User reviews

Hot-blooded potboiler with facetious, flirtatious undermining has New York socialite Jane Russell vacationing at Arizona spa near Tucson; a flat tire brings her together with worldly half-breed Jeff Chandler (Apache on his mother's side, white on his professor father's). Their whirlwind marriage seems like a good idea at first, until Russell learns her engineer husband is beset with prejudice and Indian superstitions at the mine, that the tippling small town doctor wants her for his own, and the gossipy neighbors have their own version of a snobbish pecking order. Entertaining star-vehicle doesn't do much with Dan Duryea's role as the drunken doc (he keeps popping up unannounced, and the finale leaves his character stranded); however, Russell--with her incredulous witticisms--and strong, sexy Chandler are a good match (no big romantic sparks, though with lots of chemistry). The picture doesn't always add up on a logical level, yet emotionally it is intriguing. Handsome production (with rich color), unobtrusive direction, nice theme song co-written by Chandler and Henry Mancini. **1/2 from ****

Rich Eastern socialite Jane Russell is out West, where she meets half-Apache mining engineer Jeff Chandler. They fall into lust, which in this 1950s Universal drama means they get married quick - Chandler only being half-Indian is why this is acceptable, far more so than if he had been playing a Jew, which he was. Miss Russell is happy to live in a bug-infested shack, but she doesn't take to being a bedtime hobby for her husband.

There's a bit of sociology and psychology that gives this movie some depth, but under the direction of Joseph Pevney it turns into another soaper about "love on my terms." Miss Russell seems the nobler for having to chase cockroaches down the sink, but Chandler's obsession is getting an old gold mine up and profitable on the reservation, creating job and wealth for his mother's people. That seems more useful to me; one contemptuous character remarks he has turned down good jobs back East in his futile-seeming quest.

William H. Daniels gets some gorgeous photography out of the beautiful leads and land around Kingman, Arizona. The cast is padded with Dan Duryea in a subplot that does nothing, Mara Corday as the woman who loves him, and the always worthwhile Barton MacLane.

The pretty pictures will keep you interested, but for me the ending, in which Miss Russell returns to Chandler, seems more a matter of what the audience expects than anything else. They appear to have both realized what's wrong with their relationship, but knowing it and doing something about it are two very different things.

Originally I read Foxfire before I saw the movie. When I was sixteen I read Anya Seton's novel Foxfire. I enjoyed it immensely. My mother told me that there was a movie based on the novel & I began watching the listings in the TV Guide, searching for the listing for Foxfire. When I finally got to see the movie I was greatly impressed. I was terribly romantic, this movie's theme was a revelation to me of the pettiness of some people. I always found bigotry & prejudice to be very offensive. The way that this was conveyed in the movie brought sympathy to both lead characters. Dartland, J. Chandler's role,was so over sensitized to prejudice & his wife was so naive as to its existence, that the confrontation between the two, made the audience think. There are many sides to ugliness in society & this story embraced many of the facets of prejudice & bigotry. Perhaps love does concur all, at least that, in my opinion, is the theme of this story. I would rate this story as a two hanky classic. Love this film!

I'm guessing that Universal Pictures having Jeff Chandler his most famous role as the great Apache warrior chief Cochise win a Best Supporting Actor nomination for another studio must have decided that he would be suited also to play a modern day mixed racial caucasian and Apache. I don't think anyone else was considered for Foxfire. And of course there was the opportunity to work with Jane Russell.

Russell who is billed first because Howard Hughes must have insisted plays a New York socialite who while in Arizona meets up with Chandler who is a mining engineer and Dan Duryea who is the company doctor in a mining town. Both are interested, but Russell only sees Chandler at first.

Something about his stoicism which the Apache culture breeds into its men is attractive at first. But after a while she can't communicate with her husband who is obsessed with finding a fabled gold mine on the reservation which will enrich his tribe. Waiting in the wings is Duryea who's a rebound man from way back.

The leads are good, but in her few scenes as an aged dowager Indian princess and Chandler's mother is Celia Lovsky who steals the film. Also Duryea's nurse is played by Mara Corday. who has a few well chosen lines.

Fox Fire as a romance novel sold a few copies and between Chandler's stoicism and Jane Russell's two weapons of mass destruction I'm sure did well at the box office. As a treatise on interracial marriage it holds up well today.

Stars Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler. When upper crust caucasian girl Amanda falls fast for engineer Jonathan Dartland, there are issues to be discussed, since Jonathan is part apache. some really dramatic sunsets right at the beginning. Amanda is headstrong, and proposes right away. Dartland has an idea of the conflict they are in for, and is hesitant. and the local ladies are all wearing prim and proper dresses, while Amanda struts into town wearing a more revealing top, with bare shoulders and everything. and no hat! and the locals watch as Hugh ( dan duryea) pays more attention to Amanda than Dartland. jealousy. flirting. head games. amanda keeps trying to cozy up to Dartland, but he keeps pulling away, making things harder between them. and then amanda learns more about the apache culture, and how Dartland had thought the traditions were supposed to work. can they hold it together? Directed by Joseph Pevney, who made films from 1950 -1960, and then was king of the tv series. original novel by Anya Seton. Oh, and the title Foxfire comes from the glow of the rotting timbers near a mine, and is quite dangerous. according to Dartland, the miner. it's pretty good. some plot issues, but certainly entertaining.

Beautifully photographed in S. Arizona and the stars provide plenty of heat. I didn't think The Code allowed for sharing double beds in 1955.

Foxfire is the bioluminescence created by certain species of fungi present in decaying wood, a phenomenon which plays a minor part in this film. (It does not involve heat or combustion, so the reference in the lyrics of the title song to "the foxfire burning" is not strictly accurate). The story is derived from a work by the historical novelist Anya Seton, although "Foxfire" is one of her more contemporary novels, being set in the 1930s, only some twenty years before it was published in 1951. The film-makers, however, abandoned the period setting and updated it to the 1950s- the film was made in 1955- as well as altering some of the details of Seton's story.

The story is essentially a modern-day Western with the action taking place in the Arizona desert. Amanda Lawrence, a wealthy heiress, falls in love with Jonathan Dartland ("Dart"), a mining engineer, and marries him after a whirlwind courtship. (In the novel Amanda's family have lost their fortune in the Wall Street Crash, but this detail is omitted from the film). Amanda's snobbish mother is not at all pleased by this development, and is even less pleased when she learns that Dart is of mixed race, being the son of a white college professor and an Apache princess.

There are two main strands to the plot. The first involves Dart's search for a lost gold mine, which he believes still holds a rich vein of gold, and his attempts to interest the directors of his company in his project. The second deals with the strains in the marriage of Dart and Amanda, strains caused partly by his obsession with his work, partly by rumours of an affair between Amanda and his doctor friend Hugh Slater, and partly by cultural differences between the two. Dart's father died when he was a boy and he was raised by his mother according to the traditions of her people, which means that he finds it difficult to express emotion. (It would appear that Apaches- especially men- place a great value on stoicism and on maintaining a stiff upper lip).

Not all these issues are well resolved, particularly the Amanda/Hugh subplot. For most of the film it is implied that the rumours of an affair between them are merely idle gossip, especially as Hugh- physically unattractive and a self-pitying drunkard- seems so much less appealing as a lover than the manly and ruggedly handsome Dart. Later developments, however, suggest that there may have been something in the rumours after all. (Possibly the screenwriters were hamstrung by the Production Code, which tended to insist that no woman could be portrayed as an adulteress unless she was also an out-and-out villainess).

Overall, however, this was a film I enjoyed. The cast are well chosen; Jeff Chandler is good as the rather stiff, obsessive figure of Dart, and Jane Russell looks stunning, as she normally did. (Mind you, in a couple of scenes even Russell is overshadowed by a young Mara Corday, one of the few actresses in fifties Hollywood with an even more spectacular figure than her own). After his success in "Broken Arrow", Chandler seemed to specialise in playing Native Americans, even though he had no Indian blood. (He was actually a Jewish New Yorker).

There is a particularly dignified performance from Celia Lovsky as Dart's mother, who despite her royal blood and distinguished ancestry (her father was a much respected chief) is now reduced to working as a tour guide for the benefit of gawping tourists. Her explanations of the Apache culture in which her son has grown up do much to save Amanda's marriage.

"Foxfire" could easily have become little more than a cheap romance. What saves it from that fate is its sensitive treatment of its key theme of cultural differences, a treatment which makes it stand out from many of the standard "women's pictures" of the fifties. 7/10

Another film I watched because it has the Amazonian Jane Russell.

This one is a desert drama about culture clashes between a conservative American woman and a half apache mining engineer after they fall in love and get married.

The film has a pretty hilarious beginning with Jane Russell stuck on a desert highway and her encounter with an Indian family and then the mining engineer and his alcoholic friend.

Some really nice scenery in this movie. According to Wikipedia, this was the last film shot in Technicolor.

Of course, not all the visuals of the desert can beat Jane who really fills up the screen. There is even a scene where she is sitting beside with a swimming and there is a thin film of sweat all over her.

(6.5/10)

New York socialite Amanda Dartland (Jane Russell) is stranded when her car breaks down. Jonathan Dartland (Jeff Chandler) and his drunken friend Dr. Hugh Slater stop to pick up the beauty. She is dismissive of the local natives and he hides his half-Indian roots at first. His mother is Princess Saba of the Apaches.

I turned around and the leads are suddenly getting married. There is no dating drama. There is no breakup and no makeup drama. It's missing all the good parts. I like the start where she's a bit of a racist and he's a bit of a stiff. Their relationship should be given more time to grow before they rush into the marriage. I don't really like them together so their melodrama is less appealing. She's high maintenance and he's too angry. Russell's appeal has always been her figure. In this one, her spunkiness adds some appeal but there is no appeal with his brooding internalized anger. The pairing could be so much better if they could dial back the frustration.

1955's "Foxfire" has several things going for it -- mainly the star power of Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler. They are very sexy together and their chemistry permeates this film. Their performances are subtle yet resonate with honest emotion. Both actors have a natural style of acting which allows the viewer to swallow the script's melodramatic clichés without rejecting the whole scenario of a New York socialite impulsively marrying an Arizona miner. Here Russell once again shows that she was in the ranks of Mitchum & Gable -- two of her screen co-stars -- and that she knew how to make her acting look effortless and completely natural. However, given all the salacious publicity she received, rarely was her talent or her charismatic screen presence truly appreciated during her heyday. Here her usual tough and hard-boiled persona is toned downed and she gives a performance showing sensitivity and vulnerability. She is completely believable in a role that was originally intended for June Allyson! Chandler too is quite good: silent yet complex and he shows these characteristics without the histrionics typically used by actors in similar roles (i.e. Robert Stack). The gorgeous Technicolor enhances the Arizona scenery and the great Dan Duryea offers fine support as an alcoholic doctor in love with Russell. Mara Corday also shines in the small role of Duryea's nurse. "Foxfire" is not as stylistic or as over-the-top fun as Douglas Sirks' classic Universal sudsers, but very good in it's own right. The opening credits with Chandler singing the theme song (co-written by Chandler and Henry Mancini) sets the tone for a very good romantic drama starring two of the 1950s most underrated and sexiest stars.

This film needs to be released on DVD!!

Universal-International was a busy little hive of audience-pleasing eye candy back in the Fifties and it probably employed more "starlets" and up-and-coming hunks in its stable of contractees than all of its major studio rivals combined. Some of U.-I.'s output contained some very worthwhile elements amidst the Technicolored trappings. This one offered some fairly well-considered insights on the marital tribulations encountered when two people from very dissimilar backgrounds and outlooks on life attempt to make of their marriage vows more than just a ritual they once pronounced when their union began.

Jane Russell seemed well paired with the tall and handsome Jeff Chandler and the locations look authentic enough for the story to hold one's interest. Celia Lovsky, always an actress who could win an audience's favor in the briefest of roles (and, alas, she was never allotted more than a few scenes in most of her films), scores once again in "Foxfire." This is one to watch for if you notice it scheduled on a late-night or early afternoon TV broadcast.

On vacation, Jane Russell meets and falls for a local guy and wants to marry him. She finds she doesn't understand him fully but pursues to investigate him in order to make a success of their marriage. Enjoyable scenery, lovely gowns and Jane looks great in her short hair.

I think it's the sensational color and the locations that lure me to this film. The time period fits well into it also. The deeply saturated blue sky and the arid desert draw me in like a magnet. In 1955 I was ten years old, and numerous rail trips through the west, with stops in Tucumcari, New Mexico, are brought to mind with films like this one. I recently visited Oatman, Arizona, where much if not all of this film was shot, only because of the film. Of course as would be expected, I found nothing in Oatman identifiable with the film after all these years, except the deep blue sky and the arid desert. Jeff Chandler was always a favorite, and his role as a strong silent mining engineer of American Indian heritage, plays well with Jane Russell's role as a rich bored adventurous young woman, almost a forerunner of "Green Acres" without the laughs. All of these sensory elements entice my 10 year old's psyche to the surface. The film offers great release for me. In 1955 one of the railroads used a young Indian boy's image as a logo, and General Motors Pontiac division used a similar theme. I was fascinated by Indian lore at the time, and the mystery and remembrance of it all comes into relative focus with this film. Not a film for everyone, but as far as I am concerned, they made this one for me.

I have just seen this film for the first time on TV. I thought it was a little gem of a film, with excellent roles filled by Jeff Chandler and Jane Russell. The authentic settings in Arizona also helped to make this an enjoyable and convincing film.

I am a particular fan of films made in the 1950's and 1960's which I regard as the golden years, when films contained real 'stars' and this one certainly fits the bill for me. I am just surprised that I have not come across this film before. I can recommend it as an ideal film to watch on a wet afternoon. Pity it is not available on DVD. The storyline also deals sensitively with racial prejudices arising from relationships between white people and the native Indians even in the modern times in which the story is set.

This is one of 3 best movies Russell ever made: the other being gentleman prefer blonds with Marilyn and His Kind of Woman with Robert Mitchem...she is so beautiful, charming and totally a match of these two co-stars it is a pleasure to see them. Chandler is wonderful, what a shame dying at 42 from a bungled spinal operation(blood poisoning), or they would have surely made more movies together..check it out, a true spark between them...and ditto for she and Robert Mitchem in His Kind of Love 1955..they became lifelong friends until his death, Great interview by Robt Osbourne on Turner with the two of them. Louise ONeill

I stumbled into this movie (thanks TCM) and figured I'd give it 5 minutes to see if caught my attention. I stayed until the end. From the very beginning, this is a movie full of stereotypes, melodrama, and over-the-top acting. The story ends up providing most answers (and a bit of education) over the course of 92 minutes. Chandler and Russell create steam and energy that propel the movie at a very entertaining pace. Taking it in context, this is a wonderful period piece.

For the era of filmmaking, I felt that the subject of racial/cultural discrimination was handled well. Also, the director/writer explored the character, Dartland's, self-loathing and fear of being rejected because of his Native-American heritage -- all this intermingled with his life that is based on secrets, the desire to belong to an acceptable social class, dealing with a flourishing career, and the strained marriage with Russell. Loved it!

I expect Russell was the Technicolor draw for this rather tame installment of passion in the desert. Her box-office was peaking as thousands of men fantasized over certain Amazonian endowments. Still, she's quite good as the conflicted-wife, breathing life into a sometimes slumping narrative.

Will she and Chandler stay together once they decide to get hitched. That's basically the plot-line, so get interested if you can. Trouble is he's also married to his job at the gold mine; plus, being the swarthy Chandler from a hundred previous Westerns, he's also half- Apache. But more difficult for them, she's a rich girl from the East with a snooty mother, so you get the culture clash idea.

Duryea as the dipso doctor looks like he's having fun. But you do have to believe that somehow he handles the booze bottle with one hand and his patients with the other. Seems like a real stretch to me. Then too, there's the shapely Corday in a tacked-on role. Somehow she manages a fashion wardrobe on a nurse's salary. Oh well, she does have to carve out a glamour spot from the formidable Russell.

Not much really happens in the 90-minutes. But there is a lot of eye candy, especially the bright colors that show up like neons against the desert backdrop. Otherwise, except for the attractive stars, this desert soap opera is pretty much forgettable.