La maîtresse de fer

Western adventure with Jim Bowie (Alan Ladd) a man with his name on a knife and two women (Virginia Mayo , Phyllis Kirk) with a weapon all their own . This is a mini-biography of the life of Jim Bowie in which he faces off bloody duels . It starts In 1825, Jim Bowie travels to New Orleans to sell the lumber output from the sawmill he runs with his brothers . He soon meets the gorgeous as well as manipulating Judalon De Bornay (Virginia Mayo) and falls in love for her . Jim attempts to wed Jedualon , but the woman has wed playboy Phillipe (Alf Kjellin) . Jim's business interests lead to violent fights where a lot of people are killed and there takes place a struggle with local saloon owner and nasty Black Jack (Anthony Caruso) . Then , Bowie is rescued by an attractive Mexican girl (Phyllis Kirk) , the daughter of the Vice-Governor of San Antonio .

Barely historical presentation about the mythic character , Jim Bowie , who invented the famed frontier knife . This colorful as well as spotty picture contains action , thrills , soap opera , knife-fights , luxurious balls and results to be entertaining ; however , being also mediocre . Slightly interesting screenplay by James R. Webb , Western usual , being based on a novel by Paul Wellman . Passable acting by the main starring Alan Ladd , and gorgeous Virginia Mayo who subsequently reprised her film role in Lux Radio Theater broadcast , a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie. Support cast is frankly well , such as Joseph Calleia as Juan Moreno , Phyllis Kirk as Ursula De Varamendi , Alf Kjellin as Phillipe De Cabanal , Douglas Dick as Narcisse de Bornay and special mention to Anthony Caruso playing as crook Black Jack . Atmospheric and thrilling musical score by the classic composer Max Steiner . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by John F. Seitz , filmed on location in New Orleans and surrounds .

The motion picture lavishly produced by Henry Blanke was regularly directed by Gordon Douglas . He was an expert on adventure genre as ¨Black arrow¨ , ¨Fortunes of Captain Blood¨ , both starred by Louis Hayward and Western , as he proved in the films starred by Clint Walker such as ¨Fort Dobbs¨, ¨Yellowstone Kelly¨ , ¨Gold of seven Saints¨ , Gregory Peck as ¨Only the valiant¨ , ¨Chuka¨ with Rod Taylor , ¨Rio Conchos¨ starred by Richard Boone , being considered his best Western , and about bandits legendary as ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ , ¨Great Missouri raid¨, among others .

The real events about James Bowie's life are the followings : Texas hero and knife-fighter whose name was made world famous by the type of broad-bladed knife he used and is said to have originated . Born in Georgia , he made money by selling black slaves before going Texas , where he settle in San Antonio , legend tells us he searched for and found the lost Spanish silver mine in the San Saba region . In 1830, he became a Mexican citizen married the daughter of the Vice-Governor of San Antonio and became a wealthy landowner . He lost his wife and children in a cholera epidemic . When the Texans rebelled against Spanish rule he joined the rebels and was made captain , engaging in several victories over Mexicans . With the rank of colonel he held joint command of The Alamo fortress with Colonel Travis until stricken down with fever , he died fighting , from his sickbed , with the rest of the garrison while defending the Alamo against an overwhelming Mexican army . Bowie made his reputation as a formidable knife-fighter in a number of duels , but it is not clear if he or his brother , actually designed the original Bowie Knife .

Okay so let's first get this fiction out of the way. Jim Bowie as portrayed in The Iron Mistress as the true romantic and a gentlemen hero is more fiction than fact based on folklore and "he said, she said". In real life historians have acclaimed Jim Bowie as a somewhat shady land purveyor who in 1831 after he married nineteen- year-old Maria Ursula de Veramendi, then in 1983 he lost his wife and two children to cholera and began to drink a lot and thereafter not caring anymore about his attire.

But film producers do not necessarily have to note in advance and/or clarify that some parts of their film may be embellished or that the facts may not all be known. I for one really enjoyed Alan Ladd in the lead role as the folklore hero Jim Bowie and his long lost love affair with the attractive Judalon de Bornay played by Virginia Mayo. There were at least three (3) different scenes in the film where Judalon de Bornayand and adventurer Jim Bowie were caught in an embrace and Judalon can be deliberately seen rolling her eyes and smirking directly towards her film audiences in our seats and telling us that she does not really love Jim Bowie and is just using him to get what she wants...money, murder, and to cause more trouble.

As Jim Bowie would eventually say to his former love Judalon de Bornay "no Judalon I don't think we can be together, you have caused the death of at least eight (8) men and that is enough." I am a big fan of Alan Ladd and especially the classic westerns (Shane) and adventure films (Boy on a Dolphin) that he starred in. There is one scene in particular in The Iron Mistress near the end of the film that is a very clever twist where by accident or by premonition Jim Bowie is indirectly responsible for the sudden fate of two of his male combatants and his former love, Judalon. This particular scene for me wrapped up the film in a neat little and justifiable bow that reminds me that this is only a film based on a real life person whose reputation precedes him as a dashing, handsome and daring adventurer.

Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo played their parts exceptionally well so if you like good adventure/westerns/biographies then you will most likely enjoy The Iron Mistress which the title is based not on a woman, but on Jim Bowie's specially designed hunting knife.

I give the film an 8 out 10 rating.

Excellent entertainment for the movie-goer regarding Jim Bowie, his knife and a snapshot of his life real or imagined. It doesn't matter how accurate this is as it is not a biography or documentary but instead entertainment. Furthermore I like Alan Ladd which makes for a treat. There are some familiar faces for the cast for their time making it even more enjoyable. One thing I always look for in classic movie showings is whether the movie is watchable a second time. It all depends on memorable scenes and this movie has quite a few that make you want to "comeback" for more. Too bad it is not longer as they would have just loaded it up with more good viewing dynamics. I watch this every 2-3 years for decades and it is still holding my attention just like the first time out. Excellent movie to eat with while watching with a tasty drink. Snack ups it considerably too. Hey....

After a decade at Paramount Sue Carol negotiated a new studio contract for Alan Ladd at Warner Brothers. Sad to because her husband's greatest film was ready for release at Paramount and they had no great urgency to feature him in the publicity. But that's another story.

Alan Ladd became another one of a good list of players to take on the role of Jim Bowie. He plays him as heroic as Richard Widmark, MacDonald Carey, Sterling Hayden or Jim Arness did. Problem was of all the legends of the American frontier, Jim Bowie was probably the one who got the biggest whitewash in history.

The man was a thoroughgoing scoundrel. As a merchant he was as unscrupulous as a latter day robber baron. He was involved in several land swindle scams. He also bought and sold slaves as well. And he wasn't even honest in that. He and Jean Lafitte had a fine racket for a while with Lafitte capturing runaways in Texas and bringing them back to the U.S. for Bowie to sell, not necessarily back to their original masters.

He did have a knife built to his specifications as per the film and with his activities he did tend to get into a lot of violent disagreements. That's the Bowie knife, the Arkansas toothpick, the Iron Mistress of the title.

But Ladd plays Bowie as heroically as the legends have him and as the novel by Paul Wellman has him. He's caught between two women, the selfish French creole aristocrat Virginia Mayo and the daughter of the Governor of the province of Coahuila in Mexico which included Texas, Phyllis Kirk.

Bowie was a violent man in a violent era. Ladd plays him like he was Shane and he was being faithful to the novel if not the real Bowie. But then we've never seen the real one on screen any time.

Still for those who liked Ladd's portrayal of Shane, The Iron Mistress is a good film for you.

You got to like Alan Ladd first off. He gave a good show in this performance and with a good story and supporting actors, this remains premium entertainment. In addition to the Bowie legend, we are introduced to the Bowie knife. A large no-nonsense will get the job done specially made knife that in the right hands can do quite a bit of damages if you are a master of said knife. Alan Ladd is that man. In addition to a nice flowing story-line, we are introduced to many memorable scenes which make this a must see movie again and again. We get a glimpse of the way it was way back when the country was young, Way back when, there was opportunity everywhere, brave men who took risks and danger to put them in their place if they made one wrong move. Many did. The movie emphasizes a moral code in its story of which men will duel over if not honored and obeyed. It wasn't enough to win or kill but how you win and kill that mattered as a mans reputation was the most important asset he had. Banks would loan on it, people would support it and others would imitate it making a person's character very valuable. Boy has that been compromised over the ages but not wiped out. If one finds an honest man who practices righteousness, faith is restored and good will toward men takes place. If many are found keeping this, then we are either closer to paradise or we are in Christmas! Pay attention to the leading ladies vanity. She has everything yet she has nothing and we are treated to a close-up glance of vanity at work and even more, pride in large doses too. Worthy time spent on this little gem. I have seen it perhaps ten times and am watching it now. What joy. Waste no more time reading this. Go and be entertained. Highly recommend eating while watching, a decent snack and a tasty drink. Please enjoy and if you recorded this off of TCM, watch it and save it and watch again in about 3 weeks. You will thank me!