The Virginian

That's a good western from Paramount Pictures, starring a Joel Mc Crea at his peak in a role that has been his standard for decades. So, do not expect any surprise, only expect what you precisely expect: good cow boy fighting an evil one, a true villain, such as for instance a Brian Donlevy wearing a black suit....and you will obtain what you searched for. I have seen hundreds of this kind all over decades too, since my childhood, and now it bores me a bit. However that doesn't remove anything from the genuine quality of this film. It remains a great classic, starring a great western star. The usual good stuff, period.

If you're a Joel McCrea fan, chances are you've already seen The Virginian, one of his famous westerns he made during his career. It's a faithful remake of the 1929 nearly silent movie, with Joel and Brian Donlevy as the rivals for Barbara Britton's affections. A simple story: the good cowboy, the bad cowboy, the virtuous schoolteacher, the loyal best friend. But simple stories are often the ones that stick the longest and stand the test of time.

If you're going to watch The Virginian, though, make sure you rent the remake. The original is far too dated. This movie is in Technicolor, actually has scenes with dialogue in it, and lets the scenes flow together well. Joel McCrea and Sonny Tufts have an easy, natural chemistry together that make you really believe their friendship. I prefer Randolph Scott westerns to Joel's in general, but even I can admit this is a good one.

... and the comparison is made more interesting because this film is almost a word for word remake of the 1929 version starring Gary Cooper. Most remakes of early sound films had to make huge changes in the plot just to please the production code. Just take a look at the mess that the 1941 version of the "The Trial of Mary Dugan" is versus the 1929 version, which had its plot completely changed due to production code issues. Here, there is no such issue.

Joel McCrea, always overly humble when discussing his own acting ability, said that he'd get a script and after reading it, often know that the studio wanted Cooper and couldn't get him, and he was their second choice. I doubt that, but here we get to judge the two actors in the same role as "The Virginian" 17 years apart. The two films are practically the same even down to the visual and audio cues - Trampas dressed in all black, the bird call that is synonymous with affable but ultimately tragically lazy Steve, etc. The one thing they didn't do that would have looked just plain silly by 1946 standards is dress McCrea in all white as the good guy, which they did with Cooper as the hero in 1929.

I think I prefer Mary Brian as Molly in the 1929 version versus Barbara Britton in this version. Mary Brian played Molly as a strong smart woman, but a woman of New England, unfamiliar and puzzled by the ways of the west. Here Ms. Britton plays Molly as a bit of a befuddled weakling, easily evoked to tears. No befuddled weakling would travel across the continent to teach school in a wilderness.

If you've never seen the 1929 version, you'll probably like this one. If you like Joel McCrea I'm almost sure you'll like it, but if you've seen the early sound version the ghost of that early sound marvel is likely to raise its specter more than a couple of times as you watch it.

The best thing about THE VIRGINIAN is the pretty school teacher played by Barbara Britton, and very convincingly too. Shortly upon her arrival in town she's met by two cowboy friends, Sonny Tufts and Joel McCrea. As is standard for many a western, at first she and The Virginian (Joel McCrea) don't get on--sort of like an earlier screen western starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland ("Dodge City") where they meet and fall out immediately before winding up in love before the final reel.

But, as is usual in these westerns, although she eventually falls for McCrea, she struggles against losing him in a fight with villainous Trampas (Brian Donlevy), always attired in black so we get the picture. But before the finish, she and the hero ride horseback into the setting sunset. The story has the flavor of a Zane Grey western novel, although penned by Owen Wister.

The simple tale has some nice performances from the star trio (McCrea, Britton and Tufts), but it's Fay Bainter and Henry O'Neill who give it a warm touch as a couple of homesteaders who take the schoolmarm in.

Nothing about the tale suggests why it is such a classic by Owen Wister, especially in this rather humdrum version where the most striking asset is the beautiful Technicolor scenery. The plot is slight, to say the least, and there's little punch to the predictable ending.

The only real surprise is the fact that McCrea's code of honor permits him to let his old friend hang for a rustling crime. It's the only original and surprising touch in the story.

Owen Wister, himself, is fascinating to me. The movie version of his book doesn't include the rather excellent banter between the schoolmarm and the hero, nor does it include the evidence of growth and maturity in the early antics of the hero and his friend, Lin. What great fun they had before falling for the schoolmarm. You have to read to get that.

Molly appears a bit ditsy in the '46 version and a bit underdeveloped in the book. Thank goodness for the remake with Bill Pullman and Diane Lane. Molly seems to have more depth with Lane playing the role.

The '46 version is great, the '99 version is great, but I hope you get to see both to fill in the gaps each seems to have.

Its a great plot, fabulous development of romance, and the ending is intense (more so in the '99 version though).