The Virginian

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).

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.

Cowpoke good guy , known as the Virginian, Joel McCrea , and his best colleague called Steve , Sonny Tuffs , both fall for Molly, Barbara Britton , the Eastern Schoolmarm who is come to their Wyoming town . Steve wants to make some quick money and joins up Trampas , Brian Donlevy , and his cattle rustling band .After that , the Virginian leads a posse against the cattle rustlers . Things go wrong when The Virginian must take a hard decission .

Good Western based on the 1902 classic novel by Owen Lister about a ranch-hand defeating the local bad guys . The main issue of the movie is an interesting premise , as The Virginian is forced to choose between frienship and the code of the west and Molly wonders if she can accept the country's harsh ways . It has fine interpretation from a top-drawer cast , such as Joel McCrea , Brian Donlevy , Barbara Britton . Joel McCrea gives a decent acting as the tough cowboy who is betrayed by his best friend , deciding between bring him to justice and alienating the pretty schoolteacher he is in love with . Donlevy is perfectly cast as the outlaw leader Trampas . And a very good support cast such as : Sonny Tuffs , Fay Bainter, Tom Tully , Bill Edwards , Paul Guilfoyle , Mark Lawrence , among others . The motion picture was well directed by Stuart Gilmore who was one of the best Hollywood editors . Although he also made a few fulms such as Captive man, Half-breed , Target and Hot lead.

There are several adaptation about this novel : First silent retelling The Virginian 1914 by Cecil B DeMille with Dustin Farnum , Jack Johnston . Classic early talkie 1929 by Victor Fleming with Gary Cooper , Walter Huston , Mary Brian , Richard Arlen . 1962 popular TV series mostly directed by Earl Bellamy with James Drury , Doug McClure , Lee J Cobb , John McIntire , Stewart Granger . TV rendition with Bill Pullman , John Savage , Harris Yulin , Colm Feore , Diane Lane . 2014 by Thomas McKowsky with Trace Adkins , Steve Bacic, Victoria Pratt

While this movie is based on only a part of Owen Wister's novel, there is enough of an exciting story even at that. The romance and the tension are intertwined. Barbara Britton, as Molly Stark, must have drawn people to see this western...the very lovely lady she was who was, as well, excellent in acting..., Sonny Tufts, as Steve was a happy-go-lucky man (though he really did little more than simply speak his lines), Henry O'Neill and Fay Bainter made for a nice older pair in this film, Brian Donlevy, as Trampas was as mean as he could be, and Joel McCrae portrayed very convincingly the calm Virginian who, even so, had silent courage: in a bar he was not afraid of Trampas even if the mean man was anxious to kill the Virginian before the sun set. The very beautiful green Wyoming countryside, the very beautiful, deep blue stream, and the blue sky were, in their own right, drawing. The ending was both tense and happy. Personally, I feel it was something of a classic.

Like the 1929 version of the Virginian, this film goes through the highlights of the novel at a brisk pace, resulting in an eventful story but lighter on the character development when compared to the novel.

In just 17 years between the two movies, you can notice the evolution of the craft. Long gone are the mannerisms of the silent era that you could see in the 1929 version, which was a very early talkie. This 1946 version is in technicolor, a bit clean-cut as westerns from this period tended to be, but confident in the storytelling techniques of the medium.

It does not feel like a very big production, even though there are some nice exterior action shots. But there are no majestic sceneries with faraway horizons.

Joel McCrea is not bad in the titular role, but he is always kind of inexpressive, and this role might have benefited from some more dramatic range. Because of that, there wasn't too much chemistry in the romance. Barbara Britton had more of that range and I enjoyed her work as the young schoolteacher Molly Wood. Sonny Tufts as the Virginian's wayward friend and Brian Donlevy as the black-clad villain Trampas were quite good. In a smaller supporting role, Fay Bainter had some nice scenes interacting with Britton.

The Virginian is a great story, and here you can enjoy it without any time to get bored, but I wouldn't have minded twenty minutes more, allowing for some respite from the action.