''Three Faces West'' is a 1940 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Bernard Vorhaus
Bernard Vorhaus (December 25, 1904 – November 23, 2000) was an American film director of Austrian descent, born in New York City. His father was born in Krakow, then part of Austria-Hungary. Vorhaus spent many decades living in the UK. Eearly ...
and starring
John Wayne,
Sigrid Gurie
Sigrid Gurie (born Sigrid Guri Haukelid; May 18, 1911 – August 14, 1969) was an American actress from the late 1930s to early 1940s.
Early life
Gurie was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was a civil engineer who worked for the N ...
and
Charles Coburn
Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American actor and theatrical producer. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941), '' The More the M ...
.
[ ]
The film, mainly set in
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
was one of a handful of overtly anti-Nazi films produced by Hollywood before American entry into World War II. Isolationists and Nazi sympathizers condemned other Hollywood movies for being pro-British "propaganda" or for "glorifying war", however ''Three Faces West'' was deliberately crafted to celebrate the pioneer spirit of America, and the determination of Americans to survive the dust bowl, and contrasted these values with the evils of Nazism, thus preventing isolationists and Nazi sympathizers from being able to criticize the film as they had criticized other anti-Nazi films during this period.
Writing in the ''
Journal of Austrian-American History
The ' is a biannual, open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Pennsylvania State University Press, and sponsored by the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies. It publishes new research, review essays, and other materi ...
'', Jacqueline Vansant has argued that the film "takes a bold stand on contemporary issues through its Austrian-American romance."
Plot
Two refugees, the Brauns, an elderly medical doctor and his 20-something-year-old daughter arrive in the USA from
Nazi-controlled Austria.
They become a much-needed physician and nurse in a small
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
farm town. The town is located in the area later known as the
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...
, and is being hit hard by the drought and resultant dust storms.
The local farmers and townspeople want to try to save their farms and the town by adopting new farming methods, but are eventually convinced by the Department of Agriculture, and the continuing dust storms to pack up the whole town and move en-masse to an undeveloped portion of
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
. There a new dam is set to create a water supply, enabling them to build a new farming community.
In a then-contemporary version of an old
wagon train
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...
, the town moves as a convoy of cars to Oregon, under John Phillips's leadership, not without differences of opinion and friction among the followers.
The doctor and his daughter take a detour to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
when they learn that the daughter's fiance was not killed by the Nazis in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, but has instead come to America. However, the fiance has embraced Nazism, and their different ideologies now mean marriage is not possible. The doctor and his daughter rejoin the transplanted town in Oregon, where the daughter marries Phillips instead (John Wayne).
Cast
*
John Wayne as John Phillips
*
Sigrid Gurie
Sigrid Gurie (born Sigrid Guri Haukelid; May 18, 1911 – August 14, 1969) was an American actress from the late 1930s to early 1940s.
Early life
Gurie was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was a civil engineer who worked for the N ...
as Leni "Lenchen" Braun
*
Charles Coburn
Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American actor and theatrical producer. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941), '' The More the M ...
as Dr. Karl Braun
*
Spencer Charters
Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles.
Biography
Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until ...
as Dr. "Nunk" Atterbury
* Helen MacKellar as Mrs. Welles
*
Roland Varno
Roland Varno (March 15, 1908 – May 24, 1996) was an American character actor from Utrecht, Netherlands.
Varno's father was a tea planter, Martin Fredrick Vuerhard, and his mother was a concert pianist. Although they hoped for him to ha ...
as Dr. Eric Von Scherer
*
Sonny Bupp
Moyer MacClaren Bupp (January 10, 1928 – November 1, 2007) professionally known as Sonny Bupp, was an American child film actor and businessman. His most notable film was ''Citizen Kane'' (1941), in which he appears as Junior, Charles Fo ...
as Billy Welles
*
Wade Boteler
Wade Boteler (October 3, 1888 – May 7, 1943) was an American film actor and writer. He appeared in more than 430 films between 1919 and 1943.
Biography
He was born in Santa Ana, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart ...
as Mr. Harris, Department of Agriculture Official
*
Trevor Bardette
Trevor Bardette (born Terva Gaston Hubbard; November 19, 1902 – November 28, 1977) was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of '' Adventures of S ...
as Clem Higgins
*
Russell Simpson as Minister
*
Charles Waldron
Charles Waldron (December 24, 1874 – March 4, 1946) was an American stage and film actor, sometimes credited as Charles Waldron Sr., Chas. Waldron Sr., Charles D. Waldron or Mr. Waldron.
Early life
He was born and grew up in Waterford, New Y ...
as Dr. William Thorpe
*
Wendell Niles
Wendell Niles (December 29, 1904 – March 28, 1994) was an announcer during the American golden age of radio and later in television.
Early years
Niles was born in Livingston, Montana and grew up there. He attended New York University and ...
as Man-on-the-Street Radio Announcer
*
Francis Ford as Farmer Bill (uncredited)
*
Byron Foulger
Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions.
Early years
Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of four ...
as Joe Stebbins (uncredited)
See also
*
John Wayne filmography
References
External links
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Faces West
1940 films
1940 romantic drama films
American romantic drama films
American black-and-white films
Films scored by Victor Young
Films directed by Bernard Vorhaus
Films set in North Dakota
Films set in Oregon
Films produced by Sol C. Siegel
Films with screenplays by F. Hugh Herbert
Republic Pictures films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films
English-language romantic drama films