Vengeance Valley

United States

1951

83 Min

Color

1.37:1

English

Currently 2.3/5 Stars.
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DIR Richard Thorpe

CAST Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker, Joanne Dru, Sally Forrest, John Ireland, Ted de Corsia, Hugh O'Brien, Glenn Strange

Synopsis

Burt Lancaster stars in this strong example of the mature Westerns that were coming out of Hollywood in the early 1950s. There are Biblical undertones in the story of Owen (Lancaster), the adopted son and foreman of a wealthy rancher, and his jealous foster brother, Lee (Robert Walker). Lee’s resentment causes him to frame Owen for fathering a child with the daughter of a rival clan, leading to a violent confrontation.

Director

Richard Thorpe

Richard Thorpe (February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director. Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred and eighty films. The first full length motion picture he directed for MGM was Last of the Pagans (1935) starring Ray Mala. After directing The Last Challenge in 1967, he retired from the film industry. He died in Palm Springs, California in 1991. Thorpe is also known as the original director of The Wizard of Oz. He was fired after two weeks of shooting, because it was felt that his scenes did not have the right air of fantasy about them. Thorpe notoriously gave Judy Garland a blonde wig and cutesy “baby-doll” makeup that made her look like a girl in her late teens rather than an innocent Kansas farm girl of about thirteen. Both makeup and wig were discarded… read more