The Furies (1950)

Soap opera-ish Anthony Mann Western about a headstrong rancher butting heads with his headstrong daughter.

‘The Furies’ is the name of the ranch.

There are some feminine Oedipus aspects to the story: Barbara Stanwyck greets her father Walter Huston by kissing him on the mouth, and later there is some violent conflict with a stepmother, but the main story deals with her being groomed from birth to take over The Furies, up to and including bribing parentally-unapproved suitors to dump her, only in order to end up being pushed out of the nest and on the run.

But this is a headstrong woman, remember?

She is not one to leave, just like that.

A complex, secret plan is developed in order to gain the ranch back.

Walter Huston is a likeable, charismatic old cuss; but don’t be fooled: he will lightning-fast go back on his word, and would just as soon hang you as shake your hand; or he might simply laugh off an old enemy showing up at his son’s wedding to dance with his daughter.

Lots of fun characters come back in surprising ways: El Tigre, an incidental maid, an old Mexican friend of the daughter, his witch like mother and his brothers… etc.

No one is wasted.

Nifty dialogue, funny insults and brief explosions of violence.

This is way more fun than one might expect of what on the surface is a family drama about ranch administration.

The phonetically spoken (and un-subtitled) Spanish will bug Spanish speakers, so you might as well just try and ignore it.

Only one actor speaks it well.

Mann’s trademark of nifty multi-plane compositions (with nearby elements framing foreshortened elements far in the background) and a besieged rocky mountain are again on display.

Women are powerful forces: The late Mrs. Jeffords, a never seen, dead mother exerts a Laura/Rebecca influence over the whole proceeding from the start.

Her bedroom is a shrine the father spends considerable time in.

A sexy, coquettish maid is introduced only to minutes later come back as an irresistible object of blackmail.

A philandering banker, despite his own misgivings, must do as his wife says, Miguel's gypsy, witch-like mother never misses a shot. T.C. is dominated by his daughter initially, and later by an old flame.

Ultimately it is Stanwyck who owns the film.

Her portrayal of the tough, no-nonsense daughter is an amazing, fascinating performance.