The Secret of Convict Lake (1951)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The Secret of Convict Lake is directed by Michael Gordon and collectively written by Anna Hunger, Jack Pollexfen, Oscar Saul and Victor Trivas. It stars Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore, Zachary Scott, Ann Dvorak, Barbara Bates, Cyril Cusack, Richard Hylton, Helen Westcott, and Jeanette Nolan. Music is by Sol Kaplan and cinematography by Leo Tover.I came here to kill one man. I don't mind killing a couple of others if I have to.It's winter time here at Diablo Lake, and the five convicts who have survived the escape find themselves holed up in a remote village. Their reasons for being there differ, more notable though is that the men of the village are away prospecting, meaning the village is only currently populated by women.It's a fine bubbling broth of scenarios, each convict is different, ranging from unstable psycho type, alpha male, twitchy youngster, simpleton and on to the calm likeable one who doesn't appear to belong in this company. So with the reasons for the men being here established, narrative then jostles with the inner fighting of the convicts, and the various emotional strands of the women folk. Suffice to say there is sexual tensions, mistrust, misrule, macho posturing and of course secrets to be born out.Violence is sporadic but potent upon arrivals (one instance especially grabs you by the throat), and with the mystery of the men's crimes a constant question, intrigue makes for an enjoyable companion. Tech credits are uneven. The studio bound feel of the village sequences which fill out 90% of the pic are an itch, making you hanker for the more expansive snowy terrains that greeted us at story beginning. However, Tover's monochrome photography is suitably mood compliant, even if Kaplan's score isn't, while the lead actors are giving good value to offset some of the histrionics elsewhere.Perhaps not the firecracker it could have been, given all the elements involved - particularly annoying that a strong feminist bent subsides into token play - this is none the less a most interesting piece that holds attention throughout. 7/10

When the film begins, a group of prisoners have escaped in the Sierra Nevadas. Most were soon caught but there are six unaccounted for...and headed towards a very, very small town. To make things worse for the folks in this minuscule town, all the men are gone...leaving everything to the women. While the women do initially get the jump on the prisoners, they cannot let them freeze to death or starve so they take them in...but keep them under close observation. There are some obvious problems...when they are healthier, this group of sociopaths are a serious risk to rape, steal or do other mayhem. Also, one of the men (Glenn Ford) is in this small town for a reason...one of the men from the town set him up to go to prison and he wants revenge. But he also is a decent man...and might be the only thing between the women and these sickos.In some ways this film reminds me of the Gregory Peck film "Yellow Sky"....which is about a gang of thugs who harass an old man and his daughter. But this one has quite a few differences and is very good in its own right. Unusual and well worth seeing...and based, at least in part, on real events. How much was fiction and how much wasn't, I have no idea.

Some films end up being forgotten and that's the case with this excellent western directed by Michael Gordon (Cyrano de Bergerac, Pillow Talk) and with great black and white cinematography by Leo Tover (The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Tall Men, The Sun Also Rises, among many others). Inspired by a legend of the Convict Lake (Sierra Nevada, California), it tells the story of men who escaped from jail and go looking for 40000 dollars, through the snow in a lonely group of houses located on an almost unreachable valley. Glenn Ford and the great bad guy Zachary Scott are the main male characters and Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore and Ann Dvorak, the female. Great script, even Ben Hecht touched it, though uncredited. Dale Robertson lends his voice as the narrator, also uncredited. This film was a critical and commercial success and I am sure that it will eventually be back where it belongs, among the best westerns, in DVDs , etc.

Six condemned convicts escape over a mountain pass (one of them doesn't make it, leaving five) in a blizzard and take refuge in an outpost where the men have temporarily left their wives and assorted other females to watch over the property. It's quite a setup and the movie does not let it down. Directed by Michael Gordon who did the superior Another Part of the Forest, this film nearly equals that one, with the women acting fairly mesmerizing as they eye these cons first with suspicion and later with sympathy and then a little lust. It's fairly predictable but that does not detract from the scenes, especially with Ford and Gene Tierney and Scott with Ann Dvorak. While Glenn Ford is great and has the hero's role, the parts for both Zachary Scott and Jack Lambert as the two heavies, are both excellent. Shot in black and white, the opening scene of them trekking over a mountain in a full on blizzard looks dark and ominous. Gordon doesn't waste any character in the film. Everyone has a background which is revealed with just enough information to leave a lasting impression. Amazing this film hasn't been seen more.