Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston (in his last screen role) give superlative performances in The Furies, a dark, psychological Western, directed by Anthony Mann as a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare.
T.C. Jeffords (Huston) is a cunning, successful ranch owner who has announced his engagement to a wealthy, if unpleasant socialite, Flo Burnett (Judith Anderson of “Rebecca” fame).
This news is poorly received by his daughter Vance (Stanwyck), whose romance with gambler Rip Darrow (Wendell Corey) was foiled by her father. Vance does not care for her stepmother-to-be, to say the least.
When he kills a good friend of Vance’s (a ranch hand he believes was helping Mexicans squat on his land), Vance, driven by violent rage, revenge on her father and joins forces with Darrow to see that justice is done—her way.
In 1950, the prolific Mann directed three Western films; the others being Devil’s Doorway and Winchester 73, starring James Stewart.
He imbues this Western with a dark, film noir sensibility, both thematically and visually.
The scholar Jeanine Basinger has suggested that the prominence of a woman–Stanwyck’s femme fatale–links The Furies to the great noir tradition of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Cast
Barbara Stanwyck as Vance Jeffords
Wendell Corey as Rip Darrow
Walter Huston s T. C. Jeffords
Judith Anderson as Flo Burnett
Gilbert Roland as Juan Herrera
Thomas Gomez as El Tigre
Beulah Bondi as Mrs. Anaheim
Pepe Hern as Félix Herre
Albert Dekker as Mr. Reynolds
John Bromfield as Clay Jeffords
Wallace Ford as Scotty Hyslip
Louis Jean Heydt as Bailey
Frank Ferguson as Dr. Grieve
Myrna Dell as Dallas Hart
Oscar Nominations: 1
Cinematography (b/w): Victor Milner
Oscar Context:
The winner was Robert Krasker for The Third Man.
Running time: 109 minutes.
Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by Charles Schnee and Niven Busch
DVD: June 24, 2008