Broken Lance

An all-star cast for this western that is really a drama. It might play a little long, but as long as you don't need a shoot em up you might look in to this one.

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This is the latest in, probably, a long line of classic westerns I've missed. Especially ones starring Spencer Tracy, of which I suspect there are a precious few. Tracy's role alone makes it worth a watch.This story really hasn't aged well as the brainless racism that fuels the plot is all but gone now and without that it's really just another western, missing the level of action we've come to expect in most John Wayne adventures. The supporting cast were capable but not a lot more. Most of them ended up doing episodic television for the rest of their career.Props are deserved for Edward Dmytryk's deft direction. Since I have no insight into what happened when the cameras were not rolling I'm going to presume that Tracy basically was left to do what he does, since he does it so well. And the rest of the cast performed at, or slightly above their pay grade. The one exception is Richard Widmark. I can't help thinking that he had just one speed. Grumpy. Or maybe even acrid. I've watched his performances nearly dismember otherwise decent films for me. There may be something about him that I don't get but his name on the credits always makes me think, "do I REALLY want to watch this?" Fortunately, he stayed well enough inside the lines as Ben Devereaux as to not scupper the show.In sum, Broken Lance is worth watching for Spencer Tracy alone. And the good news is that all the rest is pretty decent so if you invest 90 minutes watching it you won't be disappointed. Especially if you love to watch Spencer Tracy.

Really good western. So many themes in it. Good story telling. Well worth the rental fee.

If you love old Westerns as I do, this is a gem. Spencer Tracy plays a widowed rancher with 3 sons, who then apparently meets and marries a Native American and has another son. The older sons resent the youngest, played by Robert Wagner, seeing him as favored.That's the back story. The film starts as the youngest is being released from jail after a 3 year sentence. The film goes on in a flashback to explain what led up to this. Spencer Tracy is charming with his wife, and is the only one in this film with any expression or humanity or humor. The others' acting is pretty wooden in that old-western style-- but very much worth watching just for Tracy, and for the engrossing story.

This Western I believe was only one of 2 films in that genre that the great Spencer Tracy did (he was slated to do "Tribute To A Badman" but bowed because of ill health and James Cagney subbed for him) and he's perfect as the domineering Matt Delvereux who's resists the changing of the West that signals his downfall. Richard Widmark is also superb as his eldest son and he took 4th billing in order to act next to the great actor but also to fill out his contract with Fox. The scenes between them is great film acting at it's best.

As far as old time westerns this is definitely classic. I think the story is original and timeless. One review stated that the film was kind of slow so I was worried, however for anyone who is used to old movies and can wait for plot development I have to say I was not at all bothered by the progression of the film. There is a scene at the beginning and then a moment when you are not sure what happened and you slowly realized you have gone backward in time. I think that fact makes it worth watching a second time because at the beginning you don't realize why everybody is so mad at Joe or why the girl who comes on scene looks like she's seen a ghost. Broken Lance tells a sad truth about human character. We see the classic father didn't spend anytime with me/love me theme, the greedy I have to have money theme, and the racial prejudice of the time against Native Americans which is implied was worse than being a Mexican. The irascible Spencer Tracy can't understand why everybody doesn't want to work as hard as he does and he doesn't treat anyone with partiality unless it is Joe who is smart enough not to let his fathers bearlike anger make him bitter. Joe like his mother just see Spencer's anger and passion as part of who he is. There is some symbolism in that Joe or Joseph is the youngest of four and his three older brothers don't exactly have his back. If you want to explore Westerns as I did and have watched some black and whites as a kid I think you will like this technicolor western.

BROKEN LANCE is an excellent film, gorgeously shot in CinemaScope and Technicolor. But the version Amazon rents is horrendously cropped and stretched to fit 16:9 TVs. Save your money and buy the Blu-ray or DVD, both of which are correctly mastered.

I was happy with my purchase. No problems at all!

The first 45 minutes of this western classic definitely deserves five stars and I'm certain the rest of the film is just as good. Unfortunately I never got to watch it since the (obviously faulty) disc kept skipping and finally stopping. NB - this refers to the Simply Media DVD release.

Watched it twice

Very good movie with all the hallmarks of a quality product.

'Matt Devereauxe' (Spencer Tracy) has built up his ranch over many years, he's always been a man that lives by his own rules,regardless of who he might have trampled on along the way.......divide and rule.When 'Matt' raids a 'smelter' for contaminating the ranches water supply, youngest son 'Joe' (Robert Wagner) steps up to themark taking the blame and being served a prison sentence.The divide between 'Matt' and his eldest 'Ben' (Richard Widmark) comes to a head, the argument so heated quick-tempered'Matt' suffers a stroke.'Ben' takes over the running of the ranch with brothers 'Mike' (Hugh O'Bran) and 'Denny' (Earl Holliman) ...'Joe's' determinationto run the ranch his way and sell land will kill his now incapacitated father'Joe' has been festering in prison with just one thing on his mind ...revenge.A story of family divides in the West during the 1880's.An all-star line-up in this well-crafted and gritty Western released way back in 1954.(The Blu-ray upgrade is a marked improvement in picture quality to the DVD version)Currently available as a Spanish-Import ....the language switch easy to do.