Just what I expected

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I think far too much has been made of the alleged homosexual undertones supposedly in the film. Others have suggested that Eddie the hood was really Paula's father, but that can't be true, because Fritzie says Eddie used to work for Paula's father. What doesn't make sense is how Fritzie can moralize about Eddie walking out on her years ago, when obviously Fritzie herself walked out on Paula's father to be with Eddie to begin with.The movie, while stretched out, does come to a stirring climax. However, the casting of the film leaves something to be desired. At the time of the filming, Astor was 41, Lancaster 33, Hodiak 32, and Scott 25. In real age terms, we're asked to believe Astor had baby Scott at 16, then (perhaps at 18, before Scott as a baby knew who Hodiak was), ran off with Hodiak, who would have been 9 years old at the time. It makes no sense unless we suspend disbelief to think that Hodiak is as old as Astor, let alone that Astor and Hodiak would ever have had romantic sparks. It would have made more sense to cast someone older than Hodiak, but that wouldn't seem plausible that a mid-40's man would be as weasely and self centered as Hodiak behaves. Also, we're asked to believe that Scott, playing a nineteen year old despite her worldwise 25 year old real age, would swoon over the oily Hodiak while blithely ignoring the tall, chiseled visage of Lancaster. Hodiak was named "box office poison" in 1948.But I digress. The truth is, we're always asked to believe all sorts of improbable things when a story is being told, and we go along. And once you go along with this premise, the movie is a tremendous amount of fun. Could it have been made better? Of course, but don't let that keep you from enjoying the film noir parts of it that are excellent.

Copyright 15 May 1947 by Hall Wallis Productions, Inc. Released through Paramount Pictures Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 24 September 1947. U.S. release: 15 August 1947. U.K. release: November 1947. Australian release: 27 November 1947. 8,656 feet. 96 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Girl falls for out-of-town gambler with murky past.NOTES: Film debut of Wendell Corey. Also Lizabeth Scott's first color film. Shooting time: 72 days. Locations: Sedona (northern Arizona); Navajo Reservation (north of Flagstaff); and the small mining settlements of Cottonwood and Clarkdale.COMMENT: An odd film - but not without interest. The basic plot is typical soapie fare which allows an ultra-glamorous heroine to emote against richly glossy interiors and spectacular mountain locations. Unashamedly, it's a Lizabeth Scott vehicle. Stunningly made up and costumed, she receives more close-ups than anyone else in the cast, and if she fails to give more than a superficial earnestness to her characterization, who will notice?Enveloped in all the trappings of Hollywood expertise at its most pointedly glamorous, Desert Fury pre-dates Ross Hunter's Universal veneers - and easily outclasses them in sophistication and style. Lang's atmospheric photography, Rozsa's haunting music, Perry Ferguson's sets, Edith Head's costumes skittle the Universal talent. Admittedly Lewis Allen's direction is no more than ordinarily competent (which places him only marginally ahead of Douglas Sirk), but this one has a script by Robert Rossen no less and a strong support cast including Wendell Corey making a memorable debut as the vicious man-behind ("Eddie Bendix? I'm Eddie Bendix. I've been Eddie Bendix all these years. Why don't women fall in love with me?")John Hodiak is effective as the hollow Bendix, while Mary Astor displays an appropriately dominating manner as a strong-willed "operator".Burt Lancaster has a rather thankless role as the "other man". He has stated that his part was built up at Wallis' insistence - which we can well believe - and it's certainly true that he handles himself with his usual assurance. (The rest of the players, including Kristine Miller who is rather prominently billed, and silent star Jane Novak, have strictly minor roles.)All in all, Desert Fury is so attractive to look at - and the music so spellbinding to listen to - it doesn't much matter that the script has a great deal of furious talk but (aside from the climactic chase in which everything is magically put right) little furious action.

Back in the forties, when movies touched on matters not yet admissible in "polite" society, they resorted to codes which supposedly floated over the heads of most of the audience while alerting those in the know to just what was up. Probably no film of the decade was so freighted with innuendo as the oddly obscure Desert Fury, set in a small gambling oasis called Chuckawalla somewhere in the California desert. Proprietress of the Purple Sage saloon and casino is the astonishing Mary Astor, in slacks and sporting a cigarette holder; into town drives her handful-of-a-daughter, Lizabeth Scott, looking, in Technicolor, like 20-million bucks. But listen to the dialogue between them, which suggests an older Lesbian and her young, restless companion (one can only wonder if A.I. Bezzerides' original script made this relationship explicit). Even more blatant are John Hodiak as a gangster and Wendell Corey as his insanely jealous torpedo. Add Burt Lancaster as the town sheriff, stir, and sit back. Both Lancaster and (surprisingly) Hodiak fall for Scott. It seems, however, that Hodiak not only has a past with Astor, but had a wife who died under suspicious circumstances. The desert sun heats these ingredients up to a hard boil, with face-slappings aplenty and empurpled exchanges. Don't pass up this hothouse melodrama, chock full of creepily exotic blooms, if it comes your way; it's a remarkable movie.

This is one of the only examples of film noir in color. Burt Lancaster and luscious Lizabeth Scott headline a stellar cast in this twisted romance/thriller. John Hodiak and Wendell Corey's "special" is sorely tested when Hodiak falls hard for bombshell Scott. Scott's mother Fritzi (played by hard as nails Mary Astor) tries to protect her "baby" from falling into the wrong hands (namely Hodiak's) while good guy Lancaster valiantly attempts to rid the town of no-goodniks like Hodiak, Corey and sometimes Astor. It's a two-fisted Technicolor knockout of a film and a classic example of late 40's "adult" fare. See it with somebody you lust after.