The Virginian | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Stuart Gilmore |
Written by | Howard Estabrook |
Screenplay by | |
Based on | The Virginian 1902 novel by Owen Wister |
Produced by | Paul Jones |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Harry Hallenberger |
Edited by | Everett Douglas |
Music by | Daniele Amfitheatrof |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Paramount Pictures |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $3,350,000 (US rentals) [1] |
The Virginian is a 1946 American Western film directed by Stuart Gilmore and starring Joel McCrea, Brian Donlevy, Sonny Tufts, and Barbara Britton. Based on the 1902 Owen Wister novel of the same name, the film was adapted from the popular 1904 theatrical play Wister had collaborated on with playwright Kirke La Shelle. The Virginian is about an eastern school teacher who comes to Medicine Bow in Wyoming and encounters life on the frontier. The film is a remake of the 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. There have been several versions of the story, beginning with a 1914 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and including a 1960s television series that bore little relation to the book other than the title. [2] The film was originally distributed by Paramount Pictures, and is currently owned by EMKA. [3]
In 1885, Molly Wood leaves the dull security of Vermont to be a schoolteacher in frontier Wyoming. On arrival, she is frightened by a spooked steer, and is rescued by the Virginian, only to discover the mild animal is a little girl's pet. She takes a strong dislike to the cowboy. He, on the other hand, is smitten with her. When Trampas voices scurrilous speculation as to why she came west, the Virginian forces him at gunpoint to take it back.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor put Molly up in their old home. The Virginian starts courting her, initially against her will. Steve Andrews, a friend the Virginian has not seen in three years, is also interested in her. She eventually warms to the Virginian, but her feelings for him are not as strong or certain as his for her.
Families are being driven away by the depredations of cattle rustlers. The Virginian suspects Trampas is the ringleader, but has no proof. When he sees Steve becoming friendly to Trampas, he warns his easygoing friend to keep better company. When he catches Steve with one of Judge Henry's calves, applying Trampas's brand on the pretext of branding a "stray," the Virginian warns Steve to choose wisely what course he wants his life to take because he will not cover up any rustling activities.
Before setting out on a long cattle drive, the Virginian tells Molly she must decide by the time he returns whether they have a future together. On the trail, Trampas and his men start a stampede, using the distraction to steal a couple of hundred animals. The Virginian fears that Steve has been killed, but he in fact is working with Trampas.
Judge Henry, whose cattle were taken, persuades the Virginian to lead a posse. When they find the rustlers, one is killed when he tries to draw his gun, and two others surrender. The Virginian catches Steve as he is sneaking away; Steve says no one would know if his friend were to let him go, but the Virginian takes him back to join the others. Trampas gets away. The three rustlers are lynched.
The Virginian goes after Trampas and is shot in the back. Molly tends to him during months of recovery. When she learns that he had to hang his own friend, she decides to return east. Stagecoach driver Andy makes her see that she is in love with the Virginian. She finally agrees to marry the cowboy.
Just before their wedding, Trampas shows up to tell the Virginia to leave town by sundown or be shot on sight. Molly pleads with the Virginian to leave, but he has no choice. He arms himself with the revolver Steve had left him, and the two men stalk each other. Trampas spots the Virginian first, and is about to ambush him when he startles a horse. Thus warned, the Virginian kills Trampas. The Virginian and Molly ride off into the sunset.
The basic plot elements of the film were inspired by the 1892 Johnson County War in Wyoming, the archetypal cattlemen-homesteaders conflict, which also served as the background for Shane and Heaven's Gate . [4]
The film grossed $98,000 in its first week at the Paramount Theatre in New York City. [3]
It was the 27th highest grossing film in the United States and Canada for the year with theatrical rentals of $3.35 million. [1]
The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range conflict that took place in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged rustlers in the area, many of whom were settlers who competed with them for livestock, land and water rights. As violence swelled between the large established ranchers and the smaller settlers in the state, it culminated in the Powder River Country, when the former hired gunmen invaded the county. The gunmen's initial incursion in the territory alerted the small farmers and ranchers, as well as the state lawmen, and they formed a posse of 200 men that led to a grueling stand-off. The siege ended when the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison relieved the two forces, although further fighting persisted in the following months.
Owen Wister was an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing The Virginian and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant.
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury in the title role, along with Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, and others. It originally aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971, for a total of 249 episodes. Drury had played the same role in 1958 in an unsuccessful pilot that became an episode of the NBC summer series Decision. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute Western series. Cobb left the series after four seasons, and was replaced over the years by mature character actors John Dehner, Charles Bickford, John McIntire, and Stewart Granger, all portraying different characters. It was set before Wyoming became a state in 1890, as mentioned several times as Wyoming Territory, although other references set it later, around 1898.
Waldo Brian Donlevy was an American actor, who was noted for playing dangerous and tough characters. Usually appearing in supporting roles, among his best-known films are Beau Geste (1939), The Great McGinty (1940) and Wake Island (1942). For his role as the sadistic Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The Virginian is a 1902 novel by the American author Owen Wister (1860-1938), set in Wyoming Territory during the 1880s. It describes the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch and is considered the first true fictional western ever written, aside from short stories and pulp dime novels, though modern scholars debate this. The Virginian paved the way for many more westerns by such authors as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and several others. The novel was adapted from several short stories published in Harper's Magazine and The Saturday Evening Post between Nov 1893 and May 1902.
Lane Chandler was an American actor specializing mainly in Westerns.
Ramrod is a 1947 American Western film directed by Andre de Toth and starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Preston Foster and Don DeFore. This cowboy drama from Hungarian director de Toth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author Luke Short. De Toth's first Western is often compared to films noir released around the same time. Leading lady Veronica Lake was then married to director de Toth. The supporting cast features Donald Crisp, Charles Ruggles, Lloyd Bridges and Ray Teal.
The Virginian is a 1929 American pre-Code Western film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Gary Cooper, Walter Huston, and Richard Arlen. The film was based on the 1902 novel The Virginian by Owen Wister and adapted from the popular 1904 theatrical play Wister had collaborated on with playwright Kirke La Shelle.
The Virginian is a 1914 American silent Western film based on the 1902 novel The Virginian by Owen Wister. The film was adapted from the successful 1903–04 theatre play The Virginian, on which Wister had collaborated with playwright Kirke La Shelle. The Virginian starred Dustin Farnum in the title role, a role he reprised from the original play. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
Along the Great Divide is a 1951 American Western film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar and Walter Brennan. It was Douglas's first Western, a genre that served him well during his long career.
Born to the West is a 1937 American Western film starring John Wayne, Marsha Hunt, and John Mack Brown. Filmed in black and white and based upon a Zane Grey novel, the movie incorporates footage from an earlier and higher budgeted silent version, a common practice of the era. The picture features fast chases, gun-fights, unusual poker gambling, and peppy light dialogue for the love interest.
The Glass Key is a 1942 American film noir based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The picture was directed by Stuart Heisler starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. A successful earlier film version starring George Raft in Ladd's role had been released in 1935. The 1942 version's supporting cast features William Bendix, Bonita Granville, Richard Denning and Joseph Calleia.
Prairie Moon is a 1938 American Western film directed by Ralph Staub and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Shirley Deane. Written by Betty Burbridge and Stanley Roberts, the film is about a singing cowboy who takes care of three tough boys sent west from Chicago after their father dies and leaves them a cattle ranch.
The Singing Hill is a 1941 American Western film directed by Lew Landers and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Virginia Dale. Based on a story by Jesse Lasky Jr. and Richard Murphy, the film is about a singing cowboy and foreman of a ranch that may be sold to an unscrupulous banker by the young madcap heiress who is unaware that the sale will result in the local ranchers losing their free grazing land and their ranches. In the film, Autry performed the 1940 song "Blueberry Hill", first recorded by Sammy Kaye, which would become a standard recorded by such artists as Louis Armstrong (1949), Fats Domino (1956), and Elvis Presley (1957). The song became one of Autry's best-selling recordings. In 1987, "Blueberry Hill" received an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Feature Film Standards on TV.
Saddle Tramp is a 1950 American Western film directed by Hugo Fregonese and starring Joel McCrea and Wanda Hendrix. Its uncredited theme song was "The Cry of the Wild Goose" by Frankie Laine.
Three Blind Mice is a 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Loretta Young, Joel McCrea, and David Niven that was based upon a play by Stephen Powys.
Open Range is a lost 1927 American silent Western film directed by Clifford Smith and written by Roy Briant, Zane Grey, J. Walter Ruben and John Stone. The film stars Betty Bronson, Lane Chandler, Fred Kohler, Bernard Siegel, Guy Oliver, Jim Corey and Buck Connors. The film was released on November 11, 1927, by Paramount Pictures.
The Terror is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Clifford Smith and starring Art Acord. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The Virginian is a 1903 stage production based on the 1902 novel The Virginian by the American author Owen Wister (1860–1938) and set in Wyoming. The play was composed by Wister and playwright Kirke La Shelle, who also produced it. The story describes the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch in northern Wyoming, where he tends cattle, identifies and hangs a rustler, kills a notorious bad guy, woos and finally marries a school teacher who had come to Wyoming from the East.