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The Furies (1950); Anthony Mann's Psychological Western
Topic Started: Jul 1 2008, 06:30 AM (222 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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Man, did *I* have fun watching this one. Even when it didn't work for me, I still loved it. It is one amazing movie.

"The Furies" is a New Mexico ranch so big, it makes the Ponderosa look like a victory garden. It was built by T.C. Jeffords (Walter Houston, in his final role), who basically stole much of the land from his neighbors ("some people'll rob ya with a six gun, some'll do it with a fountain pen", don't ya know). T.C. has a two kids, a weak son and a very strong daughter (Barbara Stanwyck), and SHE'S the chip off his old block, so she's going to get the ranch. Except Dame Judith Anderson has come into T.C.'s life, and so things get a little edgy.

The plot doesn't do this film justice; the movie is really about the struggle between daughter Vance and father T.C., with side twists romantically that put Babs with Wendell Corey as one of the neighbors who lost his land to T.C. and with Gilbert Roland as a Mexican squatter living on the property. Some shocking moments in the film (frankly, I was shocked when Babs and Gilbert started smooching, but I meant watch for the scene with the scissors) in a movie that is great without being perfect. In her mid-40s, Miss Stanwyck is about 20 years too old for the part, good as she is in it. Corey is totally miscast as the handsome rogue gambler who captivates Babs. Houston, two years after Sierra Madre but looking 15 years younger, is terrific. The Criterion DVD is impeccable, and even includes a 1931 one-reeler, one of the "Intimate Interviews" series, this one on Mr. Houston. There's a wealth of other bonuses here to, plus Criterion gives you the novel by Niven Busch, who also wrote "Duel in the Sun".

This is an early nominee for Best DVD of the Year, folks.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Laughing Gravy
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Here's a wonderful review from the good ol' DVD Savant

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s2608furi.html
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I just watched this and it was just crazy, but in a way that I loved it. Huston is a riot as T.C. I'll bet he had a blast acting as the character.

"I'm still king of the Furies!"
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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