramatic. Ms Gurie gives a kind and sensitive performance in one of the finest roles of her brief career. The Oklahoma dust bowl is the setting for this early 20th century tale that keeps an eye on several moral issues. It tells the brave tale of poor farmers who were strongly bonded with "good honest sweat", and who face a decision to stick together and head west. Spencer Charters, playing the town veterinarian/comedian gives a fine performance as do many of the players in this one. Well worth a watch.

I feel this movie doesn't get what it deserves. Was an excellent story line. Good acting. Its got everything. Farmers work hard to make it work while being hard hit by the drought and dust storms. Two refugees, a medical doctor and his 20?-year-old daughter arrive in the USA from Nazi-annexed Austria. They eventually are convinced...??? Its got it all. Much more happens and is very exciting. In a small North Dakota farm town. Love it. John Wayne is the man in this movie. This film is not well known and hasn't got the attention as his other films but to me it is one of his best and maybe his best Drama film in the 40's. Get this one you wont be disappointed.

This film fits into an odd gap - in John Wayne's career, into the tenor of the times, into the evolution of cinema. But it's highly entertaining, at times visually spectacular, and really a lot better than it has any right to be.

The depiction of the Dust Bowl is remarkably strong. There's grit and dust in every shot. Many of the scenes are painted in strong, noir-ish tones. Against this backdrop, we have a solid little story about an Austrian doctor and his daughter finding a new new home. It could have been mere Hollywood fluff, but it all rings quite true. The touch of propaganda you might expect in a wartime production is restrained and palatable, with a positive focus on emotions rather than a negative one on ideologies.

All this is abetted by strong performances from the three leads. John Wayne is only about a year along from his breakthrough role in Stagecoach, and proves himself capable of surprising depths. He's as likable here as he's ever been, but also more human. And much more of an acting talent than we might usually give him credit for. This is one of those overlooked Wayne entries, like Island in the Sky, or Hondo, where you can really see how he earned his star billing. Sigrid Gurie is a perfect match. She runs a gamut of emotions, yet remains always appealing.

It's true that the second part of the story does cover some of the same historical ground as The Grapes of Wrath. But the two films don't really overlap. We have here a happier outcome, and much more of a small-scale adventure-drama than an allegorical social commentary. Obviously, this film isn't on the same level artistically as John Ford's masterpiece. But it's also far better than the mere B-movie it might have been.

If you're a fan of John Wayne, or have any affection for the workmanlike dramas of Hollywood's golden era, this film is going to be a very welcome discovery.