Broken Lance
Encyclopedia
Broken Lance is a 1954 Western
film made by Twentieth Century-Fox, directed by Edward Dmytryk
and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The movie stars Spencer Tracy
and features Katy Jurado
, Richard Widmark
, Robert Wagner
, Jean Peters
, Eduard Franz
, Hugh O'Brian
and Earl Holliman
.
Shot in color and CinemaScope
, the film is a remake
of House of Strangers
(1949) with the Phillip Yordan screenplay
(based upon a novel by Jerome Weidman
called I'll Never Go Home Any More), transplanted out west, featuring Tracy in the original Edward G. Robinson
role, this time as a cowboy cattle baron
rather than a Lower East Side
Italian immigrant banker in New York City
.
Because of Joe's mixed ethnicity, he is treated prejudicially by his three half-brothers, Ben (Richard Widmark), Mike (Hugh O'Brian), and Denny (Earl Holliman) -- all Caucasian sons of Matt's first wife. Joe loves his father and would do nearly anything for him, but his siblings resent Matt's emotional distance. The two middle kids cattle rustle and get two Mexicans killed, then get caught and shot by Matt and two Indians (who they sacked last year) ride away.
Soon after after 40 head of cattle die at a river dry king spot, Matt discovers a copper mine 20 miles away is polluting a stream where he waters his cattle. He becomes furious and leads a raid on the mine. The land the mine is on is Matt's land, but he does not have the mineral rights. That causes the law to visit the ranch; the police have a warrant to arrest whoever was responsible for the attack. To spare his father the agony and humiliation of a stay behind bars, Joe claims responsibility and spends several years in prison. When he's released, he discovers that Ben and his other brothers rebelled against their father with such extremity that the old man suffered a fatal stroke. While Señora tries to persuade Joe not to seek revenge, Ben is more than willing to fight his brother for taking his father's side.
for Philip Yordan. Katy Jurado
was nominated for Best Supporting Actress
. Jurado's role was originally for Dolores del Río
. The film also won a Golden Globe Award
as Best Film Promoting International Understanding.
aspect ratio. Both versions have stereophonic sound
and have been digitally restored.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film made by Twentieth Century-Fox, directed by Edward Dmytryk
Edward Dmytryk
Edward Dmytryk was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy-era 'red scare'.-Early life:Dmytryk was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada,...
and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The movie stars Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and features Katy Jurado
Katy Jurado
Katy Jurado , born María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García in Mexico, D.F., was a Mexican actress who had a successful film career both in Mexico and in Hollywood....
, Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
, Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
, Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
, Eduard Franz
Eduard Franz
Eduard Franz , born Eduard Franz Schmidt, was an American actor of theater, film, and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film Sins of Jezebel, Jethro in Cecil B...
, Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian is an American actor, known for his starring role in the ABC television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp .-Early years and career:...
and Earl Holliman
Earl Holliman
-Early life:Earl Holliman was born at Delhi in Richland Parish of northeastern Louisiana. Holliman’s biological father died before he was born, and his biological mother, living in poverty with several other children, gave him up for adoption at birth...
.
Shot in color and CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, the film is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of House of Strangers
House of Strangers
House of Strangers is a film noir, and is the first of three film versions of Jerome Weidman's novel I'll Never Go There Anymore, each scripted by Phillip Yordan...
(1949) with the Phillip Yordan screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
(based upon a novel by Jerome Weidman
Jerome Weidman
Jerome Weidman was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical Fiorello! with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick...
called I'll Never Go Home Any More), transplanted out west, featuring Tracy in the original Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
role, this time as a cowboy cattle baron
Cattle baron
A cattle baron is a historic term for a person who possessed great power or influence, generally as owner of a large ranch and many cattle, specifically beef cattle. A cattle baron in the United States was sometimes called a cowman or a rancher...
rather than a Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
Italian immigrant banker in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Plot
In this Western , Matt Devereaux (Spencer Tracy) is a ranch owner who has tried to raise his sons to carry on the fierce, hard-working Irish settlement spirit that helped make him a success. However, as a consequence, he never learned to show his three sons from his first marriage with the affection they yearned for and treats his boys little better than the hired help. Joe (Robert Wagner), is Matt's son by the Native American Princess, Matt's wife "Señora" (Katy Jurado). The town's people call her Senora out of respect of Matt but not out of respect for her.Because of Joe's mixed ethnicity, he is treated prejudicially by his three half-brothers, Ben (Richard Widmark), Mike (Hugh O'Brian), and Denny (Earl Holliman) -- all Caucasian sons of Matt's first wife. Joe loves his father and would do nearly anything for him, but his siblings resent Matt's emotional distance. The two middle kids cattle rustle and get two Mexicans killed, then get caught and shot by Matt and two Indians (who they sacked last year) ride away.
Soon after after 40 head of cattle die at a river dry king spot, Matt discovers a copper mine 20 miles away is polluting a stream where he waters his cattle. He becomes furious and leads a raid on the mine. The land the mine is on is Matt's land, but he does not have the mineral rights. That causes the law to visit the ranch; the police have a warrant to arrest whoever was responsible for the attack. To spare his father the agony and humiliation of a stay behind bars, Joe claims responsibility and spends several years in prison. When he's released, he discovers that Ben and his other brothers rebelled against their father with such extremity that the old man suffered a fatal stroke. While Señora tries to persuade Joe not to seek revenge, Ben is more than willing to fight his brother for taking his father's side.
Cast
- Spencer TracySpencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
as Matt Devereaux - Robert WagnerRobert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
as Joe Devereaux - Jean PetersJean PetersJean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
as Barbara - Richard WidmarkRichard WidmarkRichard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
as Ben Devereaux - Katy JuradoKaty JuradoKaty Jurado , born María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García in Mexico, D.F., was a Mexican actress who had a successful film career both in Mexico and in Hollywood....
as Señora Devereaux - Hugh O'BrianHugh O'BrianHugh O'Brian is an American actor, known for his starring role in the ABC television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp .-Early years and career:...
as Mike Devereaux - Eduard FranzEduard FranzEduard Franz , born Eduard Franz Schmidt, was an American actor of theater, film, and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film Sins of Jezebel, Jethro in Cecil B...
as Two Moons - Earl HollimanEarl Holliman-Early life:Earl Holliman was born at Delhi in Richland Parish of northeastern Louisiana. Holliman’s biological father died before he was born, and his biological mother, living in poverty with several other children, gave him up for adoption at birth...
as Denny Devereaux - E. G. MarshallE. G. MarshallE. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
as Horace - The Governor - Carl Benton ReidCarl Benton ReidCarl Benton Reid was an American actor. He achieved fame on the Broadway stage in 1939 as Oscar Hubbard, one of Regina Giddens's greedy, devious brothers in the play The Little Foxes, and made his film debut reprising his role opposite Bette Davis in the 1941 film version...
as Clem Lawton - Philip OberPhilip OberPhilip Ober was an American actor.Ober often appeared in roles as a straight man in farcical circumstances. One of his most memorable stage role was in Lawrence Riley's Broadway hit Personal Appearance opposite Gladys George. From 1954 to 1967 he frequently appeared in television series...
as Van Cleve - Robert Burton as Mac Andrews
Awards and nominations
The film won the Academy Award for Best StoryAcademy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
for Philip Yordan. Katy Jurado
Katy Jurado
Katy Jurado , born María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García in Mexico, D.F., was a Mexican actress who had a successful film career both in Mexico and in Hollywood....
was nominated for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
. Jurado's role was originally for Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood...
. The film also won a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
as Best Film Promoting International Understanding.
DVD release
The film was released on DVD on May 24, 2005. Viewers have the option of watching either a "pan and scan" full screen version or the original wide screen version in the CinemaScopeCinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
aspect ratio. Both versions have stereophonic sound
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
and have been digitally restored.