Track of the Cat (1954)

Waste of time

Just what I expected

Great Film overall

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Some of the location shooting in a snowy wilderness uses the then-new Cinemascope to best advantage but too much is on a, frankly, phony looking indoor set no better than something used on some TV cowboy serial. Initially, it seems to be a Western, the clothes and firearms suggest sometime between 1880 and 1900, but the humble exterior of the log cabin has an interior with finished walls and fancy furniture that could be as late as 1920 in some remote parts of The West. That aside, the plot is byzantine, with an English accented, drunken father, a crone like mother and three sons (all so different as to be adopted!!)Hopper as the eldest is bookish and gentle and apparently on a higher spiritual plane, Mitchum the next, is rough, crude and sexually suggestive to the girl loved by youngest son, Tab Hunter, whose blonde hair and perfect teeth belong on a California surfing beach. What exact purpose the old "Indian" (played by 26 year old Alfafa actor Schwitzer)has in unclear. He mostly lurks, grimaces and mumbles phrases that are supposed to be insightful, but sound like Tonto on Mogadon. It looks like a stage play but has origins on the printed page, very uneven, veering from boredom to low comedy (the drunken father's numerous hidey holes for his bottles of booze). Hopper does well with a part that suits his laid-back style but Mitchum fails to convince as the predatory, lascivious middle son.

We are up in the snowy mountains near Aspen, we are in the company of the brooding and feuding Bridges family. Their inner fighting is not the only thing blighting their lives, a panther is on the loose and as it kills all in its way, it becomes evident that it's also symbolising something deep and foreboding.Track Of The Cat is directed by the highly accomplished William A Wellman and adapted by A.I. Bezzerides from the novel written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. Hauntingly eerie and dripping with a sense of unease, it's however more triumphant as a technical piece than it is a story driven one. Wellman had long wanted to make a colour film while only working from a black and white palette, he does it here and in my humble opinion the result is gorgeous. With William H. Clothier's CinemaScope cinematography brilliantly bringing the Mount Rainier location to life {the only way to watch this is in widescreen}. All they needed was snowy weather, and they got it, and then some! With an interesting point of reference to the weather being that lead man Robert Mitchum {Curt Bridges} stated it was the hardest shoot he ever worked on. Some scenes are truly magnificent, atmosphere drips across the sparse snowy ground, with dark trees seemingly waiting to attack the small framed actors, a burial sequence viewed from the POV of the dead is sumptuous, in short the picture looks gorgeous, but what of its core story and acting heart?Frankly the story is guilty of being over talky, whilst we marvel at the surrounds and buy into the sense of dread that hovers throughout, we are subjected to what can only be described as over written waffle. I actually wish I had read the novel prior to viewing it now. The extension of talk would have been easily forgivable if the pay off via the panther itself was impacting, but sadly we are robbed of a crescendo ending, something Wellman would later say was an error of judgement {he is rumoured to have disowned the film at one point}. Of the cast, Mitchum is good, moody and bully like, watch as he baits Diana Lynn {poor} as Gwen Williams, while William Hopper puts in a fine turn as Arthur Bridges. Of the rest, well they are solid enough, tho Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer as a very aged portentous Indian raises an unintentional laugh. After plodding around like a decrepit old crippled specimen throughout the picture, he suddenly turns into an Olympic 100 meters champion at the film's finale! Yes it's safe to say that Track Of The Cat is a very odd picture indeed. 6/10

Track of the Cat (1954) ** (out of 4) Strange but ultimately disappointing family drama hiding behind the Western/Adventure genres. The film tells the story of a dysfunctional family stranded on a ranch during the 1880s. The family is bullied around by the middle son (Robert Mitchum) and his mother (Beulah Bondi) but the others begin to rise up as Mitchum is out tracking a deadly mountain lion. Okay, this is a film I had been wanting to watch for many years but within twenty-minutes I knew I was in trouble and the film never picked up. I was really shocked at how boring this film was considering Wellman was directing it and apparently this was a pet project of his. I'm not sure where to start but I guess we can mention all the family drama stuff, which naturally gets blamed on a bully and a religious freak. All of the drama here lacks any real drama and in fact all the characters just come off so obnoxious that I didn't care what happened to them. Another problem is the entire "track of the cat" with Mitchum wondering around without much to do. It seems Wellman never tries to build any tension in these scenes and one has to wonder why it was even in the story. I'm going to guess the cat was used to throw out that "good vs. evil" theme but it never works. I was also pretty disappointed in Mitchum's performance, which was dry and rather dull but then again I didn't care for any of the other performances either. It was strange seeing Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer in the role of the elderly Indian and he certainly comes off the best. What does keep the film going is its beautiful cinematography captured in all its 2.55:1 glory. The scenery is another reason to watch the film with the snow covered mountains really coming off quite beautiful.

A disturbingly dysfunctional family is at the heart of TRACK OF THE CAT, which tries to impose symbolic significance on the threat of the creature that is being stalked by the two oldest brothers. But the tale, filmed in monotonous B&W style with only highlights of real color allowed, is somber, tedious and talky.The performances are standard except for Mitchum who does a believable job as the loutish oldest brother. TERESA WRIGHT, DIANA LYNN and TAB HUNTER do fairly standard work, under William A. Wellman's slow-paced direction. It's a stark and brooding story of an isolated farm family living in a remote area and haunted by the symbolic "cat" of the title. Photographed in muted WarnerColor with effective background music by Roy Webb, its somber wintry atmosphere is well captured in the opening scene but becomes tedious before the story reaches a midway point because a real connection with the troubled characters is never really made.All the cast members have done better work elsewhere. It's hard to believe how matronly and severe TERESA WRIGHT became for this role, only a few years beyond her delicate work as a leading lady in many films of the '40s. WILLIAM HOPPER is effective as Mitchum's outspoken brother.All the interiors are filmed in a style that seems more like a filmed play than a film. BEULAH BONDI as the embittered mother manages to give some gravitas to the story. ROBERT MITCHUM gives his usual sturdy and colorful performance as the oldest son hellbent on tracking a killer cat. TAB HUNTER as the weakest younger brother has less to work with.A fairly interesting, harsh, character-driven tale that should have been much more effective with better dialog and family dynamics.