Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on November 28, 2006 at 14:53:44

1955 film starring Spencer Tracy as a train riding stranger rolling into a very small, dusty town in the desert. This town has a secret. He hops off a train that has not stopped at this town in four years. The film does not explain how this town in the middle of nowhere, with barely two working vehicles, manages to import food without the train stopping, but never mind.

He is dressed in a suit, missing an arm. He checks in at the local motel, and is informed that it has no vacancies. He checks the book, concludes there are plenty of vacancies, then checks himself in. Who is this man? What does he want?

It turns out he is looking for a Japanese fellow named Kokodo (or something like that). Lee Marvin ambles to Tracy's room to size up Tracy. Tracy does not rile.

Tracy meets the town sheriff, the doctor, played by the lovable Walter Brennan, the local dame, played by Anne Francis, the local heavy, played by Ernest Borgnine, and the local head honcho, played by Robert Ryan. Borgnine, at one point, tries to run Spencer off the road which Spencer is looking for the Kokodo, yet he does not retaliate.

John Sturges directed the film. Tracy was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. Watching the film is like reading a good book - the tension builds while we are waiting to understand who Tracy is, why he is there, and what, if anything, happened to Kokodo, and why. Like watching a train wreck, we wait around to see the results.

Along the way we are treated to some splendid acting by Tracy. Tracy finds the perfect balance in this role. He plays the character loose enough that we consider he may not be a tough guy who will respond to the inevitable challenge which the townspeople will give him, piquing our desire to know why he is here. Yet he is stoic, which allows us to know that there is a reason for his presence.

The film runs a brisk 1 hour and 20 minutes. Tracy's eventual explanation for his presence answers a lot of questions, and reasons are very unexpected, particularly in light of the fact that Pearl Harbor was very much in America's consciousness at the time.

Much of the film is comprised of wide shots. The initial scene follows the train from the distance, then places the camera at the front nose of the engine, looking down at the front, reminding me a lot of Hitchcock. The wide angle shots create a very western feel, brought into modern times. We see the entire town in the opening shot, telling us that this could have been 1885, and that time has stood still here. The scenes are of a typical western - the hotel, the doctor's office, the sheriff's office, Kokodo's shack, the dusty streets.

Film professor Dana Polan of the U.S.C. film school provides commentary. Not having time to watch the entire film a second time, I did watch the first ten minutes or so with the commentary. He points out that wide screen was just beginning to be used when this film was made, because television was beginning to challenge film as an entertainment medium, and the film industry went to wide screen largely to distinguish itself from television - to provide an alternate experience. He also noted that the film title and poster artwork were designed to emulate the typical B-movie of the time.

There are no special features, save the Polan commentary. A shame, in light of the fact that Spencer Tracy is the star, an important actor, and was a box office draw at the time, and he did receive an Oscar nomination for his performance, and that Sturges, a relatively important director, was at the helm.

The cinematography is beautiful. The american Southwest films beautifully, and the wide angle shots capture the feel of the old west and desert very well. Tracy is about as good as it gets, and with a good supporting cast, the film is a winner.