The Furies (1950)

Great Film overall

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

"Do you mind if I take the reins? I like to know where I'm going." Vance Jeffords, played by Barbara Stanwyck, not only likes to take the reins, she's also capable of turning most men into counter tenors just by staring at them. And don't mention sewing shears...those are reserved for the eyes of other women. The Furies is a well-crafted, enjoyably mean-spirited western with an unpleasantly conventional moral ending. What makes it memorable is the first two-thirds, which features an arrogant, man-eating performance by Stanwyck and an equally arrogant, blasting performance by Walter Huston as Vance's father, old T. C. Jeffords. Close behind is the butter-melting (and ultimately touching) performance of Judith Anderson as Flo Burnett, a woman as determined to protect her interests as Vance is. Old T. C. owns The Furies, a vast spread in New Mexico he put together by sweat, cheating, hard work and ruthlessness. His son is a nonentity we quickly forget. His daughter, Vance, loves and wants The Furies as much as she loves...and apparently wants...her old man. There is a not-so-subtle undercurrent of mutual need between the two that adds a nice touch of interest to their full-out greetings and good-byes to each other. "I like being T. C.'s daughter," Vance says, and even when they're at each other's throats we know the attraction is mutual. But Vance Jeffords is not about to come in second to anyone, not to a gambler who she may or may not love, not to a childhood friend she shares a gnaw of bread with whenever they meet. Not to her brother. And not to her father when it looks as if his attention, and the control of The Furies, may be transferred to the gracious widow, Flo Burnett. How this all plays out has, for some critics, overtones of King Lear. Not quite, in my view. The movie is a tangy, well-salted, par-boiled western with great performances by Stanwyck, Huston and Anderson. It may be over-wrought melodrama, but it's entertaining as all get out. That's probably what those flea-scratching groundlings standing in the Globe Theater really thought of King Lear. It also is beautifully framed and photographed, and moves along as quickly as the men and horses Vance applies the whip to. There's a poignant hanging photographed against the dawn sky and a moment of startling violence. If you're interested in finance, there are several lessons about the dangers of issuing your own IOUs as currency (which T. C. has a habit of doing when cash runs short) and the technique of financial leverage (which Vance masters with a cool smile.) Unfortunately, The Furies also has a conventional ending, which is a disappointing development for an unconventional western. The Furies often is over-wrought, but that's what makes grand melodrama grand. The time flies by while these self-centered people have dangerous fun tearing at each other.

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.

This Antony Mann Western is little-known compared to his collaborations with James Stewart or Man of the West or a good number of other Mann films, but it's an equal to his best work. Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston (in his final performance) star as a daughter and her father, powerful ranchers who own the titular land. Their relationship, much as the title suggests, has a psycho-sexual tinge. When men call on Stanwyck, her father balks. And when hoochies cling to Huston, well, then things get real ugly! The Furies shows Mann bringing a lot of his noir skills to the Western genre. One can easily see how that genre influenced Mann's characterizations, but, in terms of film-making, he had largely moved on. The Furies is just dark and often nasty. I have to wonder why the film is so little known. My thought is that almost all Westerns feature male protagonists, with the most notably exception being Johnny Guitar. I'm not going to rag too much on that film, because I do like it, but The Furies is far superior. Stanwyck was rarely better. I might actually rate this as her best. Huston went out on one of his best performances. It's hard to believe he died before the film was even released with as much energy as he shows. My only real complaint with the movie is that it peaks too early. The standoff at the Herrera's fort is one of the greatest sequences in the history of the genre, and it's so good that the remainder of the film drags a bit. Still, a masterpiece. Thanks again, Criterion!

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.