Trouble in the Glen

Made with massive profits as a sort of sequel to Republic's mega hit of 1952 THE QUIET MAN, this easy to love piece of B pic blarney shows just how stupendously successful THE QUIET MAN actually was. A lot of very profitable films in the UK ran into a law that saw the rentals marooned there and not able to be returned to the USA, in fact Disney and MGM made many films in the UK to soak up the rentals held in a bank trust there by this law. For once in it's budget constricted life the Kingdomof Repubic made soooo much money there they could'nt get it all home and were basically happily forced to make another version of THE QUIET MAN which I am sure suited them fine anyway. Obviously not as big nor as successful as that film, TROUBLE IN THE GLEN was the sort of charming rustic family film made regularly in the UK anyway. GEORDIE is a good example. TROUBLE has a great cast and a few surprises (such as Orson Welles) to add prestige..or maybe he was a Republic favourite after MACBETH. Anyway, TROUBLE is quaint robust fun and just like a hybrid of THE QUIET MAN and their own truly superb Americana drama made in 1956 COME NEXT SPRING and.... LISBON.

To understand why Trouble In the Glen was brought to the screen at all is to remember this is also the studio that produced The Quiet Man which was taken from another Maurice Walsh story.

John Ford wanted to do the film for years and went with Republic Pictures because he didn't have to pay for John Wayne's services. Still the penny pinching founder and head of Republic, Herbert J. Yates drove Ford crazy with his budget cutting here and there. It was a miracle the film was made at all and on location.

So when The Quiet Man becomes a big artistic and commercial triumph, now Yates must be thinking himself a genius so why not assemble the same team, but without that troublesome John Ford. Go to Herbert Wilcox to produce and direct and we can even get Orson Welles who'll do just about anything to finance his projects. Since we'd now have to pay John Wayne a big salary since he's no longer under contract to Columbia, we'll get a second line actor like Forrest Tucker for his role.

I can see all the wheels turning in Mr. Yates's mind as he probably plunged enthusiastically into Trouble in the Glen which can be described as a Scottish version of The Quiet Man. The problem is that it really did need the touch of John Ford to make it a great film.

As it is it's not a bad film, Orson Welles and Victor McLaglen are at their scene stealing best. Forrest Tucker and Margaret Lockwood who is Welles's daughter are an attractive pair of romantic leads. The film is about an heir to a Scottish estate returning from South America and taking over the family place, but then getting into a quarrel with the locals and cutting them off from the use of a road running through his property. Forrest Tucker is like John Wayne, the stranger from America who has ties to the place also that we don't really learn about until almost the end of the film.

Trouble in the Glen has the same kind of beautiful location cinematography that The Quiet Man has. But it really needed someone like John Ford at the helm.

It all started with a fish. Wealthy South American Sanin Mengues has returned to the Scottish home of his forefathers and is Laird of the Glen. However his poor attempts at fishing frustrates his foreman Parlan to the point where he insults his boss and is promptly fired. This sparks a great unrest across the Glen and a standoff between the landowner and his employees ensues. Into the mix of this comes American Major Jim Lansing, returning after the war to find that he is now going to have to broker peace rather than make war.

Following the success of similar films trading on Celtic/Gaelic "charm" and the like, this film was produced with quite an impressive (on paper) cast hoping to cash in. The problem is with the plot – it isn't focused on Sanin Mengues so much as it is on Lansing, his little Scottish girl and his romances, and my gosh is it dull and sentimental. The stuff involving Sanin is at least boisterous and quite fun but this is mostly placed on the sidelines and it means that the film is mostly pretty boring. It wallows too much in unconvincing sentiment and relationships that don't ring true, producing a main plot thread that almost totally fails to engage in any way shape or form.

The noisy plot thread involving Sanin is reasonably fun mainly because of a hammy piece of p*ss-taking from Orson Welles, who just seems to be enjoying himself in a different film from everyone else. He is comparatively terrible of course but at least he is funny. Lockwood is totally wasted in the film with nothing to do of any merit and, although she does try, there is a reason why few viewers would recall this film in her back catalogue. Tucker is wooden and dull, a fact not helped by how hilariously OTT Welles is. He may have third billing but he is the lead character and the film suffers as a result. McLagen is quite good and works well with Welles but the rest of the support cast are fairly average Scottish stereotypes.

Overall this is a poor film that is built on a dull plot with big dollops of sentimentality. There are moments that are lively and funny but they are few and far between and certainly do not do enough to keep things interesting. If you're desperate for a dated piece of Celtic "charm" then by all means give this a go but I doubt many viewers will get anything from it.

Quite entertaining in a 1950's style.

Classed a comedy but not a rib-tickler.

Orson plays the Laird, a wealthy South American. Of course he comes over as .......Orson Welles.

There is a smattering of bagpipes, and the usual strained Scots accents, irritating or part of the charm - depending on your views. Mischief, poaching, local rivalries, an invalid girl and Margaret Lockwood all thrown into the mix. (Ms Lockwood looking particularly vivacious.)

Location Note: As Forrest Tucker arrives in the "Scottish" village in an early scene, the live location is actually in front of the Church House Inn, in Harberton, near Totnes, South Devon.

I saw this film in the mid fifties while in the Navy and was struck by Welles's performance along with Tucker and McLaglen. A subtle comment on social divisions, showing the Gypsy "Tinks" or itinerant tinkers of Scotland who form a class of social pariahs. The storyline is a bit thin but the two great blusterers, Tucker and McLaglen make it worth the price of admission...although I believe I saw this film on the hangerdeck of the USS Bonhomme Richard CVA-31 in 1955 for free...