The Iron Mistress (1952)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

James R. Webb (screenplay)
Paul Wellman (novel)

Release Date:

1953 (Austria)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

JIM BOWIE...a man with his name on a knife - and a woman with a weapon all her own!

Plot:

Barely historical presentation of the life of Jim Bowie. Here he goes to New Orleans to sell lumber but falls in love with Judalon...

Plot Keywords:

Knife | Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel

Cast

Alan Ladd	...	Jim Bowie
Virginia Mayo	...	Judalon de Bornay
Joseph Calleia	...	Juan Moreno
Phyllis Kirk	...	Ursula de Varamendi
Alf Kjellin	...	Phillipe de Cabanal
Douglas Dick	...	Narcisse de Bornay
Anthony Caruso	...	Jack Studenvant (as Tony Caruso)
Nedrick Young	...	Henri Contrecourt (as Ned Young)
George Voskovec	...	John James Audubon
Richard Carlyle	...	Rezin Bowie
Robert Emhardt	...	Gen. Cuny
Don Beddoe	...	Dr. Cuny (as Donald Beddoe)
Harold Gordon	...	Andrew Marschalk
Jay Novello	...	Judge Crain
Nick Dennis	...	Nez Coupe

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #15877) | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) | Sweden:15

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Jim Bowie: Ma...I killed a man.
Mrs. Bowie: Did he need killin'?
Jim Bowie: About as much as any man ever did.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le ballon rouge (1956)

No woman is worth that much.

In Brazil this film was known as "Nenhuma Mulher Vale Tanto" (No Woman Is Worth That Much)a very appropriate title. It could be described as a "Mississipi Western", from what I know there are two more of this type, "The Mississipi Gambler" and "The Gambler from Natchez", both came out later and were probably inspired by "The Iron Mistress". The film starts showing Jim Bowie (Alan Ladd) and his brothers together with their mother at the "bayou" where they live. Ladd goes to New Orleans to sell lumber, becomes friend with a painter, and is challenged for a duel by the aristocratic De Bornay. They end up becoming friends and Ladd falls madly in love with his sister, beautiful, but spoiled Judalon(Virginia Mayo). He gambles, makes a lot of money in land speculation and also creates the famous knife. The film shows in detail how the first knife was made, by adding metal from out of space. The knife is so impressive that I could not help thinking about the sword in "Kill Bill", they are two of a kind. Ladd is forced to kill many people because of Mayo, who is attracted to him, but an aristocratic name is what she wants to marry. The Technicolor is great, Alan Ladd has the best performance of his career and Virginia Mayo is very convincing. The film is very unusual, not a work of art, but as pure entertainment few could match it.