Product Details

• Actors: Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker, Joanne Dru, Sally Forrest, John Ireland
• Directors: Richard Thorpe
• Writers: Irving Ravetch, Luke Short
• Producers: Nicholas Nayfack
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Celebrity Home Enter
• VHS Release Date: August 19, 1987
• Run Time: 83 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300158888
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #444,736 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The charms of DVD sometimes passeth understanding. Vengeance Valley is an 83-minute B Western directed (barely) by the dullest of MGM hacks, Richard Thorpe, and based on one of the genre's hoariest formulas--the bad natural son (Robert Walker), the good foster son (Burt Lancaster), and the range empire they respectively imperil and rescue. Everyone on board was marking time: Walker, who otherwise spent 1951 playing Bruno Anthony in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, and who would be dead within the year; Lancaster, whose glum performance hints at neither the gusto of his early-'50s swashbucklers nor the fact that he would soon be collecting Oscar nominations; Joanne Dru (playing Walker's recent bride), who only a year earlier was working for John Ford; and screenwriter Irving Ravetch, who would draw a much more auspicious ranch-land assignment a decade later with Hud (1963). No, we can't make exalted claims for Vengeance Valley--but that's just the point: this is an absolutely typical slice of moviegoing life in 1951, and watching this DVD is as uncanny as a trip in a time machine. The aura is perfected by the true three-strip Technicolor print, not a latterday Eastmancolor approximation of the real thing. Throw in a supporting cast of such sagebrush perennials as John Ireland, Will Wright, Glenn Strange, Jim Hayward, and TV's Wyatt Earp-to-be, Hugh O'Brian, and you've got a quintessential Saturday at the Bijou. Now if only the great color films of the period could all look this good.... -- Richard T. Jameson

The New York Times

"The Roan Group, consistently responsible for some of the best-looking DVD editions"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Title and Some Good Performances, November 2, 2006

By 

Only-A-Child - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Vengeance Valley (DVD)

"Vengeance Valley" (1951) is not just a great title for a western, but a well-made, intelligent feature that should please Burt Lancaster and Robert Walker fans. A cattle baron (Ray Collins) takes in an orphaned boy (Owen Daybright) and raises him. His own son (Lee Strobie) is about the same age. Although Lee resents Owen they generally get along and share a lot of coming of age adventures on the ranch. But as they mature Lee's (Robert Walker) resentment causes him to become a slacker and the classic prodigal son. After a long absence he returns with a wife, appears to have cleaned up his act, and reconciles with his father.

But Lee's past includes a girl named Lily that he got pregnant. Owen covers for him, but this causes Lee to resent his stepbrother even more. When he suspects that his father's ranch and his new wife are slipping away from him, he sets up Owen to be killed by Lily's two brothers. Although this prodigal son-Cain and Abel stuff is hardly original, the two stars are excellent in their respective parts. Lancaster reins in his excesses and gives a nice controlled performance, with his suppressed energy just visible enough to give Owen a nice dimensionality.

Walker in convincing as a two-faced villain, still motivated by childhood jealousy but able to conceal it from everyone but the audience. Walker is relatively forgotten today, but was the 1940's version of James Dean; although his looks and style are more like a young Robert Vaughn.

When not occupied with its melodramatic story, "Vengeance Valley" has the look of an extremely well-produced documentary, going into great detail about the process of a spring roundup and providing a lot of very scenic backgrounds. A ranch hand named Hewie (Carleton Carpenter) provides an informative voice-over. The film features some great cattle scenes, a lot of good riding sequences, and a couple well staged fights. Watch for an early appearance by young Hugh O'Brian-just a few years away from starring in television's "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Cast in an Average Western, April 29, 2001

By 

Mr Peter G George (Ellon, Aberdeenshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vengeance Valley (DVD)

Vengeance Valley is an average Western. Its best feature is a remarkably strong cast. This alone means that it ought not to be classified as a B film, for second features could not afford so many familiar faces, nor could they afford the fine location shooting which is to be found in Vengeance Valley. The cast perform quite well. Robert Walker always makes a better villain than a good guy. He portrays both weakness and malevolence in a performance which bears comparison with his more celebrated role in Strangers on a Train. It is always a pleasure to watch Burt Lancaster, but his acting lacks the authority which would be present in his later films. I always look out for Joanne Dru films, but this is not one of her best. The feisty and beautiful heroine of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Red River seems to have faded somewhat and it is possible to see in this film the seeds of her decline as a star. She would make no more important films after this.

The story is interesting without being original. Walker and his foster brother Lancaster fight it out over Dru and Cattle. Strangely the `vengeance' of the film's title does not refer to this aspect of the plot, but to a sub-plot in which two cowboys seek vengeance on the man who made their sister pregnant. Still Vengeance Valley makes a more snappy title than Battling Brothers.

This is by no means a classic Western, but it is perfectly competent. It may not linger long in the memory, but fans of the genre will certainly enjoy the ride while it lasts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Owen Daybright Saves The Day, December 21, 2007

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Vengeance Valley (DVD)

Western lovers..kick off your boots and set a spell..here's one from the 50's that should satisfy your hankerin for some good ole fashion western adventure.

"Vengeance Valley" from 1951, stars Burt Lancaster as Owen Daybright, the "good brother"(how could you not be good with a name like that?), and Robert Walker as Lee Strobel his evil brother. Owen has spent his life covering up for Lee's mistakes. When Lee gets one of the local girls "in trouble",Lee puts the blame on Owen, and her brothers come after him with a vengeance. He has to fight them off and take care of their vast cattle empire all in 83 minutes! Who else but Burt Lancaster can handle all this? The film was directed by Richard Thorpe(Jailhouse Rock) and also look for such notables as John Ireland, Hugh O'Brien, Joanne Dru and Sally Forrest .

I think this particular DVD(westlake Entertainment) is a little overpriced for this oldie, but you can find several other editions out that are more reasonable, including 2 packs. Vengeance Valley/Rage at Dawnis a nice little deal for oater lovers. Check also the "other versions' on detail page, or just search Vengeance Valley for more options. I also saw it available on used VHS.

Saddle up and Happy trails western lovers....Laurie