Sob a Lei da Chibata

Ice cold snow western with Cornel Wilde and Yvonne De Carlo

A year before the bankruptcy, the then Hollywood major RKO RADIO PICTURES brought this unusual western to cinemas, which was set in California, Mexico in the 18th century.

Juan Obreon (ACADEMY AWARD nominee Cornel Wilde) experiences a surprise: the lovely Rosa Melo, who lives with her family on a hacienda, has a baby. His son! Of course Juan wants to marry his Rosa. Her rather tomboyish sister Tonya (Yvonne De Carlo in a double role) is also happy about this. The Melo family is in trouble with a large landowner who desperately wants the Melos' land back. One day a gang of murderers appears at the door and wipes out the entire Melo family - except for Tonya. Juan vows passionate revenge against the rascals. And to do this he goes into the eternal ice of the mountains to pursue Salvator Sandro (Rodolfo Acosta), the leader of the murder gang. Hot on their heels is Captain Rodriguez (Raymond Burr) as the guardian of the law...

Exciting western with an unusual setting and good actors! Although in color, but still in normal image format! Could RKO RADIO PICTURES no longer afford the newly emerged CinemaScope process? Stuart Whitman, who we know from THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES (1965), plays a very small role.

There is no Zorro here, but there is Cornel Wilde who enjoyed showing off as the little man in great adversities overcoming overwhelming odds and evil villains. Here he gets his entire family killed or rather murdered, his wife, his parents, their farm burned down, as he was just going to marry his lady in paradisiacal bliss which suddenly turned into a brutal hell driving the sole survivors into lawlessness; but Cornel Wilde is never stupid, and he takes revenge on all the murderers one by one, the first being Lon Chaney Jr, in an honest combat man to man. It seems that he gave the others the same chance, and he actually saves the life of the last man, until he dies anyway. Raymond Burr is usually the crook and gangster, but here he is on the side of the law, whatever he may think about it, and he honestly tries to make the best of it, although there are reasons enough to have doubts about his character. Yvonne de Carlo plays both Cornel's sweet and lovely wife and her sister, who is more warlike, and of course we know from the beginning how Cornel ultimately will settle with her. It is a beautiful, charming and upsetting film, but Louis Forbes' music is perfect for it. It is an odd western like those with Ricardo Montalban but the more enjoyable for not being regular at all.

Passion is directed by Allan Dwann and collectively written by Beatrice Dresher, Josef Leytes and Howard Estabrook. It stars Cornel Wilde, Yvonne De Carlo, Raymond Burr, Lon Chaney Junior, Rodolfo Acosta, Anthony Caruso and John Qualen. Music is by Louis Forbes and cinematography by John Alton.

Early California . . .under Mexican rule. . .the timeless mountains and eternal snows looking down on the everlasting struggle of man against man.

The Dwann and Bogeaus (producer) combination once again craft a Western that breaks free of B budget restrictions to reveal a film of some entertaining substance. This is all about man's thirst for revenge as Wilde's Juan Obreon finds his family ruthlessly snuffed out by Acosta's land hungry Salvator Sandro. When the law fail to act upon a flimsy piece of evidence, Obreon decides to go after the Sandro gang himself.

Obreon is not a ghost.

Running at under 90 minutes it would have been easy for the makers to quickly get on with the revenge axis from the off, but time is afforded the Juan Obreon character so we understand why he does what he does. For the first 30 minutes the love and family contentment surrounding Obreon shines through, and with De Carlo playing dual characters (Juan's comely wife and fiery sister-in-law), there's a bit of novelty value added into the mix. We get snippets of how vile Sandro is, such as when we are introduced to him he is whipping his young son for a bit of "tough" love, and the surrounding vistas are impressive observers to the unfolding drama.

Story set and on to revenge we go as Obreon pursues the murderers of his family while himself being pursued by two lawmen (Burr and Caruso), one of which is an old friend who isn't exactly pulling out all the stops to catch the fugitive. It all leads to a final confrontation that is set in the snowy mountains where all interested parties convene at a remote log cabin. Dwann has paced it neatly and created a good amount of tension whilst also showing his expertise as a choreographer of fights.

Alton's photography is most appealing, be it the capturing of the California landscape, or his use of light and shadow for a ruin based sequence, Alton once again shows himself to be a most talented cinematographer who always added a kick to even the lowest of budgeted pictures. Cast are mostly effective, with Wilde leading the way and proving his worth as a lead man who is wronged and he shows some genuine pain in his visuality. Unfortunately the good work of the principal actors is tainted a touch by Chaney Junior once again looking out of place in a Western, with fluctuating accent as well, and Burr disappoints by never once convincing as a law man conflicted by his emotions.

With revenge at its core, and plot points involving abandoned babies and cold blooded murder, it's a strong Western that ultimately survives its flaws to become another very fine Dwann/Bogeaus production. 7.5/10

In Hollywood, you had the collaboration - partnership - between Budd Boetticher and Harry Joe Brown for a western films series starring Randolph Scott, and besides you also had a partnership between Allan Dwann and producer Benedict Bogeaus for a series of adventures films, westerns and even science fiction, around ten. All good little effective features, fast paced, with plenty of suspense and professional directing and acting. This one is gritty, full of action, one of the best of the Dwann - Bogeaus material. A taut revenge scheme, with at long last a co starring between Yvonne De Carlo and Cornel Wilde. At long last. A perfect delicious combination.

1954's "Passion" was a Benedict Bogeaus Western shot under the more effective title "Where the Wind Dies," one of the later efforts for veteran director Allan Dwan. Yvonne De Carlo plays two sisters but the lead is Cornel Wilde as Juan Obreon, returning to the California ranch of Gaspar Melo (John Qualen) to find that his sweetheart Rosa has given birth to a son. Rosa is not the wildcat that sister Tonya is, but wedding plans go awry once greedy landowner Don Domingo (Richard Hale) decides to forego his ancestral promises and charge a hefty fee to all the nearby families. Gaspar refuses to give in and leave so four hired bandits shoot him down, along with his wife and daughter Rosa, but not before she successfully hides her baby in a safe spot. Juan returns to find the ranch destroyed by fire, going on the rampage against the quartet in the belief that his newborn son was among the victims, each one granted a man on man showdown with knives, while harried Captain Rodriguez (Raymond Burr) is forced by the governor to pursue his old friend Obreon for the sake of 'justice.' It's rather a shame that Lon Chaney's Castro is the first to go, killed once he rats out his cohorts in crime and produces a second knife that seals his doom. This was actually the last time that the 48 year old Chaney would face off against a younger foe, the film's highlight at the half hour mark, each man slashing at the other in a genuine tour de force that could have lasted even longer. It may have been intended as another typical henchman role but the bruising actor outshines the other villains with his most enduring screen battle since John Payne in 1949's "Captain China." The film loses momentum as it continues, none of Obreon's other targets developed to the same degree as Chaney, and the finale in the High Sierras is marred by obvious studio shots, particularly with Raymond Burr and Anthony Caruso. What could have been an exceptional Western simply winds down the vengeance trail in predictable fashion, the hero saved by a dying confession to start a new life with Tonya and his newborn son. A passable diversion but nothing more, best for fans of Lon Chaney and Yvonne De Carlo.