Yellow Sky (1948)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Lamar Trotti (screenplay)
W.R. Burnett (story)

Release Date:

December 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Western

Tagline:

It was a moment for being a woman for only a woman's weapon could keep her alive... now!

Plot:

Pistol-packing tomboy, and grandfather come to discover band of bank robbing bandits taking refuge in the neighboring ghost town.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost Town | Prospector | Bank Robber | Deep Focus | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	James 'Stretch' Dawson
Anne Baxter	...	Constance Mae 'Mike'
Richard Widmark	...	Dude
Robert Arthur	...	Bull Run
John Russell	...	Lengthy
Harry Morgan	...	Half Pint (as Henry Morgan)
James Barton	...	Grandpa
Charles Kemper	...	Walrus
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Wellman Jr.	...	Boy in Hayloft (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

98 min | 95 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #13224) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Gregory Peck initially felt he was miscast as the bank robber.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Tempest (1939) (TV)

Classic Black and White Western

The plot of "Yellow Sky" may not be the most original but the performances more than make up for it. A gang of bank robbers cross a dangerous desert only to find themselves in a ghost town. But there are two inhabitants in the ruins; a young woman and her prospecting grandfather. The gang members immediately suspect that the two are hiding gold in their dilapidated mine and set out to rob them. The leader of the gang, however, (a young Gregory Peck) falls in love with the young woman (Anne Baxter) and a showdown is inevitable with the rest of the outlaws. Richard Widmark, in fine form as "Dude" a gambler/murderer with his trademark smirk intact, is Peck's main rival in the gang. The Black and White photography is excellent and the exteriors, filmed in Death Valley, give the movie a much-needed sense of realism. Director William Wellman received outstanding performances from this cast and the movie is considered a minor classic by most film historians. They don't make 'em like this anymore---but they should.