Robert J. Maxwell
De Maupassant wrote "Boule de Suif", his short story of a number of diverse people thrown together in a coach in 1880. Bret Harte wrote "Outcasts of Poker Flat" in 1869. The two stories share far too much to be coincidental. I'm virtually certain that de Maupassant, anxious for celebrity, read and copied the framework of "Outcasts of Poker Flat". Here, as elsewhere, the expression "virtually certain" means I doubt that what I've just said is true.These outcasts are four mainly harmless people who have been driven out of town because of their devalued status. Dale Robertson is the smooth gambler who maybe cheats at cards. Anne Baxter, I'm not sure of. She aided the murdering thief Cameron Mitchell in looting the bank back in the mining town of Poker Flat. Mitchell even gave her the loot to hold. But, as far as anyone can tell, none of the townspeople knew about it. Miriam Hopkins is the cynical whore monger. William H. Lynn is the bibulous numskull. He looks a lot like John Qualen and even sounds like him. I'm not at all sure that they aren't one and the same person. Has anyone ever seen both of them in the same room together? On the trail out of Poker Flat, in a building snowstorm, the outcasts run into a pitiful young couple, Craig Hill and his pregnant girl friend, Barbara Bates. Bates is the pretty and fawning high school girl who plans to take over Anne Baxter's role as Queen of the Stage at the end of "All About Eve," released a few years after this. That she's pregnant and unwed isn't treated as a stigma here because "they ain't got no preacher in Sandy Bar".The six characters hole up in an abandoned cabin while a blizzard blows outside. Actually, it's a rather cozy arrangement, what with that warm fire going. The opening scenes of the robbery are black and muddy, obviously echoing the lighting techniques of the noir films, but thereafter the images cry for color. There are some intrigues in the cabin. At night, with everyone else wrapped in blankets and sleeping, Baxter offers Robertson half the money from the bank robbery. She's very appealing in her close ups and is clearly expecting Robertson to spend the night under the same blanket. But Robertson is not that kind of guy. "Good-night," he says, closing the door behind him. Reminds me of one of Sir Richard Burton's footnotes in "The Arabian Nights": "The young man must have been a demon of chastity." Craig Hill decides to trek down the mountainside alone to get help from the folks at Poker Flat. He may not make it through the storm but Baxter gives him five hundred dollars of the bank loot to incentivize the community. And then -- who should show up but Cameron Mitchell himself, more evil and snide and dark than ever. He has the only gun so he orders everyone else around. Robertson has by this time emerged as the manly hero but he can do nothing because his own revolver is in the fireplace, propping open the flue. This, by the way, may be Mitchell's best performance. He's as smart as he is malignant, and he doesn't overplay it. Barbara Bates, as the pregnant girl, doesn't have many lines but she does get to ask, "I wonder how long we can last without any food." Hopkins replies, "I don't know. Don't think about it." That's not very helpful, is it? It's like saying, "Don't think of an elephant." There are no particular grace notes in the narrative but it's well enough written and directed. It differs from the usual Western conventions in that Robertson, the hero, can have his revolver shot out of his hand by Mitchell. And the hero can lose a fist fight too. Almost all of the action takes place on a studio set or a sound stage but there is some pleasant second-direction shooting in a snowy forest. All in all, it's an effective Western.
boblipton
Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flats" is one of his two best known stories (the other is "Luck of Roaring Camp") and while his reputation has receded over the past century, his humanism and warmth towards the unlikely inhabitants of Gold-Rush California are worth remembering and enjoying. But while the story and performances in this version are good, director Joseph Newman -- who got his start doing "Crime Does Not Pay" shorts for MGM -- never quite got over the need to drive every point through with a stake. So Joseph Lashelle's beautiful photography is over the top, the music by Lionel Newman -- no relation -- is overwrought and so forth. The result is a decent film, but the melodrama tends to overwhelm the characters.
alexandre michel liberman (tmwest)
I did not expect much from this film since I read a bad review, but to my surprise it turned out to be quite good. Bret Harte wrote "Outcasts" in 1868, a short story about people which are thrown out of a town because they are not considered good citizens. While they are stuck in a cabin during a snowstorm with little food, fighting for their lives their best feelings and actions come through. By choosing "outcasts" as heroes, Harte was leading the way for so many books and films that were yet to come. This film is based on Harte's short story. Dale Robertson is Oakhurst the gambler, Cameron Mitchell is Ryker the man who robs the bank, Anne Baxter is his woman, there is also "The Duchess" and the drunk. A couple shows up in the cabin, the woman pregnant, on their way to get married, and they also get stuck in the storm. At a certain moment when Ryker is threatening them all with his gun, they begin to ponder why they should be afraid of him when they will probably die in the storm anyhow. The black and white cinematography blends well with the mood of the film.
