If you're a man, don't mess with Miss Vance Jeffords unless you want to sing soprano. If you're a woman,...

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	• The Furies - Criterion Collection Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Huston Criterion, 2008 average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good but far from the best by either Mann, Stanwyck, or Huston

This is an entertaining film and definitely contains some find elements, but it is far from the best work of any of the major participants and in the end isn't completely satisfying. The movie is most famous for being the great Walter Huston's final film. He in fact died very shortly after finishing work on the film and before its release. Though not among his best films, it does feature many moments where he is able to chew up one scene after another. And near the end of the film there is a steer-wrestling scene on which he appears to have done much of the stunt work, an astonishing feat for a man of 65.

I'm a huge fan of Barbara Stanwyck. She is, in fact, my favorite actor, but I was very uncomfortable watching her in this one. Much of my enjoyment of her in other films comes from the fact that she is by any standard a strong female at a time when women weren't always allowed to be so. In this one, however, she not only has a bizarre attraction for a physically unattractive and personally unappealing gambler, she puts up with being slapped around and otherwise abused. She is, however, even in this film remarkable. Playing a character much younger than Stanwyck was at the time (she was 42 at the time of filming), her girlish build did not at all belie her age. And this despite being in real life a heavy smoker. Still, this is very far from being one of her best films or one of her more memorable performances. Part of that, however, is a reflection on just how many superb performances she gave over the years.

This is also not one of director Anthony Mann's best films. 1950 saw the release of the first of his significant Westerns, WINCHESTER 73. Over the next decade he would establish himself, along with John Ford, as the premiere maker of classic Westerns, directing such films as BEND IN THE RIVER, THE NAKED SPUR, THE FAR COUNTRY, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, and THE TIN STAR, most of these starring his WINCHESTER 73 star Jimmy Stewart. THE FURIES fall far below any of those movies, or even lesser Westerns like MAN OF THE WEST. Still, the movie is interesting as an early effort by one of the masters of the Western genre.

The title of the film refers on one level to the ranch that Huston's character owns, but also the Greek myths concerning the three goddesses of vengeance. They were especially concerned with avenging injustice. Going into the film I assumed that three women would play some role in wrecking vengeance on T. C. Jeffords. Stanwyck's Vance Jeffords was one obvious candidate. Judith Anderson's Flo was the second. Blanche Yurka, as the mother of Juan Herrera, hung by T. C. Jeffords, avenges the death of her son as the third fury.

All in all, I was not impressed with this film. As I stated at the beginning of my review, Mann, Stanwyck, and Huston all did much better work than this. I'll probably never rewatch this movie though I've already seen films like Mann's THE NAKED SPUR and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, Stanwyck's DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LADY EVE, and Huston's DODSWORTH and THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE multiple times.

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If you're a man, don't mess with Miss Vance Jeffords unless you want to sing soprano. If you're a woman, buy an eye patch

"Do you mind if I take the reins? I like to know where I'm going." Vance Jeffords, played by Barbara Stanwyck, not only likes to take the reins, she's also capable of turning most men into counter tenors just by staring at them. And don't mention sewing shears...those are reserved for the eyes of other women.

The Furies is a well-crafted, enjoyably mean-spirited western with an unpleasantly conventional moral ending. What makes it memorable is the first two-thirds, which features an arrogant, man-eating performance by Stanwyck and an equally arrogant, blasting performance by Walter Huston as Vance's father, old T. C. Jeffords. Close behind is the butter-melting (and ultimately touching) performance of Judith Anderson as Flo Burnett, a woman as determined to protect her interests as Vance is.

Old T. C. owns The Furies, a vast spread in New Mexico he put together by sweat, cheating, hard work and ruthlessness. His son is a nonentity we quickly forget. His daughter, Vance, loves and wants The Furies as much as she loves...and apparently wants...her old man. There is a not-so-subtle undercurrent of mutual need between the two that adds a nice touch of interest to their full-out greetings and good-byes to each other. "I like being T. C.'s daughter," Vance says, and even when they're at each other's throats we know the attraction is mutual. But Vance Jeffords is not about to come in second to anyone, not to a gambler who she may or may not love, not to a childhood friend she shares a gnaw of bread with whenever they meet. Not to her brother. And not to her father when it looks as if his attention, and the control of The Furies, may be transferred to the gracious widow, Flo Burnett. How this all plays out has, for some critics, overtones of King Lear. Not quite, in my view. The movie is a tangy, well-salted, par-boiled western with great performances by Stanwyck, Huston and Anderson. It may be over-wrought melodrama, but it's entertaining as all get out. That's probably what those flea-scratching groundlings standing in the Globe Theater really thought of King Lear. It also is beautifully framed and photographed, and moves along as quickly as the men and horses Vance applies the whip to. There's a poignant hanging photographed against the dawn sky and a moment of startling violence. If you're interested in finance, there are several lessons about the dangers of issuing your own IOUs as currency (which T. C. has a habit of doing when cash runs short) and the technique of financial leverage (which Vance masters with a cool smile.) Unfortunately, The Furies also has a conventional ending, which is a disappointing development for an unconventional western.

The Furies often is over-wrought, but that's what makes grand melodrama grand. The time flies by while these self-centered people have dangerous fun tearing at each other.

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Disfunctional Home on the Range

Anthony Mann's marvelous noir Western gets the usual deluxe Criterion treatment here, with a flawless transfer, excellent commentary from Mann scholar Jim Kitses, and the icing on this package's cake, a reprint of the hard-to-find Niven Busch novel that serves as the film's basis. Like Busch's other Freud-on-the-range epic, DUEL IN THE SUN, THE FURIES hardly lacks traditional action set pieces, but places its emphasis on the tortured pscyhes and twisted relationships of its main characters. Stanwyck's perhaps a bit long in the tooth for the story's Electra figure, but her performance is full-blooded and richly enjoyable. She's a fine match for Walter Huston's inspired scenery chewing as patriarch T.C. Jeffords. Wendell Corey, the lacklustre romantic lead, was in the middle of proving to producer Hal Wallis why he'd never be a major star; he's solid and intelligent, but his meant-to-sizzle pairing with Stanwyck suggests a Greenwich accountant trying to explain a particularly thorny tax problem to an uncomprehending client. Not to worry, though. Barbara's scenes with childhood pal Gilbert Roland and (yes!) father Huston have enough erotic subtext for ten films. Throw in Mann's usual great eye for spatial relationships (the compositions on display here could tell the picture's story without words), crisp dialogue in Charles Schnee's sharp screenplay, fine supporting performances from Judith Anderson, Thomas Gomez, and Blanche Yurka (who seems to be sporting Katina Paxinou's old hair), and you've got a classic film ripe for rediscovery. Grab this one.

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Underrated Western Given the Deluxe Treatment!

Director Anthony Mann made the important transition from film noir B movies to westerns in 1950 with three films: Winchester '73, Devil's Doorway, and The Furies. The last film was an ambitious big budget mix of western and women's melodrama with a fascinating dash of psychological subtext. At its heart is a startlingly complex performance from Barbara Stanwyck.

While The Furies has all the iconography of a western, it more resembles a psychological drama and as such, it is quite an achievement that Mann was able to make it within the Hollywood studio system.

There is an audio commentary by film historian Jim Kitses. He talks about how the film evokes a blend of gothic romance, film noir and the western. He makes a convincing case for Anthony Mann as an auteur and how his thematic preoccupations elevate this film above genre conventions. Kitses expertly analyzes the director's style and how it informs the characters and their motivations. This is a solid, informative track.

"Action Speaks Louder Than Words" is an excerpt from a 1967 interview with Mann for British television. He talks about his beginnings in the theatre and how he broke into the film business. Mann also talks about some of the filmmakers that influenced him in this excellent interview.

"Intimate Interviews: Walter Huston" is a rare interview with the veteran actor who comes across as a larger than life figure as was his reputation. It is a playful yet odd interview as he gives little away.

"Nina Mann Interview" features the actress and daughter of Anthony Mann as she talks about her father and his films, in particular, The Furies. She points out that he refused to have stereotypical heroes and villains in his films and this was readily evident in this film.

Also included is a theatrical trailer.

There is a Stills Gallery with a nice collection of behind-the-scenes photographs of the cast and crew at work.

Finally, in a nice touch, Niven Busch's source novel is included which is a wonderful extra the Criterion Collection has done in the past (i.e. The Man Who Fell to Earth - Criterion Collection) and hopefully one that they will continue in the future.

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The Furies

This is a really entertaining film, despite the fact that Leonard Maltin only rates it two and one-half stars. The acting and cinematography are excellent. Maltin finds it talky, but I can't entirely agree. It's actually a paraphrase of the O'Neill drama Mourning Becomes Electra. The supplementary material included is good.

reviews: page 1, 2

Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston are at their fierce finest in master Hollywood craftsman Anthony Mann's crackling western melodrama. In 1870s New Mexico Territory megalomaniacal widowed ranch-owner T. C. Jeffords (Huston in his final role) butts heads with his daughter Vance (Stanwyck) a firebrand with serious daddy issues over her dowry choice of marriage and finally ownership of the land itself. Both sophisticated in its view of frontier settlement and ablaze with searing domestic drama The Furies is a hidden treasure of American filmmaking boasting Oscar®-nominated cinematography and vivid supporting turns from Judith Anderson Wendell Corey and Gilbert Roland.SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:New restored high-definition digital transferAudio commentary featuring film historian Jim Kitses (Horizons West)A rare 1931 on-camera interview with Walter Huston made for the movie theater series Intimate InterviewsNew video interview with Nina Mann daughter of director Anthony MannStills gallery of rare behind-the-scenes photosTheatrical trailerPLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Robin Wood a 1957 Cahiers du cinema interview with Mann and a new printing of Niven Busch's original novelMore!System Requirements:Running Time: 109 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/COWBOYS Rating: NR UPC: 715515030229 Manufacturer No: CC1755DDVD

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