Customer Reviews

Owen Wister's The Virginian (Universal Western Collection) [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this is a remake in technicolor of the 1930 black and white classic, with Joel McCrea playing the Gary Cooper hero role and Brian Donlevy playing the evil Trampas as earlier portrayed by Walter Huston. Sonny Tufts is a little goofier but still good as the doomed sidekick played by Richard Arlen in the earlier version. Both versions are quite good;neither great. This version would probably be more acceptable to viewers who just don't care for older black and white films.

All around cowboy actor Joel McCrae was a natural pick for this 1946 Hollywood version (the 4th one) of Owen Wister's classic western novel. Conceived as a colorful family-pic, with elements of light-hearted comedy and a few dark shadowy elements, it's not much different in spirit from the musical "Oklahoma!" which had been running on Broadway since 1943. Though set on the Wyoming frontier of the 1880s, there's hardly a hint of historical accuracy in the film. Medicine Bow, which Wister describes as no better than squalid, appears here with all the generic splendor of your standard backlot street of storefronts. And the cowboys wear potato-chip brim hats and jeans, with no concern for what a working cowboy might have worn at the time.

Scenes are borrowed from earlier versions of the film instead of returning to Wister - for example the way Molly and the Virginian meet. In Wister's novel, the Virginian dramatically rescues Molly from a wagon foundering as it crosses a stream. This film uses a comic scene borrowed from an earlier movie version, where the Virginian saves her from what she believes is a violent cow - trading away excitement for a cheap laugh. Wister shows her vulnerability, while allowing her to maintain her dignity - a big difference. Sonny Tufts' Steve is too slap-happy to be taken seriously as a cattle rustler, though he makes what he can of the scene in which he is hanged after associating with horse thieves.

Molly, the schoolmarm from Vermont - a fish out of water on the frontier - is not an easy character to portray sympathetically. She has notions about the superiority of her own New England ways, but there is good reason why she would fail to see the appeal of an unschooled cowboy from a poor Southern family, with no particular redeeming qualities beyond his good looks and his riding and roping skills. Wister made her independent and spirited, which comes across in this and other movie versions as stubbornly shrill. The Goodrich/Hackett screenwriting team make her intelligent and witty in some scenes and vainly shallow in others. Barbara Britton isn't always up to knitting it all together.

Brian Donleavy is OK as Trampas - dressed in black, big surprise - but he shows nothing of the inner Iago that drives Wister's villain, who seems driven as much by envy of the Virginian as a wish to serve his own selfish ends on the fringes of the law. What makes Wister's story interesting is the way each tries to outwit the other, from the card-playing scene where they first meet to the final show-down in the street. The tension of that contest is translated here into the standard good-guy vs bad-guy stereotypes we are familiar with from a hundred other western movies. Walter Huston's Trampas in the 1929 version of the film is far more three-dimensional and interesting.

Of all the versions of the film, the one from 1929, with a very young Gary Cooper as the Virginian, is arguably the best. Of all the actors who have played the part, he comes closest to Wister's original conception of the man - young, lean, handsome. McCrae, face it, was 40 when he played the part - nearly twice the age of Wister's hero. The 1929 version also includes the baby-switching scene, which reflects more of the young cowboys' ambivalence about marriage, family, and settling down. Showing the playful side of the Virginian (as Wister does), we get a more rounded and less stereotypical portrayal. Like "Lonesome Dove," what the novel needs is a mini-series to bring what is a wonderful story to full life on the screen. Until then, we have these partial successes.

The Virginian is a western classic. It is funny and sad and shows the code of honor of the old west - much of which has been lost in our modern day life. Joel McCrea has starred in many good movies, but this is the best.

The only downside for me is that it is not available on DVD and the VHS model I bought is protected and won't let me convert it to DVD.

I bought this dvd because I grew up watching westerns and Joel McCrea is 1 of my favorite actors. I have a few of his movies and they are all great, infact I can watch them over again. This is a great movie, I like all the actors. Add this to your collection you can't go wrong.

I was glad that this movie came out on DVD. I've always like this movie and it's good to see that some of the studios are releasing some of them. The price was good, too.

Don't ever forget that Joel McCrea was a western star right up there with the Duke and Randolph Scott. The Virginian was one of the best. try it and see.

It's a fair bet that people in 1946 were complaining just as much today about too many remakes and how they didn't make 'em like they used to when confronted with remakes as dull and lifeless as The Virginian. This fourth-time-out-of-the-stable take on Owen Wister's influential novel just trudges through the motions, with even Joel McCrea unable to bring anything to the title role and Sonny Tufts giving an object lesson in bad acting as his simpleton best friend gone bad while Brian Donlevy's black-clad Trampas seems a little short for bad guy duty. Even the immortal "When you say that, smile" moment is thrown away here. Pretty dire.

Universal's DVD boasts an excellent color transfer but no extras.

I like the old version, more than the new. I appreciate the hero doing what is right, Joel Mcra is a believable hero. the acting was fairly good, the virginian's friend who chose to go the wrong way, was a little weak in his character. The love story could have been developed a little more. But in the end it was an enjoyable movie. I would buy it to have in my library if it was DVD format.

It had to be a thankless task to remake one of the classic Westerns of all time, one that has a special place in the heart of filmlovers because it was one of the first great talking Westerns.

Yet and still, Hollywood has never let a little thing like unenviable comparison stop from remaking a classic, which they did when they remade the classic western The Virginian, starring Gary Cooper, Walter Huston, and Richard Arlen, this time starring Joel McCrea, Brian Donlevy, and Sonny Tufts in the corresponding roles.

McCrea, who was a lot better than he gave himself credit, is solid as the unnamed Virginian who tries to steer (no pun intended, but if it works for you, I'm glad!) his fellow cowboy Steve away from the murderous cattle rustler Trampas, and then sets out for vengeance when tragedy ensues. Donlevy is his usual nasty, snarling villain, and Tufts makes a fine simpleton doomed to make fatal choices, but this version does pale to the Cooper version, which wasn't even the first filmed version of the story.

Things are pretty routine, and there is nothing about the acting, directing, or the script that would make this film stand out among other Westerns.

This version of The Virginian is not an unpleasant film, just a pretty unremarkable one.