Along the Great Divide

I caught this on the Grit channel a few weekends ago and while I don't really watch Westerns, I really enjoyed this movie. I didn't know Kirk Douglas was around long enough to be in Black & White movies!

It's a solid movie with undertones of "obeying the law" vs "doing what's right".

Walter Brennen, three time Academy Award winner, and one of the greatest character actors of all time, is combined with Kirk Douglas for 88 minutes of action and drama. This is what a great Western is supposed to be! Gunfire, fistfights, and Walter Brennen almost getting his neck stretched, twice! One of my video guides says: "the pace is slow, but the scenery is grand". Most of the film was shot in the Alabama Hills, just west of Lone Pine, California. Over 300 movies have been filmed at the base of Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. "Joe Kidd", "The Tall T" and hundreds more were made in those rocks that are so famous. Almost as famous as any actor. "Along The Great Divide" is a great ride, and lots of fun.

A truly flawless little western from the great Raoul Walsh, not as complex and sophisticated as PURSUED, made several years earlier with Robert Mitchum, but still powerful, fast paced, helped by a great score and story telling. Production design, settings, locations, I repeat, everything is jawdropping in this Warner Bros picture. It is impossible not to appreciate this western from the late forties.

This was Kirk Douglas's first western and the first time I have seen it. The plot concerns a federal marshal (Douglas) who saves an accused cattle rustler (Walter Brennan) from a lynching as he is also suspected of murder by the victim's father. Brennan swears he is innocent of the killing. Douglas takes the man in to stand trial. However he meets some opposition from the man's feisty daughter (Virginia Mayo).

The title would make you think this may be a routine western adventure, but it is actually a tense, dark little psychological drama. This came out the same year as two other iconic Douglas performances, as the bitter cop in Detective Story and the heartless reporter in Ace In The Hole. Here he is a no nonsense but fair minded lawman and another fine addition to the list of great performances he has.

Other notable things about it is the direction of Raoul Walsh, who keeps it tight and suspenseful. He is reunited with Virginia Mayo who appeared in one of his best remembered films White Heat just two years ago, she shows a lot of spunk and toughness in this part. Walter Brennan plays another one of his wily old coots, but since we don't know for sure if he is guilty or not, there is some danger to his performance as well.

Federal marshal Len Merrick (Kirk Douglas) rescues cattle rustler Tim "Pop" Keith (Walter Brennan) from a lynching by rancher Ned Roden who believes that he killed his son. Merrick intends to take Keith to Santa Loma for a real trial. Roden and son insist on getting revenge. Keith leads the party home where they are ambushed by his daughter Ann (Virginia Mayo).

I love me some Kirk Douglas. This has some good tension although it could heighten it even more. First, it's understandable that Merrick and his men took Pop lightly at the beginning. It's unlikely after Ann starts shooting. They should be tied up much earlier on especially in Pop's own home where he could have a gun hidden anywhere. As for the tension, I like Merrick with only one deputy. Two seems too many and it lowers tension because his situation is not as precarious. Overall, this is a solid Kirk Douglas film for any of his fans.