Desert Fury (1947)

The daughter of a Nevada casino owner gets involved with a racketeer, despite everyone's efforts to separate them.

Director:

Lewis Allen

Writers:

Robert Rossen (screenplay), Ramona Stewart (novel),

Stars:

John Hodiak, Lizabeth Scott, Burt Lancaster

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Hodiak	...	Eddie Bendix
Lizabeth Scott	...	Paula Haller
Burt Lancaster	...	Tom Hanson
Wendell Corey	...	Johnny Ryan
Mary Astor	...	Fritzi Haller
Kristine Miller	...	Claire Lindquist
William Harrigan	...	Judge Berle Lindquist
James Flavin	...	Sheriff Pat Johnson
Jane Novak	...	Mrs. Lindquist
Anna Camargo	...	Rosa

Storyline

Fritzi Haller is a powerful casino owner in Chuckawalla, Nevada. Her daughter Paula (having quit school) returns at the same time as racketeer Eddie Bendix, who left under suspicion of murdering his wife. Paula and Eddie become involved; each for their own reasons, Fritzi, Paula's old beau Tom, and Eddie's pal Johnny try to break up the relationship. Then Eddie's past catches up with him in an unexpected way.

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Plot Keywords:

melodrama | avant garde | neo noir | based on novel

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 August 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Desert Town

Filming Locations:

Piru Mansion - 829 & 837 Park Road, Piru, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Connections

Featured in The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender (1997)

User Reviews

1947 -- 2010

You Tube is a great place to watch all these old movies. But as I wrote as my "Summary" (1947--2010) too many years have gone by and no matter how much we like the interpreters..., something has to give. Now we see too many downfalls that at the time (maybe) people weren't aware of.

For example: Lizabeth Scott, as lovely and personal as she was (her voice was as attractive in its whispering as Ava Gardner's) was a wrong choice to play the daughter of Mary Astor (excelent, beautiful, very talented actress) since the age difference was minimal, most of the time unnoticeable. But..., since at the time Scott was the producer's... friend, there was no other choice!!

John Hodiak was in no way presentable on his bare chest, at least now that we have become accustomed to gym exercised torsos. Burt Lancaster set of hair was so gorgeous that every time he appeared I, at least, lost track of what they were saying. Lizabeth Scott hair was also a miracle, product of Hollywood hairstylists: Fabulous. Something that drove me mad was that oval window in Scott's bedroom... Have you ever seen anything so outrageously artificial outside of an amateurish theatrical production??

Censure at the time was so frightful that most of the dialog is highly hilarious, trying to say without saying what was going on between Mr. Hodiak and Mr. Corey's characters (they were lovers).

The final resolution of the story is so abrupt that one could think Scott's character was an alien without human sentiments. All of a sudden she falls in love with the remaining man, because obviously she was "a good girl" after all. Silly movie. The most enjoyable thing: That extraordinary "Town and Country" convertible she was driving all the time. Magnificent car.