FILM (1950)

The Furies

Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Walter Huston, Judith Anderson

Director: Anthony Mann

As the US entered the 1950s, the euphoria of the post-war period was settling into a cold war haze of introspection and isolation. And this mood would soon be reflected in that most American of genres, the western.

At the forefront of this shift in focus, away from the faultless hero towards something darker, was actor-director Anthony Mann. With the likes of John Ford he would come to challenge Hollywood's notions of what a leading man was all about, most significantly in his films with James Stewart (beginning with Winchester 73).

But he tested the waters with this dark and brooding affair that featured the always wonderful Walter Huston, in what would be his last role. Two years earlier, a grizzled Huston - one of the versatile old stagers who survived Hollywood's transition to the 'talkies' - had picked up an Oscar for his part in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, under the direction of his son John. But as memorable as he was - and who can forget that gleeful, gold-inspired jig - there is infinitely more at play here.