Track of the Cat (1954)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay)
Walter Van Tilburg Clark (novel)

Release Date:

27 November 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

Human Emotion Stripped Raw!

Plot:

A family saga: In a stunning mountain valley ranch setting near Aspen, complex and dangerous family...

Plot Keywords:

Panther | Snowstorm | Mountain | Track | Cattle

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Curt Bridges
Teresa Wright	...	Grace Bridges
Diana Lynn	...	Gwen Williams
Tab Hunter	...	Harold Bridges
Beulah Bondi	...	Ma Bridges
Philip Tonge	...	Pa Bridges
William Hopper	...	Arthur Bridges
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Joe Sam (as Carl Switzer)

Directed by
William A. Wellman

Writing credits
A.I. Bezzerides		(screenplay)
Walter Van Tilburg Clark		(novel)

Produced by
Robert Fellows	....	producer (uncredited)
John Wayne	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
William H. Clothier

Film Editing by
Fred MacDowell

Art Direction by
Alfred Ybarra		(as Al Ybarra)

Set Decoration by
Ralph S. Hurst		(as Ralph Hurst)

Costume Design by
Gwen Wakeling

Makeup Department
George Bau	....	makeup supervisor
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor
Margaret Donovan	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Nate H. Edwards	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrew V. McLaglen	....	assistant director

Art Department
Joe LaBella	....	property man (as Joseph La Bella)
Harold Michelson	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Earl Crain Sr.	....	sound

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (as Maurice de Packh)

Other crew
Sam Freedle	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Wayne-Fellows Productions (uncredited)

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros.)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Finland (1955) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Brothers/Seven Arts (1954) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2007) (Finland) (TV) (TV2)

Also Known As:

"William A. Wellman's Track of the Cat" - UK (complete title), USA (complete title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certicate #17120) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts) | UK:PG (video rating) (2007) | Portugal:M/12 (Cinemateca Portuguesa)

Filming Locations:

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA

Company:

Wayne-Fellows Productions

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~10 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~9 seconds.

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Studio One in Hollywood: Track of the Cat (#3.21)" (1951)

Boring and Unpleasant Family Drama

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, the dysfunctional Bridges family lives in an isolated ranch in the mountains of Aspen. The family is dominated by the beata and manipulative matriarch and the merciless arrogant middle-son Curt (Robert Mitchum); the elder son Arthur (William Hopper) and his sister Grace (Teresa Wright) are never listened; the father is an alcoholic man; and the younger son Harold (Tab Hunter) does not have personality to impose that he wants to marry with his despised girlfriend Gwen Williams (Diana Lynn). When a panther kills four bulls in the Bridges' cattle, Curt forces Arthur to track down the beast, and his brother is killed by the panther. Curt chases the deadly animal while his family argues in the ranch.

"Track of the Cat" is a boring and unpleasant family drama despite the name of William A. Wellman in the direction. The cinematography is extremely beautiful in the snowing mountains, but I disliked all the characters, some of them for their nastiness and the others for their weakness. Further, the plot is disclosed in a very slow pace and with repetitive jokes of the father taking hidden bottle of whiskeys from the most unusual places; the result is a very disappointing movie. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Dominados pelo Terror" ("Dominated by the Terror")