On September 17, 1871, 29 prisoners escaped from the state prison in Carson City, Nevada, and headed west. Splitting up into two groups, they traveled over the Sierra Nevada Mountains into California, and ultimately fetched up at what was then known as Lake Monte Diablo, in Mono County, where, in a series of gunfights, the convicts and their pursuing posses suffered numerous losses. Ultimately, all the escapees were either killed or recaptured, and the nearby body of water was later renamed Convict Lake, in memory of the historic events. With these facts taken as some kind of a loose background, 20th Century Fox, a full 80 years later, was able to fashion a winning entertainment package, "The Secret of Convict Lake." Released in the summer of '51, the film was only marginally successful, not even cracking the Top 50 spot that year; as a comparison, even the films "Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm" and "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man" made it onto that list. Still, a look at this noirish Western will surely make any modern-day filmgoer wonder why it did not perform better with audiences back then. The film is intelligently scripted, well acted by its stellar cast, taut and exciting. And for this viewer, its main appeal - indeed, my primary reason for watching it in the first place - is the inclusion of Ms. Gene Tierney, one of my very favorite actresses, here portraying a character with real grit, and looking typically beautiful while doing so.
In the film, our escaped convicts, rather than having a shootout with the pursuing posses right after gaining the area of the lake, fetch up at a settlement that has been left completely in charge of the womenfolk, while the men are away prospecting. (Whether or not that was a wise move is open for debate.) Thus, the five convicts who remain living to see this encampment - Jim Canfield (Glenn Ford), Johnny Greer (Zachary Scott), Limey (Cyril Cusack), Matt Anderson (Jack Lambert) and young, feverish rapist Clyde (Richard Hylton) - are surprised to find that their welcome is not as smooth as might be expected. Indeed, their reception is a chilly one, with the women's group leader, Granny (the great Ethel Barrymore), more than willing to take her shotgun to them, and Marcia Stoddard (our Gene) equally ready to send them back into the blizzardy conditions and to their fate. Ultimately, the cons are allowed to stay for a while in a cabin by themselves; the cabin where Marcia was to have lived with her fiancé, the absent Rudy Schaeffer (Harry Carter), following their marriage. After a day or two, the cons manage to make their presences not quite as resented as at first, and even some of the older women, such as Harriet (Jeanette Nolan) and Mary (pre-Code great Ruth Donnelly), begin to come around. And when Rudy's sister, the man-hungry Rachel (Ann Dvorak, here in her 80th and final film), accidentally starts a fire in the barn, and the cons rush in to help put the blaze out and rescue the animals, they are looked upon with even more favor. But trouble soon looms, when it is learned that Canfield has a secret agenda of his own for being there: He is out to kill Marcia's fiancé, Rudy, whom he blames for wrongfully accusing him of theft and murder, and is also looking for the $40,000 that he believes Schaefer ran off with. And then things become even more problematic, when Clyde attempts to rape Harriet's daughter Barbara (Barbara Bates, who many will remember as Phoebe from the previous year's "All About Eve"), and when Johnny seduces Rachel in an attempt to find out where Granny has hidden the women's guns, in an effort to force Canfield to share the hidden loot. Fortunately, for one and all, the men of the settlement are not too far away, and when they do return from their prospecting trip, the spam really does hit the proverbial fan....
"The Secret of Convict Lake" has been directed by Michael Gordon (who would go on to helm the celebrated comedy "Pillow Talk" eight years later) in a no-nonsense manner, showing an equal facility with fast-moving action and with the more intimate and emotional sequences as well. The film's screenplay, by Oscar Saul, based on a short story by Anna Hunger, is both intelligent and engrossing (an even better screenplay by Saul would be revealed to audiences just a month later, in "A Streetcar Named Desire"), and the film's B&W cinematography, by Leo Tover, is a thing of beauty to behold. Though largely shot in the studio, the wintry sets go far in convincing the viewer that this film has been shot on location. Tover, incidentally, would also have some of his further work spotlighted for audiences the following month, in the sci-fi classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still." The film's score, by composer Sol Kaplan, goes far in moving the action scenes along; Kaplan had also scored another terrific Western a few months earlier, the Susan Hayward vehicle "Rawhide." And so yes ... the fine talents both behind and in front of the cameras combine to make "The Secret of Convict Lake" a genuine sleeper, and one ripe for rediscovery today by a new generation. It is a taut and fast-moving film, and indeed, the entire affair comes in at a scant 83 minutes. The picture features any number of wonderful scenes - I just love the ones in which Canfield and Marcia get to know each other, and the one in which the women defend Barbara from Clyde with the aid of some nastily wielded pitchforks, and the final shootout between the villains and the returning men of the settlement - and ultimately comes off as a very different kind of Western; one that the ladies and the feminists of today might justly celebrate.
And oh my goodness ... fans of the great stars Glenn Ford and Gene Tierney should be especially happy with this one! As for me, I just loved seeing the great actress in both long skirts and riding pants, wielding a shotgun and talking tough; indeed, I don't believe Gene gives us that famous, beautiful smile once in this entire film. It is a fairly grim and serious role for the great Tierney, and the underrated actress carries it off with great professional skill. Tierney had already suffered a number of tragedies in her personal life at this point, but was still a few years away from the breakdown that would cause her to be institutionalized for a period of time, and the two dozen electroshock treatments that she would go on to write so movingly about in her autobiography "Self-Portrait." So this is a Gene a few years past her mid-'40s peak, as regards both roles and beauty, but still very much the consummate pro and still looking mighty gorgeous, whether her hair is wrapped up in a tight bun or flowing loosely. All her many admirers should adore seeing her work here. As for Ford, he is his usual ingratiating self, even though his Canfield character is not a sympathetic one at first blush, unshaven and dirty as he is when first introduced. Still, Canfield does "clean up nicely," and ultimately shows himself to be quite a good egg, and Ford does a terrific job at portraying that inner decency. (Even when playing so-called "bad guys," as he would seven years later in "3:10 to Yuma," Ford was always somehow likeable.) Perhaps best of all, however, in this film, is Barrymore's Granny, who, despite being confined to a bed, still manages to prove herself one of the shrewdest and toughest birds in this picture. "The First Lady of the American Theatre" was 72 when she essayed this role, and was already quite ill herself with the cardiovascular disease that would take her eight years later. Still, she manages to bring to Granny the same smarts and no-nonsense spunk that had characterized her Mrs. Warren character in the great thriller "The Spiral Staircase" five years earlier. As for Dvorak, in her final film, she still looks very attractive at age 40, and easily convinces us that her Rachel character would sell out the others for the love of a bad man. And Zachary Scott, I might add, here makes for a wonderful villain, both smooth talking and ruthless; add the Johnny Greer character to his pantheon of great louses, including, of course, his caddish Monte Beragon in 1945's "Mildred Pierce." Sharp-eyed viewers will also note the presence of Ray Teal at the film's tail end, playing a sheriff who might just as well be the same Sheriff Roy Coffee that Teal would portray on TV's "Bonanza" eight years later.
All told, "The Secret of Convict Lake" is very much a class production, despite being a "small picture" from a major Hollywood studio. It is surely not one of the classic Westerns of the '50s - arguably the greatest decade for that particular film genre - or in the same rarefied league as such contemporaneous films as "Winchester '73," "High Noon," Shane" and "The Searchers," but it yet remains something of an undervalued gem that might just surprise and please those who are newcomers to it. And for all fans of Gene Tierney - who, incidentally, would have turned 100 on the day that I sat down to celebrate with this picture - it should prove to be 83 minutes of wintry heaven. More than highly recommended!
In the film, our escaped convicts, rather than having a shootout with the pursuing posses right after gaining the area of the lake, fetch up at a settlement that has been left completely in charge of the womenfolk, while the men are away prospecting. (Whether or not that was a wise move is open for debate.) Thus, the five convicts who remain living to see this encampment - Jim Canfield (Glenn Ford), Johnny Greer (Zachary Scott), Limey (Cyril Cusack), Matt Anderson (Jack Lambert) and young, feverish rapist Clyde (Richard Hylton) - are surprised to find that their welcome is not as smooth as might be expected. Indeed, their reception is a chilly one, with the women's group leader, Granny (the great Ethel Barrymore), more than willing to take her shotgun to them, and Marcia Stoddard (our Gene) equally ready to send them back into the blizzardy conditions and to their fate. Ultimately, the cons are allowed to stay for a while in a cabin by themselves; the cabin where Marcia was to have lived with her fiancé, the absent Rudy Schaeffer (Harry Carter), following their marriage. After a day or two, the cons manage to make their presences not quite as resented as at first, and even some of the older women, such as Harriet (Jeanette Nolan) and Mary (pre-Code great Ruth Donnelly), begin to come around. And when Rudy's sister, the man-hungry Rachel (Ann Dvorak, here in her 80th and final film), accidentally starts a fire in the barn, and the cons rush in to help put the blaze out and rescue the animals, they are looked upon with even more favor. But trouble soon looms, when it is learned that Canfield has a secret agenda of his own for being there: He is out to kill Marcia's fiancé, Rudy, whom he blames for wrongfully accusing him of theft and murder, and is also looking for the $40,000 that he believes Schaefer ran off with. And then things become even more problematic, when Clyde attempts to rape Harriet's daughter Barbara (Barbara Bates, who many will remember as Phoebe from the previous year's "All About Eve"), and when Johnny seduces Rachel in an attempt to find out where Granny has hidden the women's guns, in an effort to force Canfield to share the hidden loot. Fortunately, for one and all, the men of the settlement are not too far away, and when they do return from their prospecting trip, the spam really does hit the proverbial fan....
"The Secret of Convict Lake" has been directed by Michael Gordon (who would go on to helm the celebrated comedy "Pillow Talk" eight years later) in a no-nonsense manner, showing an equal facility with fast-moving action and with the more intimate and emotional sequences as well. The film's screenplay, by Oscar Saul, based on a short story by Anna Hunger, is both intelligent and engrossing (an even better screenplay by Saul would be revealed to audiences just a month later, in "A Streetcar Named Desire"), and the film's B&W cinematography, by Leo Tover, is a thing of beauty to behold. Though largely shot in the studio, the wintry sets go far in convincing the viewer that this film has been shot on location. Tover, incidentally, would also have some of his further work spotlighted for audiences the following month, in the sci-fi classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still." The film's score, by composer Sol Kaplan, goes far in moving the action scenes along; Kaplan had also scored another terrific Western a few months earlier, the Susan Hayward vehicle "Rawhide." And so yes ... the fine talents both behind and in front of the cameras combine to make "The Secret of Convict Lake" a genuine sleeper, and one ripe for rediscovery today by a new generation. It is a taut and fast-moving film, and indeed, the entire affair comes in at a scant 83 minutes. The picture features any number of wonderful scenes - I just love the ones in which Canfield and Marcia get to know each other, and the one in which the women defend Barbara from Clyde with the aid of some nastily wielded pitchforks, and the final shootout between the villains and the returning men of the settlement - and ultimately comes off as a very different kind of Western; one that the ladies and the feminists of today might justly celebrate.
And oh my goodness ... fans of the great stars Glenn Ford and Gene Tierney should be especially happy with this one! As for me, I just loved seeing the great actress in both long skirts and riding pants, wielding a shotgun and talking tough; indeed, I don't believe Gene gives us that famous, beautiful smile once in this entire film. It is a fairly grim and serious role for the great Tierney, and the underrated actress carries it off with great professional skill. Tierney had already suffered a number of tragedies in her personal life at this point, but was still a few years away from the breakdown that would cause her to be institutionalized for a period of time, and the two dozen electroshock treatments that she would go on to write so movingly about in her autobiography "Self-Portrait." So this is a Gene a few years past her mid-'40s peak, as regards both roles and beauty, but still very much the consummate pro and still looking mighty gorgeous, whether her hair is wrapped up in a tight bun or flowing loosely. All her many admirers should adore seeing her work here. As for Ford, he is his usual ingratiating self, even though his Canfield character is not a sympathetic one at first blush, unshaven and dirty as he is when first introduced. Still, Canfield does "clean up nicely," and ultimately shows himself to be quite a good egg, and Ford does a terrific job at portraying that inner decency. (Even when playing so-called "bad guys," as he would seven years later in "3:10 to Yuma," Ford was always somehow likeable.) Perhaps best of all, however, in this film, is Barrymore's Granny, who, despite being confined to a bed, still manages to prove herself one of the shrewdest and toughest birds in this picture. "The First Lady of the American Theatre" was 72 when she essayed this role, and was already quite ill herself with the cardiovascular disease that would take her eight years later. Still, she manages to bring to Granny the same smarts and no-nonsense spunk that had characterized her Mrs. Warren character in the great thriller "The Spiral Staircase" five years earlier. As for Dvorak, in her final film, she still looks very attractive at age 40, and easily convinces us that her Rachel character would sell out the others for the love of a bad man. And Zachary Scott, I might add, here makes for a wonderful villain, both smooth talking and ruthless; add the Johnny Greer character to his pantheon of great louses, including, of course, his caddish Monte Beragon in 1945's "Mildred Pierce." Sharp-eyed viewers will also note the presence of Ray Teal at the film's tail end, playing a sheriff who might just as well be the same Sheriff Roy Coffee that Teal would portray on TV's "Bonanza" eight years later.
All told, "The Secret of Convict Lake" is very much a class production, despite being a "small picture" from a major Hollywood studio. It is surely not one of the classic Westerns of the '50s - arguably the greatest decade for that particular film genre - or in the same rarefied league as such contemporaneous films as "Winchester '73," "High Noon," Shane" and "The Searchers," but it yet remains something of an undervalued gem that might just surprise and please those who are newcomers to it. And for all fans of Gene Tierney - who, incidentally, would have turned 100 on the day that I sat down to celebrate with this picture - it should prove to be 83 minutes of wintry heaven. More than highly recommended!