''Four Faces West'' is a 1948 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 starring

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he beca ...

, his real-life wife

Frances Dee Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American actress. Her first film was the musical ''Playboy of Paris'' (1930). She starred in the film ''An American Tragedy'' (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 Va ...

, and

Charles Bickford Charles Ambrose Bickford (January 1, 1891 – November 9, 1967) was an American actor known for supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), '' The ...

. It is based on the novel ''Pasó por aquí'' by

Eugene Manlove Rhodes Eugene Manlove Rhodes (January 19, 1869 – June 27, 1934) was an American writer, nicknamed the "cowboy chronicler". He lived in south central New Mexico when the first cattle ranching and cowboys arrived in the area; when he moved to New York wi ...

. Its plot concerns a down-on-his-luck cowboy who robs a bank. For its genre the film is unusual in that not a single shot is ever fired.

Plot

Ross McEwen quietly robs a bank in the New Mexico town of Santa Maria, taking the banker Frenger with him, then letting him go a few miles away, minus boots but with an I.O.U. for the $2000 he has taken. When he gets back to town, Frenger offers a reward of $3000, dead or alive. Pat Garrett, the new marshal, warns the bounty hunters against unnecessary shooting, particularly in the back. McEwen is bitten by a rattlesnake before he can board a train, where he is helped by a passenger, nurse Fay Hollister. The posse stop the train and search it, but quick thinking on McEwen's part (masquerading as the sleeping Hollister's husband, complete with fake baby) and a vague description of the robber save the wanted man. However, Monte Marquez, a gambler passenger, observes and overhears enough to figure out what McEwen has done. The train tracks are washed out near Albuquerque, so the small group goes off alone via a route used to deliver mail. Fay finds out a posse from Santa Maria is after a wanted man and recalls that is where McEwen came on board. But he and she have developed an attraction to each other. When they reach an Alamogordo saloon that Marquez's cousins run, a cattleman named Burnett is willing to take on McEwen as a hired hand. Garrett and deputy Clint Waters come to town, so McEwen must leave, but offers her an engagement ring. Fay rides along, but ends up separated and captured by Garrett's men. After crossing the desert with difficulty, McEwen comes across a Mexican rancher named Florencio, whose family is ill. He stays to help and starts a fire to signal the lawmen, needing their assistance. Marquez gets there along with Garrett and Fay, but because Florencio is another relative of his, pretends that McEwen is a total stranger. Garrett is not fooled, though, and McEwen is convinced to turn himself in, the marshal promising to vouch for his good deed.

Cast

as Ross McEwen *

as Fay Hollister *

as Pat Garrett *

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the British Transport ...

as Monte Marquez *

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

as Sheriff Egan *

Martin Garralaga Martín Garralaga (10 November 1894 – 12 June 1981) was a Spanish actor who worked in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was married to opera singer and actress Rosa Rey. Biography Garralaga first came to the United States whe ...

as Florencio *Raymond Largay as Dr. Eldredge *John Parrish as Frenger *

Dan White Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was an American politician who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall. White was convicted of manslaugh ...

as Clint Waters *Davison Clark as Burnett *

Houseley Stevenson Houseley Stevenson (30 July 1879 – 6 August 1953) was a British-American character actor who was born in London on July 30, 1879, and died in Duarte, California on August 6, 1953. He began his movie career in 1936 and had a short career in ...

as Anderson *George McDonald as Winston Boy *

Eva Novak Eva Barbara Novak (February 14, 1898 – April 17, 1988) was an American film actress, who was quite popular during the silent film era. Biography On February 14, 1898, Eva Barbara Novak was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Jerome Nov ...

as Mrs. Winston *

Ethan Laidlaw Ethan Allen Laidlaw (November 25, 1899 – May 25, 1963) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 350 films and made more than 500 appearances on television, mainly uncredited in Westerns, between 1923 and 1962. Laidlaw was bor ...

as Deputy (uncredited)

References

External links

* * 1948 films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels 1948 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Alfred E. Green Cultural depictions of Pat Garrett Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1940s American films {{1940s-Western-film-stub