Vengeance Valley

Vengeance Valley is a 1951 American Technicolor western film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Burt Lancaster, with a supporting cast featuring Robert Walker, Joanne Dru, Sally Forrest, John Ireland and Ray Collins. It is based on the novel by Luke Short. In 1979, the film entered the public domain in the United States because Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.[2]

Vengeance Valley
Theatrical poster
Directed byRichard Thorpe
Produced byNicholas Nayfack
Screenplay byIrving Ravetch
Based onVengeance Valley
1950 novel
by Luke Short
Starring
Music byRudolph G. Kopp
CinematographyGeorge J. Folsey
Edited byConrad A. Nervig
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • February 16, 1951 (1951-02-16)
Running time
83 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,008,000[1]
Box office$3,146,000[1]

Plot

Fifteen years ago, wealthy but crippled Colorado cattleman Arch Strobie (Ray Collins), whose own son Lee (Robert Walker) was wild, took in young Owen Daybright (Burt Lancaster) as a foster son to help raise and control Lee. Now Owen is ranch foreman, but Lee, despite being married to Jen (Joanne Dru), is wilder than ever.

Unmarried Lily Fasken (Sally Forrest) gives birth but refuses to identify the father. After Owen gives Lily $500 to help care for the baby, her brothers Hub (John Ireland) and Dick (Hugh O'Brian) believe that he is the guilty party, but they are unaware that Owen has done this on Lee's behalf. The brothers try to beat up Owen and he lodges a complaint against them. Sentenced to a week in jail, they vow to get even as soon as they're out.

When Arch chides Lee for overdrawing his bank account by withdrawing $500 in gold, Jen realizes that Lee fathered Lily's baby. She confronts him and Lee tries to lie his way out. She decides to leave him but is persuaded by Owen and Arch to stay. Lee inveigles Arch to make him a partner in the ranch by saying that he will strike out on his own unless he gets a half-interest; he gets what he wants and learns that the other half will go to Owen, once Arch retires or dies.

Jen locks Lee out of their bedroom. He gets drunk, mistakenly believing she and Owen are carrying on behind his back. He schemes to get rid of Owen and make a fortune at the same time by conspiring with Hub and Dick to ambush Owen during the spring cattle roundup. On the trail, Lee secretly sells 3,000 head of the cattle, intending to run off with it, but Owen learns of the plan.

Lee pretends to change his mind. He persuades Owen to ride in with him to stop the sale, but in fact he lures Owen into a trap. Hub and Dick, waiting in ambush, wound Owen as Lee casually rides away. In the ensuing gunfight, Owen Kills Dick. Hearing shots, a group of trailhands ride to Owen's rescue. They chase down and shoot Hub. Owen catches up with Lee and tells him that they are both going to confess everything to Arch. Lee refuses and draws his gun, forcing Owen to kill him. Owen breaks the news to Arch and Jen.

Cast

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,997,000 in the US and Canada and $1,149,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $2,138,000).[1]

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See also

References
  1. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. Pierce, David (June 2007). "Forgotten Faces: Why Some of Our Cinema Heritage Is Part of the Public Domain". Film History: An International Journal. 19 (2): 125–43. doi:10.2979/FIL.2007.19.2.125. ISSN 0892-2160. JSTOR 25165419. OCLC 15122313.
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