Thunder Bay

This is the mailing , brawling saga of Steve Martin , the Bayou woman he loved and the billion dollar dream of glory he battled into the biggest bonanza of them all . In 1946, a pair of Louisiana wildcat oil drillers , formed by ex-Navy engineer Steve Martin (James Stewart) along with his pal Johnny (Dan Duryea) come to a Louisiana town with a dream : to construct a drill rig . As they believe there is oil at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the town of Port Felicity. Having finessed financing from a big oil company (managed by Jay C Flippen) , formerly penniless . Steve and his colleague Johnny are in business...and getting interested in shrimp-boat captain Rigaud's two lovely daughters (Joanne Dru , Marcia Henderson) ; however , the fishermen believe they will interfere with their livehoods and problems crop out . In any way , they decide to built the oil platfom in spite of hazards and opposition from the fishing community growing fast , led by Stella Rigaud. Tensions rise between the groups and violence seems likely ..

Action-filled with timely story ,including hurricane , brawls , a near-lynching and free-for-alls , being based on an ahead-of-its-time script and story from John Michael Hayes , George Slavin and George George . There's much of the spirit of the Western here , though , especially astounding the main and support cast giving over-the-top interpretations . This attractive movie deals with a confrontation between Shrimpers and oilmen clashing when an ambitious wildcatter begins constructing an off-shore oilrig ; however , a lot of risks and strong opposition emerges , including sabotage , betrayal , violent fights ...and a treacherous board of directors . James Stewart took a break from their great series of rugged Westerns along with Anthony Mann such as : Winchester 73 , When the river bends , The naked spur , Far horizons , The man from Laramie , to play this equally exciting and action-packed drama story of two wild-catters drilling for oil . James Stewart delivers a very good acting , as usual , as the engineer who wants to build a safe platform for offshore oil drilling and in the end completes the winning formula by getting covered in oil . Support cast is frankly good , plenty of reliable and rich cast of notorious secondaries such as : Marcia Henderson , Jay C Flippen , Gilbert Roland , Antonio Moreno , Robert Monet and Fortunato Bonanova .

Colorful and brilliant cinematography in Technicolor and wide-screen by William Daniels , Greta Garbo's usual cameraman . Being shot on location in Morgan City and on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico . Stirring and moving musical score by Frank Skinner . This Universal International Picture flick lavishly produced by Aaron Rosenberg was competently directed by Anthony Mann . Mann was an expert on all kinds of genres as Thriller/Film Noir such as: Desperate , T Men , Raw Deal , Border incident ; Wartime as Strategic Air command , Men in war , Heroes of Telemark ; Historical and biographical : Reign of terror , El Cid , The fall of the Roman empire , The Glenn Miller story ; and outstanding in Western genre as Devil's doorway with Robert Taylor , The tin star with Henry Fonda , Man of the West with Gary Cooper , The Furies with Barbara Stanwick , Cimarron with Glenn Ford and The tall target .Being his last one, A Dandy in aspic , played and co-directed by Laurence Harvey . Rating : 7/10 . Better than average . Well worth watching . The picture will appeal to James Stewart fans .

The posted comment about wanting to see the "widescreen" version needs to be addressed.

As the listing for the film indicates, Thunder Bay was filmed with a standard Academy ratio of 1.37x1. That was the way it was meant to be shown. Universal then chopped off the top and bottom of the image - totally destroying the spatial integrity of the image - to claim that it was a "widescreen" film.

It must have looked awful. Count yourself lucky you don't get to see it.

(This horrible trick was also tried for the mid 1960s reissue for Gone With the Wind, where it was blown up to 70mm and released in a 2.35x1 ratio, which was just awful.)

From the director/actor team that brought us many of the great westerns of the 1950s, Thunder Bay teams Anthony Mann and James Stewart in what could easily be called a modern western. Stewart plays Steve Martin, an oil driller with a dream. His goal is to build an off-shore drill in the Gulf of Mexico. He receives the financial backing of oil tycoon Kermit MacDonald (Jay C. Flippen) and begins work.

He sets out from a small fishing community that has been on hard times lately. They are leery of Stewart and his partner Johnny Gambi (Dan Duryea) at first, and become more so when the two start blasting in the middle of their shrimp beds. To make matters worse, Johnny falls in love with a local girl who is already engaged to one of the fisherman.

Tension builds as the fishermen continue to have bad luck and the drill progresses. One disgruntled fisherman attempts to blow up the drill platform during the middle of a hurricane. Stewart, who had stayed on the platform to see how it would withstand the storm, catches him just in time to save it. A slippery fight ensues, during which the fisherman and Stewart fight not only each other, but a constant onslaught of water. As in the typical western, the hero (Stewart) wins and the villain dies.

The fight scene is one that dates the film. The special effects seem very archaic in wake of such recent films as Titanic and The Perfect Storm. Other than that, the film presents an interesting story on what, at the time, was a very taboo subject.

Aware of the controversy the film would stir-up, the film was carefully crafted to prove that two industries could exist side by side. As the fishermen resolve to destroy the well, Stewart discovers that his well has uncovered a new bed a shrimp. When the fishermen learn this they decide that the well is indeed an asset to their community and all live happily ever after.

As usual Stewart steals the film. His acting is subtle and believable. The simple story did not push him as an actor, but he is properly harried, tough and laconic. Overall this is an interesting film, enhanced by the beautiful location shots filmed in Technicolor by William Daniels. Truly, an intriguing and different take on the western genre.

The first of two fifties adventure films with heroes called Steve Martin (the second was 'Godzilla' with Raymond Burr)! Shot on location in Morgan City, Louisiana in rich Technicolor (all the better to show off local girl Joanne Dru's vibrant and extremely durable lipstick), this was Jimmy Stewart's first non-western with Anthony Mann; and although easily the least known of their eight films together remains fun.

To 21st Century environmental sensibilities, oil prospectors no longer seem the heroic buccaneering figures they were once portrayed as. The film does acknowledge the disruptive impact Stewart and Duryea have on this sleepy little backwater; as much due simply to being men as oilmen...

In 1946, the drifters Steve Martin (James Stewart) and his partner and friend Johnny Gambi (Dan Duryea) travel to Port Felicity in Lousianna completely broken to meet the investor Kermit MacDonald (Jay C. Flippen). Steve dreams on building an offshore drilling barge to explore oil in the Gulf of Mexico and MacDonald, who is an entrepreneur and also a dreamer, decides to finance them but gives a short schedule to find oil.

They initially hire the fishing vessel of skipper Dominique Rigaud (Antonio Moreno) since the fishermen are having difficulties to catch shrimps. Steve and Johnny try to befriend the locals but when they use dynamite to locate oil, the population turns against them. Meanwhile Johnny dates the younger daughter of Dominique, Francesca (Marcia Henderson), while her older sister Stella Rigaud (Joanne Dru) feels attraction for Steve, but she rejects him since she is a wounded woman with a past. Steve, Johnny and their crew need to face the hostility and sabotage from the locals and also a hurricane while searching for the valuable oil.

"Thunder Bay" is an entertaining romantic adventure that takes place in the period of the beginning of exploration of oil in the Gulf of Mexico and shows the friction between the local fishermen and the oilmen. The plot is corny, with a feel-good conclusion but James Stewart is always an attraction. Further, for those that work in the oil business, it is great to see the early period of offshore exploration of oil. My vote is seven.

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