Sabra
Without Sabra (Maria Schell) this movie hadnt been watchable.
What do you think?
I agree. It was an unusual move on the part of the studio/Anthony Mann to essentially have a foreign female lead for an "epic" western, though I think it worked and she made the feisty, determined Sabre an appealing character in her own right.
shareUnusual but authentic, in that many settlers of the newly opened Oklahoma Territory (and non-Indian settlers in the eastern Indian Territory) were newly arrived immigrants, or first generation Americans.
shareTrue enough! I was more commenting on the fact that in 1960, a relatively unknown foreign female actress was given the responsibility of headlining a big budget western epic.
I actually preferred her performance to that of Ford. It just seemed to have a lot more life to it.
The problem I had with the movie is that Glen Ford's character just disappears for stretches and is almost totally absent after he tells his wife that he's not running for political office. It then turns in to a weepy "long suffering wife" movie, not my cup of tea.
shareIt's a pity that Sabra had not been completely lost in the Oklahoma land rush with Ford linking up conveniently with Anne Baxter. No wonder he went walkabout for 5 years! She was a drag in another western, by the way, with Gary Cooper in The Hanging Tree. Enough of Maria. Positive comments; the great Anthony Mann's eye for the wide open spaces and the terrific set piece of the "rush", gave the film some memorable moments.Franz Waxman's score, hit all the right notes. Glenn Ford, as usual, was excellent, while Charles McGraw was chilling as a sneering racist.
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