1960 - THE SUNDOWNERS, a "Meat Pie Western."

A well made but almost plot free film set in the outback of Australia around the 1920's.  The story concerns a roving family of sheepherders moving flocks of sheep from one location to another. The mother wants a place to call home but the father is a free spirit who doesn't want to be tied down and that's about it for a plot.

The entertainment value comes from the director Fred Zinneman one of Hollywood's best storytellers and the excellent cast.  Robert Mitchum is the father and he does a decent job with his Aussie accent.  The mother is played by Deborah Kerr and their son is Michael Anderson Jr. the son of unsurprisingly the director Michael Anderson.  Kerr was one of Mitchum's favorite people to work with and he amusingly said "she was the only leading lady I never slept with."  

 

Zinnemann was a very meticulous filmmaker he carefully cast the supporting cast with some excellent actors.  Peter Ustinov, Glynis Johns and an actual Australian actor Chips Rafferty who I think showed up in about every Australian film I've seen.

 For a story with an almost nonexistent plot Fred Zinnemann's story telling skill was so good The Sundowners is a very entertaining film.  Some of Zinnemann's other films worth checking out, High Noon, Act of Violence, The Seventh Cross, The Search and The Nun's Story.  

The film was written by Isobel Lennart, the running time is 133 minutes.

1952 - HIGH NOON , classic 1950's western

This famous western about a sheriff facing down a gang of outlaws without any help from the cowardly townspeople plays a tad slow today.  However this is an extremely well made film on a modest budget.  The director Fred Zinnemann, was one of Hollywood's best filmmakers when it came to making important films that were also entertaining.  The editor Elmo Williams went on to bigger and better things but  was responsible for the careful structure of the story.  The film plays in real time something that was rarely done in the movies.  The film was well photographed by Floyd Crosby who had been associated with the documentary movement. The composer was Dimitri Tiomkin who along with the lyricist Ned Washington wrote the famous ballad that played throughout the film.

The cast of the film was interesting.  Gary Cooper who had spent a large part of a career playing western characters was the sheriff.  His performance is a study in the less is more style of acting. Grace Kelly practically starting out her career is his wife,  with a 28 year age difference between her and Cooper.  Kelly really didn't take off until she worked with John Ford in Mogambo.  The fascinating Mexican performer Katy Jurado played Cooper's former mistress.  The rest of the cast is filled with character actors, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Lon Chaney Jr., Harry Morgan and Lee Van Cleef.

 

High Noon had a very high critical reputation at the time of it's release, maybe a little too high.  For a relatively simple story it was burdened by a lot of "deep" insights from film critics.  It was seen as a metaphor for the current state of politics in the United States at the time and was reviled by John Wayne as an "un-American" film.  The gutless behavior of the citizens of the the town Cooper is trying to protect do seem to be a metaphor for the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950's.  

 

The film has a complicated production history between the writer Carl Foreman and the producer Stanley Kramer.  It did very well financially and for all the baggage the film carries it's a good film  thanks to Fred Zinnemann's skill as a director.

The running time is 85 minutes.