Three Faces West (1940)

Viennese surgeon Dr. Braun and his daughter Leni come to a small town in North Dakota as refugees from Hitler. When the winds of the Dust Bowl threaten the town, John Phillips leads the ... See full summary »

Director:

Bernard Vorhaus

Writers:

F. Hugh Herbert (original screenplay), Joseph Moncure March (original screenplay),

Stars:

John Wayne, Sigrid Gurie, Charles Coburn

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Wayne	...	John Phillips
Sigrid Gurie	...	Leni 'Lenchen' Braun
Charles Coburn	...	Dr. Karl Braun
Spencer Charters	...	Dr. 'Nunk' Atterbury
Helen MacKellar	...	Mrs. Welles
Roland Varno	...	Dr. Eric Von Scherer
Sonny Bupp	...	Billy Welles
Wade Boteler	...	Mr. Harris, Department of Agriculture Official
Trevor Bardette	...	Clem Higgins
Russell Simpson	...	Minister
Charles Waldron	...	Dr. William Thorpe
Wendell Niles	...	Man-on-the-Street Radio Announcer

Storyline

Viennese surgeon Dr. Braun and his daughter Leni come to a small town in North Dakota as refugees from Hitler. When the winds of the Dust Bowl threaten the town, John Phillips leads the townsfolk in moving to greener pastures in Oregon. He falls for Leni, but she is betrothed to the man who helped her and her father escape from the Third Reich. She must make a decision between the two men.

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Plot Keywords:

dust bowl | north dakota | surgeon | refugee | third reich | 

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Taglines:

Back from the living dead . . to claim a ghostly promise of love!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Caminho do Ocidente

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA "High Fidelity" Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Douglas Evans, shown as the master of ceremonies for the radio show "We The People," was a radio announcer in real life. He worked for KFI (Los Angeles) in the 1930s.

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Quotes

Farmer: There ain't no college professor gonna teach me how to farm my land.
John Phillips: How much land you got left that hasn't blown away? Look, men, let's quit arguing and kidding ourselves. We're all in the same boat. And we're all gonna sink unless we stick together. Every one of us has been served with a "dispossess notice," not by Uncle Sam or a bank or some mortgage company, but by a little ol' gal we've been kicking in the teeth, Mother Nature.

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Connections

Featured in The American Experience: Civilian Conservation Corps (2009)

User Reviews

Different kind of movie from John Wayne

Three Faces West presents two stories, that of a highly respected elderly Austrian doctor (Charles Coburn) and his daughter (Sigrid Gurie) who have fled the Nazi regime and come to American seeking a place to practice medicine, and also that of a small dust-bowl town in North Dakota in need of a doctor which is personified by John Phillips (John Wayne) who is a farmer and community leader. Initially the doctor and more particularly the daughter are not prepared for the hardships they find and wish to leave but a growing romantic relationship brings everyone closer together. A story like this wouldn't people complete without some more obstacles and in keeping with our two part tale we have two obstacles one for the budding romance and one for the struggling town.

The film is definitely very much about the message and it essentially has two messages to deliver, there is the message about tyranny and that sacrifices that may be necessary by those who oppose it and also that of the community and working together to overcome adversity. In light of the era this was made it is not surprising to see such an approach. It is interesting from an historical point of view to observe the attitudes towards Nazi Germany in the United States1940 before they had entered the war.

Beyond the good performances from the three principles as well as Spencer Charters in the side kick role there is not particularly impressive about the production, but a nicely intentioned story coupled with atypical role for Wayne and the interesting historical perspective on both the dust bowl and early years of WWII make this worthwhile viewing for me. It's interesting to note that Sigrid Gurie despite a solid performance would barely make a dozen films over her career. On the other hand Charles Coburn who played her father wouldn't make his first film until he was 56 and continued into his eighties, he also won and Oscar and was nominated for two more.