The Furies (1950)
Those of you who enjoyed the misogynistic, offensive, upsetting film The Sea of Grass, in which Spencer Tracy treats his wife Katharine Hepburn horribly and she continually caters to him and suffers, will be happy to hear there’s another similar film for you to watch: The Furies.
Walter Huston, in his final film, plays a larger-than-life, overbearing father to Barbara Stanwyck and John Bromfield. He and Barbara have a borderline incestuous relationship, so it doesn’t make any sense why—after never looking at any man—Barbara is instantly attracted to the one man her father can’t stand: Wendell Corey. She’s extremely forward with Wendell, hoping to get him to marry her and get under Walter’s skin. Therein lies the problem: Wendell Corey. He’s so mean, cruel, and horrible. There’s absolutely no reason besides rebellion for Barbara to have anything to do with him, and it’s impossible to root for Barbara when she wants him. I can’t stress enough how awful he is without giving away plot points, but I will say it’s surprising he was ever employed in a good guy role. This is a career ending role, like Anthony Perkins in Psycho.
The only scenes I liked were the romantic ones between Barbara and Gilbert Roland, but I could tell immediately that they weren’t the intended couple; in 1950, Hollywood deferred to sensitive audience prejudices, and since Gilbert played a Mexican, it was pretty clear he wasn’t going to be the romantic lead paired with a white woman. While some of the early scenes were entertaining and steamy, I didn’t end up liking this movie. From a female perspective, it was very upsetting to watch the romance, and therefore the entire point of the movie was tainted. I wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re a sucker for upsetting films with unnecessary heartache.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Walter Huston movies here!
Walter Huston, in his final film, plays a larger-than-life, overbearing father to Barbara Stanwyck and John Bromfield. He and Barbara have a borderline incestuous relationship, so it doesn’t make any sense why—after never looking at any man—Barbara is instantly attracted to the one man her father can’t stand: Wendell Corey. She’s extremely forward with Wendell, hoping to get him to marry her and get under Walter’s skin. Therein lies the problem: Wendell Corey. He’s so mean, cruel, and horrible. There’s absolutely no reason besides rebellion for Barbara to have anything to do with him, and it’s impossible to root for Barbara when she wants him. I can’t stress enough how awful he is without giving away plot points, but I will say it’s surprising he was ever employed in a good guy role. This is a career ending role, like Anthony Perkins in Psycho.
The only scenes I liked were the romantic ones between Barbara and Gilbert Roland, but I could tell immediately that they weren’t the intended couple; in 1950, Hollywood deferred to sensitive audience prejudices, and since Gilbert played a Mexican, it was pretty clear he wasn’t going to be the romantic lead paired with a white woman. While some of the early scenes were entertaining and steamy, I didn’t end up liking this movie. From a female perspective, it was very upsetting to watch the romance, and therefore the entire point of the movie was tainted. I wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re a sucker for upsetting films with unnecessary heartache.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Walter Huston movies here!