Western Wednesdays: Broken Lance (1954)

     Broken Lance was released on September 25th, 1954. It is directed by Edward Dmytryk and with a script by Richard Murphy based on the crime film House of Strangers (1949), itself an adaptation of the novel I'll Never Go There Any More by Jerome Weidman. It tells the story of the Devereaux family, as the patriarch, Matt, struggles to maintain his cattle empire and the loyalty of his sons.

     Though I've never seen House of Strangers, it is somewhat obvious, watching this film, that the story has been reworked. It has a flashback structure, a common element of film noir, which doesn't quite work here. In the film's opening and closing the focus is on Robert Wagner's Joe but the bulk of the film, which is an extended flashback, focuses on his father, Spencer Tracy's Matt Devereaux. The heart of the story his failure to be a good father but the way it is structured it feels like Ben's antagonistic relationship with his brother, Richard Widmark's Ben, ought to be the focus.

     It's a very ambitious film in many ways, telling a story that spans many years and it tackles themes of familial loyalty and conflict and also of racism. Joe, the youngest of four brothers has a different mother, a Cheyenne princess (played by Katy Jurado) and his brothers resent him somewhat as a result. Matt's friend and ally Horace (E. G. Marshal), the governor, refuses to help him with some legal trouble unless he forces Joe to stop courting his daughter Barbara (Jean Peters), as he doesn't want her to marry a half-breed. Interestingly, Horace recognizes that his prejudice is a fault but is unable to let go of it.

     The real center of the film, however, is Matt's relationship with his sons. He has a difficult time treating them as family. He treats his three older sons, for the most part, as hired help, working them to the utmost for very little in return. He spoils, Joe, as he is the youngest and came of age after Devereaux had made his fortune. The three older sons are resentful toward their father as a result of this and, in the end, this proves to be his undoing.

     Outside of the distracting and pointless flashback structure the film is really quite good. The cast is magnificent especially Spencer Tracy, who is able to be at once likable and charming but also kind of despicable as the unscrupulous Matt Devereaux. Richard Widmark is also quite good as his resentful, and somewhat cunning eldest son. Katy Jurado is great as Señora Devereaux, bringing a welcome bit of humanity and warmth to the film. She was nominated for an academy award for her performance. Leigh Harline's richly textured score is magnificent. It complements Joseph MacDonald's colorful cinematography beautifully and both help to imbue the film with a really epic feel.

Score: 8/10