''Broken Lance'' is a 1954 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was an American film director. He was known for his 1940s noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for '' Crossfire'' (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywoo ...

and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The film stars

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and ''Hart to Hart'' (1979– ...

Jean Peters Elizabeth Jean Peters (October 15, 1926 – October 13, 2000) was an American film actress. She is known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and as the second wife of Howard Hughes. Although possibly best remembered f ...

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, '' Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...

, and

Katy Jurado María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García (16 January 1924 – 5 July 2002), known professionally as Katy Jurado, was a Mexican actress. Jurado began her acting career in Mexico during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. In 1951, she was rec ...

. Shot in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

and

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

, the film is a remake of ''

House of Strangers ''House of Strangers'' is a 1949 American film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, and Richard Conte. The screenplay by Philip Yordan and Mankiewicz (who chose to go uncredited) is the first o ...

'' (1949) with the Phillip Yordan screenplay (based upon the novel ''I'll Never Go There Any More'' by

Jerome Weidman Jerome Weidman (April 4, 1913, New York City – October 6, 1998, New York City) was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical ''Fiorello!'' with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldo ...

), transplanted out west, featuring Tracy in the original Edward G. Robinson role, this time as a cowboy

cattle baron Cattle baron is a historic term for a local businessman and landowner who possessed great power or influence through the operation of a large ranch with many beef cattle. Cattle barons in the late 19th century United States were also sometimes re ...

rather than an Italian banker in New York City. It has been widely noted that the story bears a strong resemblance to ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

''.

Plot

Matthew Devereaux (

) is a ranch owner who has built an enormous ranch and mining empire. He raised his sons to carry on his fierce, hard-working Irish settlement spirit that helped make him a success. However, as a consequence, he's never shown fatherly affection to his three older sons by his late first wife: Ben, Mike, and Denny (played respectively by

Hugh O'Brian Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955–196 ...

, and

Earl Holliman Henry Earl Holliman (born September 11, 1928) is an American actor, animal-rights activist, and singer known for his many character roles in films, mostly Westerns and dramas, in the 1950s and 1960s. He won a Golden Globe Award for the film '' ...

). He treats these grown men (in their 30s to 40s) little better than hired help. Even though they manage the day-to-day operations of the ranch and other enterprises full time, Matt still retains complete authority, right down to the smallest decisions, angering his eldest son. This resentment leads the three eldest sons to unite against their father. Joe (

) is Matt's biracial son by his second wife (

), a Native American who pretends to be Mexican. The town's people call her "Señora" out of respect for Matt, but not out of respect for her. Because of Joe's mixed ethnicity, he is treated prejudicially by his three Caucasian half-brothers. Matt's power and prestige keeps the discrimination by the townspeople towards Joe to a minimum, so long as Joe, an emerging young adult, is principally interested in riding the range alone, and spending time at his mother's native American reservation and with her people. Joe, who shows no interest in owning or running the ranch empire, loves his father and would do anything for him. Because of his wife's insistence that he change his attitude towards their son, Matt comes to appreciate and regularly converse with his youngest son. The three older brothers interpret Matt's relationship with Joe and his treatment of them as if he has only one son instead of four as a rejection by their father. Their resentment deepens. Matt, Ben, Joe and two Indian workers catch the two middle sons and four accomplices rustling Matt's cattle, resulting in two of the four accomplices getting killed. Joe pleads for leniency towards his errant brothers but an outraged Matt banishes them, later reluctantly taking them back into the family when a crisis arises. There is a copper mine on Matt's land, and he has leased out the mineral rights. After 40 head of cattle die, Matt determines the mine is polluting a stream where he waters his cattle. He becomes furious and leads a raid on the mine offices and director. The court issues a warrant to arrest whoever was responsible for the attack. To spare his father the agony and humiliation of a stay behind bars, Joe claims responsibility and is sentenced to three years in prison. Ben and his other brothers rebel against their father during Joe's absence with such fierceness that the old man suffers a fatal stroke. Joe is permitted to leave prison long enough to attend his father's funeral, during which he formally severs his ties with his brothers and proclaims a blood feud. Having served his prison sentence, Joe returns to the ranch. The señora, his mother, who went to live with her people after Matt's death, persuades him to forget revenge and leave the country. Joe takes her advice, but Ben, fearing Joe's revenge for indirectly causing their father's death, ambushes and tries to kill Joe. The two half-brothers fight until Two Moons, the ranch foreman, saves Joe's life by shooting Ben dead before he can shoot an unarmed Joe. Time passes, and Joe and his new wife Barbara (

) visit Matt's grave. There, Joe sees the down-turned lance, the Indian symbol for a blood feud, and breaks it in half, thus ending the feud.

Cast

as Matt Devereaux *

as Joe Devereaux *

as Barbara *

as Ben Devereaux *

as Señora Devereaux *

as Mike Devereaux *

Eduard Franz Eduard Franz Schmidt (October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1983) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film ''Sins of Jezebel'', Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten C ...

as Two Moons *

as Denny Devereaux *

E. G. Marshall E. G. Marshall (born Everett Eugene Grunz;Everett Eugene Grunz in Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934, Ancestry.comEverett Eugene Grunz in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed via Ancestry.com June 18, ...

as Horace, the governor *

Carl Benton Reid Carl Benton Reid (August 14, 1893 – March 16, 1973) was an American actor. Early years Reid was born in Lansing, Michigan. He used his full name professionally because when he worked in radio, four other people in the business were named Ca ...

as Clem Lawton *

Philip Ober Philip Nott Ober (March 23, 1902 – September 13, 1982) was an American screen and stage actor. He later retired from acting to work as a diplomat. Ober is best remembered for his roles in the films ''From Here to Eternity'' (1953) and ''North ...

as Van Cleve *

Robert Burton Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, who wrote the encyclopedic tome ''The Anatomy of Melancholy''. Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Burt ...

as Mac Andrews

Accolades

The film won the Oscar for Best Story for Philip Yordan.

was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Jurado's role was originally for

Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...

. The film also won a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

as Best Film Promoting International Understanding. ''The New York Times'' reviewer

A.H. Weiler Abraham H. Weiler (December 10, 1908 – January 22, 2002) was an American writer and critic best known for being a film critic and motion picture editor for ''The New York Times''. He also served a term as chairman of the New York Film Critics ...

wrote "Although the saga of the self-made, autocratic cattle baron… is familiar film fare, ''Broken Lance''… makes a refreshingly serious and fairly successful attempt to understand these towering men... e rugged, vast and beautiful terrain of the Southwest is impressive and pleasing in the colors and

in which it was filmed."

Home media

The film was released on DVD on May 24, 2005. Viewers have the option of watching either a "

pan and scan Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown in fullscreen proportions of a standard-definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus ...

" full screen version or the original wide screen version. Both versions have

stereophonic sound Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

and have been digitally restored. The film has since been released on Blu-ray by Twilight Time in the correct

aspect ratio of 2.55:1.

References

* Solomon, Aubrey. ''Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. .

External links

* * * *
Press book of film
{{Edward Dmytryk 1954 films 1954 Western (genre) films 20th Century Fox films Remakes of American films American Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films Films about dysfunctional families Films based on American novels Films directed by Edward Dmytryk Films produced by Sol C. Siegel Films scored by Leigh Harline Films that won the Academy Award for Best Story CinemaScope films Revisionist Western (genre) films 1950s American films