Classic Westerns


 

 

Vengeance Valley (1952)

Director: Richard Thorpe
Actors: Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker, Joanne Dru, Sally Forrest, John Ireland, Ray Collins
Runtime: 83 min.

Owen Daybright (Burt Lancaster) stars as the adopted son of cattle baron Arch Stroble (Ray Collins). Owen feuds with his black sheep brother, Lee Stroble (Robert Walker) over the rights to their father’s empire. But the sibling rivalry comes to a head when Lee fathers an illegitimate child and tries to frame Owen. Based on a novel by Luke Short.

Trivia: Joanne Dru starred in a number of Western classics including Howard Hawk's Red River and John Ford's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Wagon Master. Richard Thorpe was the original director of The Wizard of Oz, but he was fired after two weeks of shooting, because it was felt that his scenes did not have the right air of fantasy about them. He later directed the movie Ivanhoe and the Elvis Presley film, Jailhouse Rock.