Broken Lance (1954)

Plot:  Remake of House of Stranger as a Western. In 1880, a Father and his four sons battle over his thousand acre Ranch..
Stars:  Spencer Tracy, Richard Widmark, Robert Wagner,  Katy Jurado  Jean Peters, and Hugh O'Brian

After my experience with Sea of Grass I was dreading Broken Lance. Oh no, more dysfunctional family theater with a bored, way-too-old Tracy, as the Big Rancher AND the dreaded Earl Holliman.

And…. I was wrong.

Broken Lance is way better than Sea of Grass. Its 30 minutes, shorter, has a lot more action, and it’s in Technicolor. Even better, Tracy plays his age. In this one, he’s a tough old bird with 3 sons who hate his guts. Even better, it has nasty Richard Widmark, who does some excellent acting with Tracy. In other words, there’s lots of conflict to keep things interesting; along with Katy Juarado and pretty Jean Peters, as icing on the cake.

Drawbacks? There’s a weird race angle. Katy Jurado is supposed to be a “Comanche Princess” and Robert Wagner is the “Half-breed” result of Tracy’s marriage to Jurado. Now, I’m not big on genetics, but if you put Spencer Tracy together with Katy Jurado you might get Anthony Quinn or Ricardo Montalban, but I doubt you'd get Robert Wagner! And because Hollywood was trying to push Civil Rights, we get a lot of malarkey about the Indians and Widmark not wanting an “Injun” for a “Step mother” - Yawn..

Summary: This isn’t the kind of Western you’d show a 13 y/o boy. Its short on gunplay - and long on talk. It’s really a modern family drama in Cowboy boots and Ten gallon hats. But its well-acted and directed. I enjoyed it. 2.5 of 4.