'' Fury at Furnace Creek '' 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 directed by
H. Bruce Humberstone
H. Bruce "Lucky" Humberstone (November 18, 1901 – October 11, 1984) was an American film director. He was previously a movie actor (as a child), a script clerk, and an assistant director, working with directors such as King Vidor, Edmund Gould ...
and starring
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darlin ...
,
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ( ...
,
Glenn Langan
Glenn Langan (July 8, 1917 – January 26, 1991) was an American character actor on stage and films.
Early years
Born in Denver, Colorado, Langan was the son of Thomas Langan and Kate Quinn Langan. He attended schools there. His early training ...
, and
Reginald Gardiner
William Reginald Gardiner (27 February 1903 – 7 July 1980) was an English actor on the stage, in films and on television.
Early years
Gardiner was born in Wimbledon, England, and he was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Katz, ...
.
Plot
Troops are massacred at a Furnace Creek fort in 1880 after an army captain, Walsh, cites orders forcing him to abandon a wagon train. Apache Indians hid inside the wagons to gain access to the fort.
General Blackwell is blamed for the incident and court-martialed. Denying that he sent any such order, the general has a stroke and dies on the witness stand. No written evidence of the order is presented.
One of his sons, Rufe, a captain from West Point, travels west to find out what happened. His brother, Cash, reads of their father's death in a Kansas City newspaper and also heads toward Furnace Creek in search of answers.
Using an alias, Cash learns that Capt. Walsh has become a drunkard. A mining boss, Leverett, is impressed by the stranger in town and hires him, not knowing Cash's real name or intent. Rufe arrives in town and also assumes a false identity.
Cafe waitress Molly Baxter, whose father was killed at the fort, still considers General Blackwell the man to blame. But the real villain is Leverett, who bribed Walsh and organized the Apache raid. A guilty conscience causes Walsh to write a confession. Leverett sends one of his henchmen to do away with Walsh, but the confession is found by Cash.
Rufe is framed, arrested and tried, but escapes. Cash gives him the confession and tells him to take it to the Army as proof. Wounded in a gunfight with Leverett but victorious, Cash recovers and reads in the paper about the proof of General Blackwell's innocence.
Cast
![Glenn Langan-Coleen Gray in Fury at Furnace Creek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Glenn_Langan-Coleen_Gray_in_Fury_at_Furnace_Creek.JPG)
*
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darlin ...
as Cash Blackwell
*
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ( ...
as Molly Baxter
*
Glenn Langan
Glenn Langan (July 8, 1917 – January 26, 1991) was an American character actor on stage and films.
Early years
Born in Denver, Colorado, Langan was the son of Thomas Langan and Kate Quinn Langan. He attended schools there. His early training ...
as Rufe Blackwell
*
Reginald Gardiner
William Reginald Gardiner (27 February 1903 – 7 July 1980) was an English actor on the stage, in films and on television.
Early years
Gardiner was born in Wimbledon, England, and he was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Katz, ...
as Captain Walsh
*
Albert Dekker
Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in ''Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers'' (1946), ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bunch''.
Early life and car ...
as Leverett
* Fred Clark as Bird
*
Charles Kemper
Charles Kemper (September 6, 1900 – May 12, 1950) was an American character actor born in Oklahoma. The heavy-set actor was for decades a successful stage actor.
Movie career
Like many actors in New York, Kemper worked in short comedies fil ...
as Peaceful Jones
* Robert Warwick as Gen. Fletcher Blackwell
* George Cleveland as Judge
* Roy Roberts as Al Shanks
* Willard Robertson as Gen. Leads
* Griff Barnett as Appleby
* Jay Silverheels as Little Dog
Production
The film was originally called ''Ballad at Furnace Creek''. Shooting took place near Kanab, Utah, specifically, in
Zion National Park
Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety ...
. Virgin River,
Springdale Johnson Canyon, Utah, as well as on the
Arizona Strip
The Arizona Strip is the part of Arizona lying north of the Colorado River. Despite being larger in area than several U.S. states, the entire region has a population of fewer than 10,000 people. Consisting of northeastern Mohave County and n ...
. Victor Mature's role was originally meant to be played by John Payne.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fury at Furnace Creek
1948 films
1940s historical films
1948 Western (genre) films
20th Century Fox films
American historical films
American Western (genre) films
Films directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Films shot in Utah
Films shot in Arizona
Films set in Arizona
American black-and-white films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films