Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

madcardinal One of the best Westerns ever made. Superior to other films of its time because it possesses more realism and authenticity and shuns the silly, false and simplistic moralizing which was almost a requirement for American films of this period. This is a film about real, complex people involved is realistic, complex events. Film-maker Anthony Mann hailed from Great Britain - perhaps this had something to do with the unusual realism. Positives are: 1 - The beautiful cinematography alone is enough reason to rent. The lighting is superb, there is sumptuous use of darkness, and the twilight and night scenes are ravishingly beautiful. 2 - Strong, resourceful female characters instead of the usual phony, helpless, wilting flowers. These women are people in their own right, not merely appendages of some male character. 3 - The characters are an honest mix of good and bad qualities - not artificial cardboard cut-outs simplistically meant to serve as types. 4 - Minorities are portrayed as real people. The Mexicans are portrayed with sensitivity and understanding, instead of the usual condescending caricatures. 5 - Walter Huston, Barbara Stanwyck & Wendell Corey do an excellent job of bringing their characters to life. The other actors are solidly top drawer. 6 - Excellent story-telling at its finest. With repeated viewing, you see more deeply into the complex and surprisingly subtle motivations of the characters. The only negative is that the sensuality of real life was artificially pre-filtered out of the film; but in full fairness to "The Furies," this is true of all American films of this period, due to the de facto censorship which held sway at the time. In sum, a complex, vivid depiction of love, hate, greed, loyalty, betrayal, devotion, affirmation of life and the inexorability of death, as they course through the lives of real, breathing people. Anthony Mann was far ahead of his time in crafting this truthful gem. What a special achievement!

deng43 just have to add some leavening to the loaf of praise this film is getting on IMDb. the film is difficult to sit thru; you don't quite know where it is going - which should be a plus, except you don't really care. each performer seems to enter the set with the avowed intention of being larger and hammier than anyone else in the take. these are performers i like, usually, but their bloated excesses are pretty boring here. i suppose the film wanted to show the swaggering folk who tamed a raw land, but the result is ridiculous.the one performance i found convincing and liked was anderson's; her scenes with stanwyck bring out the best in them both, at least until stanwyck's fling with the scissors.if you liked lust in the dust, aka 'duel in the sun' the sprawling sort of movie with elbows and egos flying then this might actually be your cup of tea.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This is the second western made by Anthony Mann, he was destined to become one of the great masters of the genre. Even though a film is a joint effort, there is always an element that prevails, in this case the story by Niven Busch. As in Pursued and Duel in the Sun it is about love and hate.There are three magnificent performances here: Walter Huston, Barbara Stanwyck and Judith Anderson. Huston is a megalomaniac rancher who makes his payments with his own currency, T.C.s. He is so in love with his own image that to maintain it he will go to extreme cruelty. Stanwyck is his daughter, who administers the ranch when he is away and counts on being the future owner. When her power is threatened by Judith Anderson the woman Huston wants to marry, she becomes wild. Gilbert Roland is a squatter friendly with Stanwick, but hated by Huston. Wendell Corey is a gambler and Stanwyck's love interest. Worth seeing.

mark.waltz Very few westerns have the psychological impacts that this "Mourning Becomes Electra" like saga dramatizes. Barbara Stanwyck, in the role that must have influenced her "Big Valley" character for TV, is both tough and tender as Vance Jeffords, the western princess of TC Jefford's (Walter Huston) empire. Dare step on her toes, and you won't be able to rest, as love interest Wendell Corey finds out. And dare come between her and her beloved father, and you'll end up with a surprising bit of vengeance as Judith Anderson as a gold-digging San Francisco socialite finds out. John Bromfield appears briefly as Stanwyck's brother who knows that he will never have the affections of his father that Stanwyck has and pretty much resigns himself to the fact that she will be daddy's heir, not him. Barbara Stanwyck was the Queen of the west, and in almost a dozen Westerns, it was Barbara Stanwyck who gave many a western hero a run for their money. Walter Huston, as her patriarchal father, is a force to be reckoned with who has trained his daughter to be tough. When he betrays her one wish, he also becomes a victim of her vengeance. There are also Gilbert Roland as a Mexican squatter, her life-long friend who becomes a tool in her father's revenge against her; Blanche Yurka, the great Hungarian stage actress, plays the bit role of his vengeful mama; Even in the small role, we are reminded of her excellent performance as Madame DeFarge in the Ronald Colman version of "A Tale of Two Cities" years before. Just watch her intense eyes as she cackles and curses in Spanish as she pushes huge boulders off the mountain in her effort to prevent Huston and Stanwyck from gaining access to the family's mountain hideaway. Beaulah Bondi also shows up briefly as a society matron who aids Stanwyck in her efforts to take over the Furies. With all this talent, it is amazing that the scenery wasn't eaten up along the way. The great Judith Anderson, who played many of the types of roles on Broadway that Stanwyck did on screen, is subtle as she tries to worms her way into the role of Queen of the Furies, but it is Stanwyck's ultimate revenge which prevents this from happening. Later, when we get our last glimpse of the beaten Anderson, she gives herself a great exit line. This, ironically, was the second film in which one of Stanwyck's characters had an impact on Anderson's character; In the 1946 film noir, "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", it is young Martha (who as an adult is played by Stanwyck) who pushes matriarch Anderson down some stairs to her death, giving that film its motivations.The one problem with this casting is the performance of Wendell Corey, perhaps one of the dullest leading men in Hollywood history. Stiff and unappealing, there is no doubt in the viewer's mind that Stanwyck would never feel any passion for the tree trunk like character. He was perfect as the sap husband of Joan Crawford's in the same years "Harriet Craig" but didn't have the fire that Gilbert Roland did. The previous year's "The File of Thelma Jordan" paired them together and proved that Stanwyck's passion required her to have a man on her side (and in her bed) that was her equal. Fortunately, Walter Huston is given more screen time, and is absolutely outstanding. He truly deserved an Oscar Nomination for his lively performance. When T.C. faces his final moments on-screen, he does it with such acceptance of his fate that it is truly heartfelt. It was his last film, as he died before the film was released. Stanwyck praised Huston publicly, and at her AFI tribute, Walter's son, director John Huston, praised Stanwyck (whom he had never met) for her professionalism and kindness to his father. The same year's "September Affair" took Huston's old recording of "September Song" and utilized it to great effect. Even by only being heard in that film, he truly made a huge impact, and ranks as perhaps my favorite actor of old Hollywood.