THE FURIES (1950) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Anthony Mann
Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Huston, Wendell Corey,
Judith Anderson, Gilbert Roland, Thomas Gomez,
Beulah Bondi, Albert Dekker, Frank Ferguson
Walter Huston plays a cattlemen whose ranch covers the open range as far as he can see. Barbara Stanwyck plays his ambitious daughter, who thinks she could run the place as well as he can, and maybe better. Wendell Corey plays a gambler-turned-banker who Stanwyck unaccountably takes a shine to and who ends up holding the deed to the ranch. It's one of those movies that you always want to be better than it is. Huston (in his last screen role) chews the scenery. Corey, who had less natural charm than just about any actor ever, seems miscast. Stanwyck provides the star power, but there's just not enough there for her to grab on to. You keep wanting her to hook up with good-guy Mexican cowboy Gilbert Roland, but instead, the old man has him hanged. Sometimes things just don't work out.
