California

source: California

Epic account of how California became a state, featuring a wagon train full of settlers that joins Wicked" Lily Bishop (Barbara Stanwick) expeled from a town , to go California, led by Michael Fabian (Barry Fitzgerald) and Johnnny Trumbo (Ray Milland) . However , news of the Gold Rush scatters the caravan and subsequently taking on evil profiteers . But worse troubles are ahead : California is inching toward statehood and corrupt politicians wish other personal and mean purports . Awesome epic Western with giant cast , gorgeous photography and wonderful scenarios . Turbulent and mighty story about an epic saga set against the background of Gold Rush and historical deeds ; covering several decades of Westward expansion in the nineteenth century--including the Gold Rush, and usual political confrontation . And of course , the building of the California State with certain politicians who want to make it their private empire ; among other epic events . The picture gets great action , expansive Western settings , shootouts , love stories , it is quite entertaining and there some some scenes still rate with the best of the West , including marvelous moments along the way . It efficiently describes an attractive panoramic view of the American Western focusing on the tribulations , trials and travels of settlers and adventurers . It's a big budget film with good actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . Breathtakng as well as spectacular scenes such as the long Wagon Train , and the final attack sequences , among others . Particularly supreme for its all-star cast list with some actors epitomising the spirit of the early West , at least as Hollywood saw it , including the indomit wicked saloon queen Barbara Stanwick , the tough wagon train guide Ray Milland and his colleague the always sympathetic Barry Fitzgerald .And a splendid support cast as George Coulouris as the powerful storekeeper , former slaver Pharaoh Coffin , Albert Dekker , Anthony Quinn , Eduardo Ciannelli and Frank Faylen. Impressive cinematography filmed in big screen by Ray Rennahan , and photographed in splendorous Technicolor , though it loses much of its overwhelming visual impact on TV but otherwise holds up pretty well . This star-studded, epic Western adventure is a really old style Hollywood film well directed by John Farrow . At his begining he stayed in Hollywood as a screenwriter, from A Sailor's Sweetheart (1927) through Tarzan escapes (1936). He married Tarzan's Jane, Maureen O'Sullivan, in 1936. He began directing in 1937 Men in Exile and West of Shanghai (1937). He was injured while serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy in World War II. After that he converted to Catholicism and wrote a biography of Thomas More, a history of the Papacy, a Tahitian/English dictionary and several novels. And directing notorious films as Wake island , This kind of woman , Hondo , Calcuta , China , The big clock , Red, Hot and Blue ,Alias Nick Beal , Beyond glory , Hitler Gang and several others . He collaborated in the writing of several of his films and shared the Academy Award for Around the world in 80 days (1956). Rating : 6.5/10 , essential and indispensable watching . It's a magnificent example of the kind of old-fashioned blockbuster just don't make anymore .

Ray Milland is her counterpart in this sadly underrated and forgotten gem of American westerns in the 40s, while this epic actually catches a very important historical chapter, covering the development of California from the great gold rush and pioneer invasion in the 1850s to how it became a state of the union. Victor Fleming's music adds a fresh good spirit to the film by catching the right mood of the pioneer and golddigger songs. Barbara Stanwyck is as always outstanding and rises from the mud she is thrown into from the start to the usual brilliance of a leading lady not to be trifled with. Of course, although they are enemies from the beginning and practically through the whole film, you know from the start that Ray and Barbara will end up together, and the main interest of the film is to see how. The best part of the film is the beginning, the pioneering trail suddenly changing character as gold is discovered, and the election scenes in the end. Barry Fitzgerald is always enjoyable, although he always makes the same character, but at least it is reliable as an asset and thoroughly enjoyable. Anthony Quinn turns up in a crucial stage and adds to the story, there will even be some shooting eventually. It's not a regular western at all but very interesting as especially an refreshing and glorious chronicle of Californian history.

The Casting of Barry Fitzgerald as a Dirt Farmer/Politician/Saint. And George Coulouris as a Former Slave Trader and Devil Incarnate. Almost Ruin a Sprawling Technicolor Production. Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck are Stalwart as in On Again-Off Again Romance Trying Desperately to Inject some Suspense and Intrigue in this Hopelessly Overblown Story. John Farrow's Direction is Pedestrian with Few Flourishes that Make the Movie come to Life as it just Hops Around from One Direction to the Next. A Huge Disappointment Considering. The First Act with a Wagon Train that Stampedes as soon as the Word Arrives that Gold was Discovered in the Titled Territory. The Second Act is a Gambling Hall with Stanwick and Coulouris being Infiltrated as Milland Shows Up. Then there's Talk about California becoming a State. The Third Act is Political and an Attempted Empire Building by Coulouris. Buy this Time the Film has Worn Out its Welcome and Scenes Come and Go with Little Gravitas. It just Runs its Course to the Predictably Flat Ending. Worth a Watch with Very Low Expectations.

To be savoured as Barbara Stanwyck's first film in Technicolor, imaginatively staged by John Farrow in long elegant takes; the only drawback being that the shortage of closeups doesn't afford you many good looks at her gleaming red lips.

Falling somewhere in director John Farrow's western filmography slightly above "Copper Canyon" (which, like this film, stars Ray Milland) and far below "Hondo", there just isn't a lot to say for good or ill about this relatively unambitious western drama. While positioning itself as a serious picture in terms of theme, it conforms in every way to standard melodrama formulas and fails to present a memorable villain or fundamental conflict. Nice technicolor photography, stylish flourishes from the director, and not even the great Barbara Stanwyck can save this film from being just slightly more than mediocre. Stanwyck plays Lily, a much maligned singer trying to make it big in California off her legs and her pipes where all the men are trying to bring in satchels of gold. Milland is Jon Trumbo, a gambler who deserted from the army and spends half the movie hiding from them and the other half brazenly running a tavern in town. Barry Fitzgerald is third billed but basically drags the movie down into unintentional farce with his mannerisms, while on the other end of the spectrum George Coulouris is cast as an intriguingly written villain but ends up underplaying the role to death. Farrow can always be relied upon for brief moments of misogyny like the one in this movie where Stanwyck is slapped and then shown rubbing her cheek as if she was getting masochistic pleasure from it. Generally speaking this is one of Stanwyck's duller roles from the 40s. So much more could be done with her in a western, as for example in Anthony Mann's "The Furies" and Sam Fuller's "Forty Guns." Here Farrow forces her into a rather dull 40s version of an independent woman that rings hollow. Milland was a good western hero; he played these roles with a bit more realism and less projected "integrity" than most B movie cowboys tended to do. Unfortunately in this movie it's like he's searching for a moment to really do some acting but just can't find it. Farrow usually has a good sense of film economy but in this film it seems like the energy of a lot of the scenes is amped too high and there's not much rhythm to the film as a whole. However the reason this film is much better than "Copper Canyon" is because Milland can make better scenes with Stanwyck in this movie than he can with Hedy Lamarr in that one. This film isn't any worse than most westerns and it's better than quite a lot of them, but you just have to feel that if they had put a big more effort into the whole thing it could have been a lot better. Stanwyck is in this dull role, and you have an actor like Anthony Quinn in a role that barely exists. Meanwhile you have Coulouris who is probably the most boring actor in the movie playing the most interesting character. I think the film could have focused more on him, but it was probably written down since they couldn't get a real star. Worthy entertainment with low expectations.

At first, it's a "How the West Was Won" journey of settlers heading to California (with a banjo on their knee), then it's about the gold rush. then a gambling hall, and finally a political squabble over statehood and impending civil war. And as much as it looks like a Cecil B. DeMille epic, it isn't, directed instead by John Farrow. But, oh, what a pleasure it is to look at, starting off with a travelogue like prologue with an E.Y. Harburg song. Barbara Stanwyck makes her entrance being tossed out of town by the proper ladies and gentlemen and reluctantly being picked up by the wagon train lead by Ray Milland. He doesn't want her on it, but feisty Barry Fitzgerald sympathizes with her and takes her along in his wagon. Then, news of gold breaks, everybody scrams, and Milland and Fitzgerald are left to themselves, surrounded by the junk yard of the journeyer's furniture left behind, the west coast's first garbage dump. It continues with an obviously dubbed Stanwyck singing a song in a gambling hall she's purchased, getting involved with ruthless Albert Dekker and alternately insulting and defending Milland while secretly supporting Fitzgerald for senator, Dekker's rival. It's the last segment that's the most interesting, a fictionalized vision of early California before swimming pools and movie stars, not to mention ski resorts, Hollywood signs, freeways and governators. Stanwyck gets to wear some bewitching gowns by Edith Head and is alternately tough, tender and tempestuous. Wasted in a tiny role, Anthony Quinn is nevertheless handsome in his brief dance with Stanwyck, historically important to see two legendary stars together. They would share more scenes in 1953's melodramatic "Blowing Wild". Milland is grizzled enough to take away the image of him in tailored suits from past movies (even though the same year he got his ear pierced by Marlene Dietrich in "Golden Earings") while Fitzgerald gives a performance filled with wisdom, heart, and humor. Colorfully filmed, this is still an interesting account of the settling of a land once wild, now overcrowded, yet still filled with beauty where cities have not yet risen.

I don't particularly like westerns. I am usually bored with their macho heroes and their stereotypes. In "California", however, stars my all-time favorite actor, Ray Milland, so I wanted to see whether he is as good in this genre as he is in romantic comedies, adventures and dramas. Not to my surprise, he proved to be much above the typical western hero. He is realistic and effective, without excessiveness, mannerisms or gimmicks. What I consider one of the best westerns, "A Man Alone", is played and directed by Ray himself... Returning to California, it is an epic movie, a large scale production, in glorious color, rich in costumes, settings and extras. It covers important historical ground, including the 1848 mass migration, the gold rush and the political struggles that led to the incorporation of California to the United States. All this is the background of the tumultuous love-hate relationship between Trumbo and Lily, Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck. One cannot find fault with this movie: It is aptly directed by John Farrow, the music score by Victor Young is memorable, the script, in the 98 minutes duration of the movie, gives a balanced account of the personal story and the ampler historical events of the time, while a plethora of talented character actors contribute to its authentic touch. My only objection is the folklore singing at the movie's opening sequence, which could well be omitted, and the same goes for other singing interludes as well as the songs, supposedly sung by Barbara Stanwyck, all of which interrupt the action. Maybe the Studio heads imposed them, as a sort of lyric accentuation, but they actually steal valuable time that could be used for better character development. As for the two stars: Although very beautiful in her own way, I think Barbara Stanwyck is not cut for period roles, her type is not that of the traditionally classic beauty. Also her acting in the first half of the movie is more aggressive than required. Ray Milland, on the other hand, has the correct approach of the man who does not trust women, after a previous involvement that made him desert his post in the army. Their mutual distrust causes a fierce antagonism, and they go to extremes to conceal their true feeling for each other. Of course, love finds its way in the end and the final scene is very tender. Trumbo must pay his due to the army, and Lily is ready to wait for his return, for as long as it takes. They are both charismatic actors, and if the movie concentrated more on them and less on the "epic" side, it would have been immensely richer. Nevertheless, the movie is very much worth seeing and great entertainment.

A film that starts out as camp as this – apple-pie and syrup homilies to the great state voiced over saturated colour shots of its natural landmarks – can only get better, and thankfully it does. Despite the improvement California never really reaches the big budget quality heights to which it aspires though. The colour looks good, and some of the cinematography is terrific, and John Farrow's direction is as reliable as it always was, but the plot is a little stale to say the least. Ray Milland struggles to convince in a role more suited to the likes of Robert Taylor, but he gives it his best shot and is merely unmemorable rather than annoying in the role of principled cavalry deserter and wagon leader Jonathan Trumbo, who spends most of the film fighting his desire for saloon girl Lily Bishop (Barbara Stanwyck, opposite whom Milland seems to become invisible every time they share a scene) before inevitably melting into her arms in the final scene. This being a colour film, Lily often wears red, just to let us know the colour of her past and the passions lurking beneath her frosty exterior. If George Coulouris were half as colourful as his character's name – Pharaoh Coffin – an ex-slave trader intent on making California his own little kingdom, instead of an oddly insipid nonentity he might have provided a little more zip to the proceedings, but most of the bad guy antics are left to the ever-reliable Albert Dekker. The film also features a young Anthony Quinn, impossibly handsome in a latino way, who sadly has little to do other than dance, get drunk and die. Barry Fitgerald rounds out the cast as Fabian, a wine grower on Trumbo's wagon trail who allows himself to be talked into running for governor of California so that Johnny can hammer a nail into Pharaoh's, ahem, coffin. This is old-style major studio entertainment so you pretty much know what you're going to get. Good, solid production values, some not insubstantial star power – and a story that is almost as lightweight as tiny Mr. Fitzgerald.

The movie is a stab at an epic western that simply fails to gel. The best part is the "moving west" scenes of wagon trains convoying across the open southwestern terrain. These achieve an epic feel that the dramatics unfortunately fail to duplicate. The screenplay itself is pretty crowded, telling the story of California's becoming a state, no less. From settlers to gold rush to saloons to political intrigue, the story is traced out mainly through Milland, Stanwyck, and Coulouris, with Fitzgerald as a salt-of-the-earth anchor. Now, that might work, except director Farrow has little feel for the material. The various parts come across in rather limp, unexciting fashion. It's as if he's content to simply film the script without bringing its many conflicts to dramatic life. Thus, the drama is conveyed in words instead of characters. Then too, Oscar winner Milland appears either miscast or uninspired. His role really calls for a bigger personality than Milland's generally low-key wagon master. (He may have viewed a western as a comedown after his award winning role in The Lost Weekend.) Stanwyck is of course Stanwyck even though she's dolled-up to suit Technicolor filming and crowded around by the packed screenplay . Too bad the guy who could have enlivened the action remains in supporting background, namely, the commanding Albert Dekker (Pike). Anyway, I guess I now know why this epic western remains so obscure, despite its Paramount pedigree and marquee cast.