Broken Lance

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

In this Western with curiously Shakespearean undertones, Matt Devereaux (Spencer Tracy) is a ranch owner who has tried to raise his sons to carry on the fierce, hard-working spirit that helped make him a success. However, as a consequence, he never learned to show them affection and treats his boys little better than the hired help. Joe (Robert Wagner), is Matt's son by Native American wife Senora (Katy Jurado). Because of Joe's mixed ethnicity, he is treated prejudicially by his three half-brothers, Ben (Richard Widmark), Mike (Hugh O'Brian), and Danny (Earl Holliman) -- all Caucasian sons of Matt's first wife. Joe loves his father and would do nearly anything for him, but his siblings resent Matt's emotional distance. When Matt discovers a nearby copper mine is polluting a stream where he waters his cattle, he becomes furious and leads a raid on the mine that causes the law to visit the ranch; the police have a warrant to arrest whoever was responsible for the attack. To spare his father the agony and humiliation of a stay behind bars, Joe claims responsibility and spends several years in prison. When he's released, he discovers that Ben and his other brothers rebelled against their father with such extremity that the old man suffered a fatal stroke. While Senora tries to persuade Joe not to seek revenge, Ben is more than willing to fight his brother for taking his father's side. Screenwriter Philip Yordan won an Academy Award for his work on Broken Lance, while Katy Jurado received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her performance as Senora. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Pan and Scan
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Features:
  • cc
  • [None specified]

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Original Story - 1954 (Philip Yordan)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actress - 1954 (Katy Jurado)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding - 1954

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Spencer Tracy - Matt Devereaux
       Robert Wagner - Joe Devereaux
       Jean Peters - Barbara
       Richard Widmark - Ben
       Katy Jurado - Senora Devereaux
       Hugh O'Brian - Mike Devereaux
       Eduard Franz - Two Moons
       Earl Holliman - Danny Devereaux
       E.G. Marshall - The Governor
       Carl Benton Reid - Clem Lawton
       Philip Ober - Van Cleve
       Robert Burton - Mac Andrews
       Robert Adler - O'Reilly
       Harry Carter - Prison Guard
       Nacho Galindo - Cook
       Julian Rivero - Manuel
       Edmund Cobb - Court Clerk
       Russell Simpson - Judge
       King Donovan - Clerk
       Jack Mather - Bit (uncredited)
       George E. Stone - Paymaster
       John Epper - Ranger
       Paul Kruger - Bailiff
       James F. Stone - Stable Owner
       Arthur Q. Bryan - Bit (uncredited)

• Director:

  Edward Dmytryk

• Producer:

  Sol C. Siegel

• Screenwriter:

  Richard Murphy, Philip Yordan

• Cinematographer:

  Joe MacDonald

• Composer (Music Score):

  Leigh Harline

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Lionel Newman

• Editor:

  Dorothy Spencer

• Art Director:

  Maurice Ransford, Lyle Wheeler

• Set Designer:

  Stuart A. Reiss, Walter Scott

• Costume Designer:

  William Travilla

• Makeup:

  Ben Nye, Sr.

• Special Effects:

  Ray Kellogg

REVIEW:

• Broken Lance is the story of a family empire in the guise of a Western. The plot is derived from King Lear, though its more direct precursor is the film noir classic House of Strangers (1949), a similarly themed film also written by Philip Yordan. Though Yordan won an Oscar for Original Story for Lance, much of the credit for the tightly constructed film should go to screenwriter Richard Murphy, who keeps the film's focus on character and brisk pacing. The film is notable for a pro-environment subplot (copper-mine pollution) years before such themes became fashionable. The performances are top-notch -- Spencer Tracy and Katy Jurado in particular -- and the film is well-cast with reliable character actors in the supporting roles. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi