Leofwine_draca THREE FACES WEST is a John Wayne western with a difference: there are no explicit villains here, no bandits or ruthless criminals waiting to be gunned down by our hero. The enemy of the film is the environment itself, or rather the dust bowl that causes hero Wayne and his townsfolk allies to flee from their homes to re-settle in Oregon. There's some political subtext too about the plight of German refugees fleeing the Nazi regime to settle in America. It's not one of the Duke's most exciting pictures, but at least the novelty of the plot keeps it watchable.

gpeevers Three Faces West presents two stories, that of a highly respected elderly Austrian doctor (Charles Coburn) and his daughter (Sigrid Gurie) who have fled the Nazi regime and come to American seeking a place to practice medicine, and also that of a small dust-bowl town in North Dakota in need of a doctor which is personified by John Phillips (John Wayne) who is a farmer and community leader. Initially the doctor and more particularly the daughter are not prepared for the hardships they find and wish to leave but a growing romantic relationship brings everyone closer together. A story like this wouldn't be complete without some more obstacles, and in keeping with the two part tale we have two obstacles one for the budding romance and one for the struggling town.The film is definitely very much about the message and it essentially has two messages to deliver, there is the message about tyranny and the sacrifices that may be necessary by those who oppose it and also that of the community and working together to overcome adversity. In light of the era that this was made it is not surprising to see such an approach. It is interesting from an historical point of view to observe the attitudes towards Nazi Germany in the United States of 1940 before they had entered the war.Beyond the good performances from the three principles as well as Spencer Charters in the side kick role there is nothing particularly impressive about the production, but a well intentioned story coupled with an atypical role for Wayne and the interesting historical perspective on both the dust bowl and early years of WWII make this worthwhile viewing for me. It's interesting to note that Sigrid Gurie despite a solid performance would barely make a dozen films over her career. On the other hand Charles Coburn who played her father wouldn't make his first film until he was 56 and continued into his eighties, he also won and Oscar and was nominated for two more.

MartinHafer Well, if this isn't one of the more unusual films for John Wayne, I don't know what is! The film begins with a radio program in America where the host is encouraging small American towns to sort of 'adopt' doctors displaced by the war in Europe. While the US would not enter the war officially until almost 1942, this film had a very anti-Nazi tone--something new to Hollywood films.One of the doctors is Charles Coburn who plays an Austrian (!) and he has a daughter who is a nurse (Sigrid Gurie). They are offered a job in North Dakota and when they arrive they find that it is nothing but dust and misery. The two want to leave immediately, but the townspeople need them so much that they agree to stay. However, in the meantime two important things happen. First, the dust problem becomes so severe that the town decides to relocate to Oregon. Second, Sigrid falls in love with John Wayne. While her love for Wayne is no surprise, their impending marriage is scuttled when they learn that her long-dead fiancé is actually alive and coming to America. It seems that the Nazis didn't kill him after all. So we are facing two dilemmas. How to get everyone in town to move en masse to Oregon (especially when there are a couple hot-heads in the group) and how will Wayne and Gurie be able to marry? Tune in and see.I liked this film a lot more than I expected--much of it because of the historical aspects of it. Other than THE GRAPES OF WRATH and IT'S A GIFT (to a lesser extent), I can't think of any films that talked about the dust bowl years. And it was nice, also, because THE GRAPES OF WRATH offer a view that is a bit biased--as Steinbeck was trying to make more of a political statement in his writings (so the true historical nature of the Joads are sensationalized quite a bit). Here, it's a more optimistic view of this upheaval. Additionally, it was a nice change of pace for Wayne--who before this had done mostly Westerns. Overall, a surprisingly good film.PS--In a rather poorly done scene, a US Department of Agriculture representative is talking to Wayne and he points to the map where supposedly Wayne's town in North Dakota is located. The pointer actually appears to be about 1000 miles off!!

ed_two_o_nine This is by no means a great movie, but not a terrible movie either. This really is an update of a frontier movie with some good ol' American spirit thrown in. This is basically the story of an Austrian doctor and his daughter who come to America seeking refugee from the Nazi's. Then end up in a small town who have farmed the land to death and who themselves are seeking new land to make their lives. John Wayne does his normal thing as the so called leader of the townsfolk dealing with conflict along the way, and also the inevitable love interest of the doctor's daughter. Plodding and really so much inferior to the similar 'Grapes of Wrath'. Not one for me to be watching again.