L'Étreinte du destin

Post-Civil War southerner--who left his small town for battle with the reputation of a brawler and a womanizer--returns home a changed man; he has heard God's calling, and intends to build a church from scratch and be its self-appointed parson. Rather offbeat, entertaining, if modest western drama from screenwriter Herb Meadow (adapting his short story, "Calico Pony") offers a strong starring role for Van Heflin. Focused and determined, but not above a little unorthodox behavior, Heflin's Luke Fargo is a charming, thoroughly-realized creation: a man who wants to preach but isn't even sure how to begin a prayer. The film has lightly humorous character bits, also a ready-made villain in Raymond Burr (whose determination to trip Fargo up at every juncture is never made quite clear). Joanne Woodward debuts as a scruffy, orphaned tomboy; she's miscast, and is used mostly for comic relief, but she manages to make a connection with the audience--and with Heflin, although their final walk together (however subtly presented) is a bit tough to swallow. Not a big, rousing western, though completely unpretentious and engaging on a minor level. **1/2 from ****

It's a pity Joanne Woodward didn't meet Paul Newman earlier as they would have been perfect together in this comic western. I just didn't buy Van Heflin as the hero who is so attractive to women that they melt when he appears. Newman yes, Heflin, no, as much as I admired him in serious roles like Shane and 3.10 to Yuma. He plays a 'Blue legs', that's a Yankee soldier in confederate country. Coming home after the civil war has ended, he's seen the light and has decided he's going to set up church as the local preacher. The town hierarchy led by a grumpy Raymond Burr, always good as threatening thugs, dislikes our Van and wants him gone. A couple of past girlfriends of Vans are still fawning over him and as happens in these 50's Hollywood westerns, brawls break out. Some regular western character actors are thrown in for good measure, Phil Carey, James Griffith and Myron Healy, all serviceable and the result would have been a pleasant easy going family film of it's time. There's no bloodshed, just fist fights, lovely scenery, Cinemascope, a half decent script and acting. What lifts this light hearted romp is a cracking first movie introduction of Joanne Woodward who steals every scene she's in as an orphan country girl, wild and ignorant, sassy as they come and tough as old boots who our Van comes across living alone in a deserted shack. He decides it would be a useful place to hang his hat and takes the girl under his wing, mistakingly assuming she's only about 14/15 years old, it turns out she's actually 18. There's no suggestion of misbehavior in the relationship, although Joanne does in the end calm down and starts to become attracted to our hero. This part is quite hard to believe but she's so good, it's hardly any wonder that within a year or two she would win a best actress Oscar. She left me with a smile on my face. I'm suddenly a huge fan having recently seen her in another terrific movie with Paul, The Long Hot Summer. I did see her quite a bit in the past but clearly not her best movies and hadn't taken that much notice, now I will.

Count Three and Pray is directed by George Sherman and written by Herb Meadow. It stars Van Heflin, Joanne Woodward, Raymond Burr, Phillip Carey and Allison Hayes. A CinemaScope/Technicolor production, music is by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.

At first glance it appears to be a film about a bad man finding his faith and coming good in the face of adversity, but there are many more strings to this particular bow. Even if it never quite reaches greatness.

Story has Heflin as Luke Fargo, a man who before the Civil War was something of a hell raiser, he loved women, he loved to drink, and he loved to fight. While serving in the war he was emotionally scarred by what he witnessed at The Battle of Vicksburg, he decided then that a change in his life trajectory was required. The bite here is that Fargo, a Southerner, fought for the North because that was the political side he believed in. So upon returning to his Southern hometown, he's persona non grata, a major problem since he wants to spread the gospel and cast off his previous sins. His efforts are further complicated when he locates himself to the derelict - ramshackle - church and parsonage, to find living there is a feisty orphan girl called Lissy (Woodward), a sharpshooting tomboy with fire in her belly.

Right from the off we find Fargo having to reach back to his hellfire club days, forced to brawl when confronted with outright hostility that's being instigated by self appointed town leader Yancey Huggins (Burr on splendidly nasty form). Oh there is plenty of God fearing folk in the town who desperately want to have the church up and running again, they want to give Luke a chance, but there's the constant feeling that a leopard never changes its spots, something that is further compounded by the attention Luke receives from the town "madam" (Jean Willes). While the fact that Luke is living under the same roof as young Lissy sets tongues a wagging, unhealthily so. Luke valiantly ploughs on, but his unorthodox methods are sure to be used against him...

As the relationship between Lissy and himself develops, you sense quite early on how things are going to pan out, but the by-play between Heflin and Woodward is great viewing. Initially you would be forgiven for thinking that Woodward's character is going to be greatly annoying, but Woodward quickly dispels those fears to deliver a quite wonderful portrayal of a wastrel who is unaware she herself needs guidance. Heflin also is great value, a real mixed bag of emotions, lurching from tough to vulnerable with consummate ease. We could have done with a bit more of Burr's villainy up front and center, while Hayes' (yummy!) treacherous femme comes off as under written, but the main characterisations are strong enough to support the thematics.

Nicely photographed around the Agoura Hills area of California by ace lensman Guffey, it's a pleasing production visually. Aurally the musical score provided by Duning has the requisite sedate and bluster moments, though fans of the original Star Trek TV show may find themselves suddenly whisked off on the Enterprise, Duning would clearly rework his score here for Kirk and Spock's adventures. Woodward playing a gal 7 years younger than she actually was asks us for some leeway, while the ending is to my mind a stretch too far, but this is an enjoyable experience for Heflin and Woodward fans. There's good action with knuckles (on a Sunday no less!) and horse racing, and plenty of breezy humour as well, making this a picture that's not quite a hidden gem, but definitely worthy of consideration by the Oater loving crowd. 7/10

This movie has some of the best dialog I have heard. Joanne Woodward is exceptional in her sassy, contentious character. She steals every scene she appears in. Van Heflin was always good and Raymond Burr I still dislike. A good story and a difficult subject, dealt with in a light hearted but serious way. Just, well done!

Most movies garner your interest in the beginning. You are intrigued and wonder how things will work out. That is the easy part. The difficult part is how to solve the puzzle, put the pieces together in an entertaining and clever way. Therefore, the conclusions of most movies fall apart.

"Count Three and Pray" reversed this. The first half-hour was maddening slow, boring, clichéd and predictable. It was also unrealistic as would-be preacher Heflin went about building a church building and congregation from scratch -- what with no money, friends and a hostile community. I was ready to fast-forward to the end, but didn't.

The last half-hour was marvelous, though. It moved along quickly. The problems and solutions were unexpected and clever. It was heart-warming, believable and even somewhat religious. Gave me a good feeling. I recommend this to single adults and entire families.