JohnHowardReid
It's always amazed me that this lavishly produced, excitingly scripted and thrillingly staged western has no following. Perhaps it's the cast that has failed to attract the fans. Victor Mature is always acknowledged to have delivered a fine portrayal in Ford's My Darling Clementine, but he's just as effective here, even if the role is less showy. Heroine Coleen Gray is never numbered among the greats, yet she too has given a number of telling portraits. We enjoyed her characterization here. With the support players of course there are fewer cavils. No critic in his right mind would fail to praise the likes of Reginald Gardiner, Albert Dekker, Fred Clark, Charles Kemper, Charles Stevens and company. Gardiner has the most showy role, but all contribute engrossing performances.Lucky Humberstone has directed in an appropriately bravura style, assisted by Harry Jackson's striking studio and Arizona location cinematography. The large sets are equally impressive. So is Newman's score. This is a handsomely mounted and produced western which still comes across with tremendous force and power.In fact, despite its catchpenny title, to my mind, Fury at Furnace Creek rates as director Bruce Humberstone's masterpiece, breathtakingly photographed with a strong plot line and spectacular action sequences. The large cast acquits itself well and production credits are honorable in all departments. Humberstone's forte is action, but he handles the dialogue confrontations with equal ease. The script is peopled with interesting characters and only a somewhat conventional romantic interest dulls an otherwise really outstanding production. The climax is a tour-de-force of edge-of-the-seat excitement, the absence of music and the high contrast photography contributing to the dramatic effect. Both stationary camera angles and running inserts are used in the chase sequences - in Humberstone's expert hands, both are equally effective.
weezeralfalfa
Victor Mature's second role in a western, the first being as Doc Holiday, in "My Darling Clementine". Here, he has top billing , and is one year away from perhaps his most remembered role, as Samson, in Cecil DeMille's biblical extravaganza.....Mature starts out in jail, apparently, related to an altercation over a crooked card game. Soon, he is free, and heads for Furnace Creek, AZ., where his estranged father recently died of a stroke, while defending himself against a charge of criminal bad judgement as an army officer. Strangely, the trial was conducted in a civilian court, rather than in a court marshal proceeding?! General Blackwell((Glenn Langan) was charged with sending a written message demanding that Capt. Walsh quit escorting an supply wagon train heading for Fort Furnace Creek, AZ, and lead his troopers to Lordsburg, NM. The wagon master pleaded that this was tantamount to a death sentence for the wagon personnel, which turned out to be true. While traveling through Apache territory, they were massacred by a party headed by Little Dog. The Apache then hid in the wagons, which were welcomed in Fort Furnace Creek, where they proceeded to massacre the undermanned, inhabitants, and burn down the fort. Mature was one of 2 sons of Gen. Blackwell, and hoped to find evidence that his father didn't sent the incriminating message, which had conveniently been lost. This meant that an important handwriting comparison could not be made, to settle the issue. Mature's estranged brother, Capt. Rufe Blackwell, also came to Furnace Creek to look for similar evidence of his father's innocence. Mature meets baker Molly Baxter, whose father was killed in the fort raid. She's convinced that town boss Ed Leverett was somehow behind the fiasco, by either bribing the General, or bribing the Apache. In contrast, Mature suspects that Capt. Walsh was somehow involved, but for what motive? He notices that Walsh, who is still around, after resigning from the army, is perpetually nervous and drinking.....Since the 2 brothers, both with an alias, don't like each other , they conduct their investigations separately, until near the end, when circumstances force them to collaborate. I will let you see the film(available at YouTube), to find out the outcome......Europeans were clamoring for the opportunity to make mineral rights claims within the Apache reserve, since silver deposits had been found. The Apache had been punished for their massacres by being stripped of their rights to that land. Leverett had immediately filed claims covering the known silver deposits, fueling speculation that he had somehow been behind the massacres.......Incidentally, the only Furnace Creek I could find reference to is the one in Death Valley, CA, not AZ. Also, the only Chief Little Dog I could find reference to was a Blackfoot, not an Apache: typical name and location confusion built into many westerns of this era. At least, this screenplay was not based on an actual incident, to my knowledge.....Charles Kemper played 'Peaceful' Jones: the town drunk, who was chained to a big tree trunk section every Saturday night, to hopefully keep him from getting drunk. Actually, he could carry the 'log' some distance, so presumably it was made of something light weight..... Filming occurred in the rugged dry country around Kanab Movie Fort, UT. It was shot in crisp B&W, which is retained.
Martha Wilcox
I'm not sure if Victor Mature is suited to a Western. I didn't think much of him in 'My Darling Clementine'. He was okay in 'Kiss of Death', but it was Richard Widmark that made that film, not Mature. What this film lacked was someone for Mature to play off and react to rather than just being the lead. In 'Samson and Delilah' he had a good script and a good director. This film doesn't have a good script, although you could argue that the direction was good. If Mature had a good script, or a good actor to play off, then maybe it would have lifted his performance. If a film totally relies on Mature then it's not going to stand the test of time. Such is the case with this film.
