Three Faces West

Last updated

Three Faces West
Three Faces West 1940.jpg
DVD cover
Directed by Bernard Vorhaus
Written by F. Hugh Herbert
Joseph Moncure March
Samuel Ornitz
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Starring John Wayne
Sigrid Gurie
Charles Coburn
CinematographyJohn Alton
Edited byWilliam Morgan
Music by Victor Young
Production
company
Republic Pictures
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date
  • July 3, 1940 (1940-07-03)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Three Faces West is a 1940 American drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring John Wayne, Sigrid Gurie and Charles Coburn. [1]

Contents

The film, mainly set in North Dakota was one of a handful of overtly anti-Nazi films produced by Hollywood before American entry into World War II. [2] Isolationists and Nazi sympathizers condemned other Hollywood movies for being pro-British "propaganda" or for "glorifying war", however Three Faces West was deliberately crafted to celebrate the pioneer spirit of America, and the determination of Americans to survive the dust bowl, and contrasted these values with the evils of Nazism, thus preventing isolationists and Nazi sympathizers from being able to criticize the film as they had criticized other anti-Nazi films during this period. [3]

Writing in the Journal of Austrian-American History , Jacqueline Vansant has argued that the film "takes a bold stand on contemporary issues through its Austrian-American romance." [4]

Plot

Two refugees, the Brauns, an elderly medical doctor and his 20-something-year-old daughter arrive in the USA from Nazi-controlled Austria.

They become a much-needed physician and nurse in a small North Dakota farm town. The town is located in the area later known as the Dust Bowl, and is being hit hard by the drought and resultant dust storms.

The local farmers and townspeople want to try to save their farms and the town by adopting new farming methods, but are eventually convinced by the Department of Agriculture, and the continuing dust storms to pack up the whole town and move en-masse to an undeveloped portion of Oregon. There a new dam is set to create a water supply, enabling them to build a new farming community.

In a then-contemporary version of an old wagon train, the town moves as a convoy of cars to Oregon, under John Phillips's leadership, not without differences of opinion and friction among the followers.

The doctor and his daughter take a detour to San Francisco when they learn that the daughter's fiance was not killed by the Nazis in Austria, but has instead come to America. However, the fiance has embraced Nazism, and their different ideologies now mean marriage is not possible. The doctor and his daughter rejoin the transplanted town in Oregon, where the daughter marries Phillips (John Wayne) instead.

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Budd Schulberg</span> American writer (1914–2009)

Budd Schulberg was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels What Makes Sammy Run? (1941) and The Harder They Fall (1947), as well as his screenplays for On the Waterfront (1954) and A Face in the Crowd (1957), receiving an Academy Award for the former.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ward Bond</span> American actor (1903–1960)

Wardell Edwin Bond was an American character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series Wagon Train from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Bert the cop in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Captain Clayton in John Ford's The Searchers (1956). As a character actor, Bond frequently played cowboys, cops and soldiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Henreid</span> Austrian-American actor and film director (1908–1992)

Paul Henreid was an Austrian-American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for several film roles during the Second World War, including Capt. Karl Marsen in Night Train to Munich (1940), Victor Laszlo in Casablanca (1942) and Jerry Durrance in Now, Voyager (1942).

<i>El Dorado</i> (1966 film) 1966 film

El Dorado is a 1966 American Western film directed and produced by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Written by Leigh Brackett and loosely based on the novel The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown, the film is about a gunfighter who comes to the aid of an old friend who is a drunken sheriff struggling to defend a rancher and his family against another rancher trying to steal their water. The supporting cast features James Caan, Charlene Holt, Paul Fix, Arthur Hunnicutt, Michele Carey, R. G. Armstrong, Ed Asner, Christopher George, Adam Roarke and Jim Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noah Beery Jr.</span> American actor (1913–1994)

Noah Lindsey Beery was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Beery Jr. seldom broke away from playing supporting roles. Active as an actor in films or television for well over half a century, he was best known for playing James Garner's character's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, in the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). His father, Noah Beery, enjoyed a similarly lengthy film career as an extremely prominent supporting actor in major films, although the elder Beery was also frequently a leading man during the silent film era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigrid Gurie</span> American actress (1911–1969)

Sigrid Gurie was a Norwegian-American actress from the late 1930s to early 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricardo Cortez</span> American actor (1900–1977)

Ricardo Cortez was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry O'Neill</span> American actor (1891–1961)

Henry O'Neill was an American actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles on film during the 1930s and 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Doucette</span> American actor (1921–1994)

John Arthur Doucette was an American character actor who performed in more than 280 film and television productions between 1941 and 1987. A man of stocky build who possessed a deep, rich voice, he proved equally adept at portraying characters in Shakespearean plays, Westerns, and modern crime dramas. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for his villainous roles as a movie and television "tough guy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Fix</span> American film and television character actor (1901–83)

Peter Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career between 1925 and 1981. Fix portrayed Marshal Micah Torrance, opposite Chuck Connors's character in The Rifleman from 1958 to 1963. He later appeared with Connors in the 1966 Western film Ride Beyond Vengeance.

<i>The Adventures of Marco Polo</i> 1938 adventure film directed by Archie Mayo

The Adventures of Marco Polo is a 1938 American historical adventure film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Gary Cooper, Sigrid Gurie, and Basil Rathbone. It was one of the most elaborate and costly of Samuel Goldwyn's productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Meek</span> British actor

Thomas Donald Meek was a Scottish-American actor. He first performed publicly at the age of eight and began appearing on Broadway in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irving Pichel</span> American actor and film director (1891–1954)

Irving Pichel was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludwig Stössel</span> Hungarian actor (1883–1973)

Ludwig Stössel was an Austrian American actor born in Lockenhaus, now Austria, then Hungary. He was one of many Jewish actors and actresses who were forced to flee Germany when the Nazis came to power in 1933.

<i>Has Anybody Seen My Gal?</i> (film) 1952 film by Douglas Sirk

Has Anybody Seen My Gal? is a 1952 American comedy film distributed by Universal-International, directed by Douglas Sirk, and stars Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn, and Gigi Perreau. It is loosely based upon the Eleanor Porter novel Oh Money! Money!. Set in the 1920s, the film leans heavily on period detail, such as flappers, the Charleston and raccoon coats. It is named for the jazz song "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" which was a hit for The California Ramblers during the 1920s. Though the song is sung during the movie, its lyrics have no particular relation to the plot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis V. Arco</span> Austrian actor

Louis V. Arco was an Austrian stage and film actor whose career began in the late 1910s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar O'Shea</span> Canadian-American actor

Oscar O'Shea was a Canadian-American character actor with over 100 film appearances from 1937 to 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Harvey Sr.</span> American actor (1901-1985)

Harry William Harvey Sr. was an American actor of theatre, film, and television. He was the father of actor, script supervisor, and director Harry William Harvey Jr. He is best known for his performances on The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957), and The Lone Ranger (1949).

Enemy of Women is a 1944 American anti-Nazi propaganda film directed by Alfred Zeisler. The lead character is Joseph Goebbels, played by Paul Andor.

<i>Journal of Austrian-American History</i> Academic journal

The Journal of Austrian-American History is a biannual, open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Pennsylvania State University Press, and the flagship publication of the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies.

References

  1. "Three Faces West (1940)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide . Retrieved February 1, 2016.[ dead link ]
  2. Hollywood Modernism: Film and Politics in the Age of the New Deal By Saverio Giovacchini pg. 123
  3. Hollywood War Films, 1937-1945: An Exhaustive Filmography of American Feature-Length Motion Pictures Relating to World War II by Michael S Shull pg. 36
  4. Vansant, Jacqueline (2017). "Austrian and Dustbowl Refugees Unite in Three Faces West (1940)". Journal of Austrian-American History. 1 (1): 98–116. doi:10.5325/jaustamerhist.1.1.0098. ISSN   2475-0905. JSTOR   10.5325/jaustamerhist.1.1.0098.