Tonight's Movie: Flaxy Martin (1949) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

Virginia Mayo plays the title role in FLAXY MARTIN (1949), an enjoyable film just released by the Warner Archive.

Mob lawyer Walter Colby (Zachary Scott) thinks that Flaxy is his girl, but the mercenary Flaxy is secretly the moll of mobster Hap Richie (Douglas Kennedy); she's stringing Walter along to ensure his compliance with Hap's wishes. Walter was originally supposed to only handle Hap's legitimate business issues, but he's being increasingly drawn in to the darker side of Hap's world and he wants out.

When Hap has a blackmailer (Helen Westcott) wiped out by his hood Caesar (Jack Overman), a crime which Flaxy aids and abets, Walter continues to believe the best of Flaxy and takes the rap for her. Only later does Walter realize he's been played for a sap; he escapes and goes on the lam to prove who really committed the murder, aided by small-town librarian Nora Carson (Dorothy Malone).

I first saw this movie in 2011 and liked it, and I enjoyed it all over again tonight. Sure, it's got some plot flaws, starting with the fact that for a supposedly smart lawyer, Walter makes some pretty dumb decisions. However, I suppose he wouldn't be the first man who makes all the wrong moves because he's head over heels for a dame.

Despite that, Scott is generally quite likeable in this, one of his "good guy" roles. While Scott was always a highly effective villain, I enjoy him even more when he's the hero fighting the crooks.

Even more perplexing behavior is the benevolence of Nora, who realizes almost immediately that Walter is a convicted murderer but doesn't much care. Like Lauren Bacall in the same studio's DARK PASSAGE (1947), Nora simply has a gut instinct that Walter isn't the kind of person described in the media, so she gives him food, shelter, and eventually her love.

Mayo disappears in the middle section of the film, but she's fascinating to watch in the opening and closing scenes as she wraps Walter around her little finger while also milking the not-so-nice Hap for his money. The scene where she leaves her former friend (Westcott) alone in a hotel room with the mob hit man is truly chilling; she knows without a doubt that the woman is about to be killed, yet she walks away with a little smile on her face, her work completed.

The movie is strewn with bits and pieces of other movies, starting with Elisha Cook Jr. as a mob "gunsel," straight out of THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) and THE BIG SLEEP (1946). 

Speaking of THE BIG SLEEP, it's also fun to note that here Malone is once more playing a woman who works with books; she had a big break in THE BIG SLEEP as a bookstore clerk who flirts with Bogart's Philip Marlowe, and here she's a librarian.

And the theme of a handcuffed couple on the run who need to clear the hero's name? How many times has that been done? Really, though, the bits cribbed from other movies are part of FLAXY MARTIN's charm; it's familiar "movie comfort food" in that it has so many recognizable character types and situations, and the viewer is always pretty relaxed about where the movie is going. It's never dull, but it's predictable, in a good way.

Incidentally, Malone, Kennedy, and Scott would all costar that same year in the Warner Bros. Western SOUTH OF ST. LOUIS (1949).

The supporting cast of FLAXY MARTIN includes Tom D'Andrea, Douglas Fowley, Monte Blue, and Marjorie Bennett.

FLAXY MARTIN was directed by Richard L. Bare, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 101.

The film was written by David Lang, and the question I'd love to know the answer to is: Who thought of the name Flaxy Martin, and where did it come from?

The movie was shot by Carl Guthrie. Warner Bros. fans will enjoy the extensive use of the studio's familiar city street sets. The film runs 86 minutes.

FLAXY MARTIN is diverting Warner Bros. entertainment which I enjoyed. The Warner Archive DVD is the company's typically good print. The DVD includes the trailer.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from Amazon and other online retailers.

Tonight's Movie: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) at the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival

I arrived in town bright and early Saturday morning for the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival.

First up for me at 10:00 a.m. was INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956), which I've frankly been too chicken to watch in the past! My husband, who accompanied me to the festival, is a sci-fi fan but he doesn't care for that one; instead he took a side trip to Desert Memorial Park and paid his respects at the burial sites of Frank Sinatra and William Powell.

I bravely forged ahead to see BODY SNATCHERS on my own, and you know what? I liked it! It was definitely creepy, but not to the extent I couldn't enjoy it. It won't have the "rewatch value" for me of the festival films I liked the most -- thus it's the title I referred to as "liking" rather than "loving" -- but I would recommend it as an excellent sci-fi thriller.

As the film begins, Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is in a hospital being checked out by two doctors (Whit Bissell and Richard Deacon) trying to determine if he's having a mental crackup. Miles, desperate to have someone believe him, begins to recount the terrible things which have been happening in his town of Santa Mira, California.

Miles returned from a medical convention to odd reports from his nurse (Jean Willes) that a number of his patients seem to think their relatives...aren't really their relatives. A short time later, the stories start to go away. For instance, Wilma (Virginia Christine), who had been adamant that her Uncle Ira (Tom Fadden) was an imposter, suddenly drops her story and says everything's fine.

Then Miles's friend Jack (King Donovan) discovers a body in his house...but it's not fully formed. And as time goes on...the body suddenly starts to look like Jack!

Miles, Jack, Jack's wife Teddy (Carolyn Jones), and Miles's ex-girlfriend Becky (Dana Wynter), who's recently returned to town, discover strange pods in a greenhouse which are growing familiar-looking people inside, and it gets more disturbing from there.

I'm glad that the scenes in the hospital were added to the beginning and ending of the movie, to give the film a little hope, as otherwise it would have been too much of a downer. There are still a lot of bad things which happen which apparently can't be undone, but the mildly optimistic note sounded in the last seconds of the movie was important to me as a viewer; you need that oh-so-slight easing of tension before leaving the theater. If the film had ended with Miles running around the overpass screaming "You're next! You're next!" as originally planned, it would have been memorable, but I don't think I would have liked the film as much.

I also thought the 80-minute running time was just right. Any longer and it would have worn me out! That said, I was impressed with how efficiently the film puts over a fairly complicated story, briskly pulling the viewer into its world.

Although there are some special effects for the pods and the people growing inside them, for the most part the movie's scares are strictly due to a good script, the film's effective tone, and most of all good acting.

The film does a great job setting a a certain mood and look, with its seemingly benign small-town citizens masking something unexpectedly awful. The townspeople congregating in the town square to do Very Bad Things called to mind the same feelings I had reading Shirley Jackson's famous "The Lottery" as a kid. Creepy, creepy!

Similarly, the scene where Miles dashes to Becky's house in his bathrobe in the middle of the night in order to save her, leaving the car running as he runs into her house, effectively evokes the feeling of childhood nightmares. The moment where he can't get her to wake up and finally resorts to carrying her out of the house reminded me of those moments in dreams where you want to run from a threat but are stuck in place...

Like many lower-budget sci-fi films of the era, the lead actors were lesser known at the time of release, but they do an excellent job. Indeed, the single most disturbing moment in the movie is the look on McCarthy's face in reaction to a kiss. No special effects needed.

Dana Wynter reminded me in this just a little bit of Barbara Rush in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953). Like McCarthy, she had a moment to shine which has stayed with me, when she cries that she doesn't want to turn into a pod person and live in a "perfect," emotionless world, and desperately sobs to Miles "I want to have your children!"

Before the film Alan Rode shared the anecdote that director Don Siegel at one point broke into Wynter's home and hid a pod under her bed. When she found it she was hysterical, and not in a funny way!

Sunday the 25th, as it happens, was the birthday of character actor Whit Bissell, who was born in 1909. In the course of the weekend I saw him as the doctor in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (at the left in this photo, with Richard Deacon) and as the scientist who (barely) survives an attack by the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954). Bissell has a great moment at the end of BODY SNATCHERS reacting to a key piece of information from an ambulance driver; his expression alone gives the audience a small sense of relief.

Bissell's career began with a bit part in THE SEA HAWK (1940) and ended 44 years and over 300 credits later with an episode of FALCON CREST. For me, his most memorable role seen to date was in SHACK OUT ON 101 (1955), an amusing part as he staggers around the film's roadside diner in swim fins!

The fine supporting cast in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS includes Larry Gates, Dabbs Greer, Pat O'Malley, and Bobby Clark.

Like film noir, '50s classic sci-fi tends to make good use of the Greater Los Angeles area. The bridge at the end of the movie is near Barham Boulevard, per Alan Rode. The movie also filmed at the Bronson Caves in Griffith Park. The movie was shot in black and white by Ellsworth Fredericks.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is out on DVD and Blu-ray. It can also be streamed via Amazon Video, where it's free for Amazon Prime members.

Tonight's Movie: Public Hero #1 (1935) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

PUBLIC HERO #1 is a satisfying gangster film from MGM, just released by the Warner Archive.

PUBLIC HERO #1 has an excellent cast, headed by the appealing team of Chester Morris and Jean Arthur. Any movie which costars Morris and Paul Kelly as G-men is A-OK with me!

The first half of the film seems to foreshadow the later, better-known Warner Bros. classic WHITE HEAT (1949), as FBI agent Jeff Crane (Morris) goes undercover in prison. He poses as a crook in order to ingratiate himself with imprisoned mafioso Sonny (Joseph Calleia) -- even spending three weeks in a miserable solitary confinement cell to make things really authentic.

The movie becomes more enjoyable once Jeff and Sonny break out of prison, with a wink and a nod from the feds. Sonny is shot in the escape, but Jeff enlists an alcoholic mob doctor (Lionel Barrymore) to help Sonny, as he needs him to stay alive long enough for the feds to locate the hideout of Sonny's "Purple Gang." Barrymore's character is such a complete lush he's pretty annoying, one of my only complaints about the film.

Jeff's life becomes considerably more complicated when Sonny's innocent sister Theresa (Arthur) turns up to visit her long-lost brother, having no idea of his criminal background. She falls head over heels for Jeff when they "meet cute" during a storm, and before too long he's eating up every word as she asks him whether he likes children and pretty much proposes to him.

Theresa thinks Jeff is a petty crook she's setting straight, but instead of being thrilled to eventually learn he's actually a law enforcement hero, she's dismayed to learn that he'd been hunting her brother and his gang, even if deep in her heart she knows he was right.

The climax at a movie theater is pure Dillinger; he'd been killed just the year before, after seeing MANHATTAN MELODRAMA (1934).

The first section of the film is appropriately gritty; Morris, incidentally, had previously starred in the prison classic THE BIG HOUSE (1930).

The early scenes are quite a contrast with the later romance of Morris and Arthur, who share a couple of particularly charming scenes in a farmhouse and on the back of a truck. There's a delightful moment when Arthur says, in her famously tremulous voice, that Morris needs to go straight because they'd have a challenging marriage if he's in jail half the time. The look on Morris's face is utterly charmed, as if he can't quite believe she's real.

George E. Stone, who years later would play Morris's sidekick in the BOSTON BLACKIE mystery series, here plays one of the gang members. The fine cast also includes Lewis Stone as the prison warden. Watch for Nell Craig, later Nurse "Nosy" Parker of the DR. KILDARE series, as Paul Kelly's secretary.

PUBLIC HERO #1 was directed by J. Walter Ruben and filmed in black and white by Gregg Toland. It runs 89 minutes.

PUBLIC HERO #1 is a good film, and Jean Arthur fans in particular should be glad to add this previously missing title to their DVD collections. The Warner Archive print looks fine, and the disc includes the trailer.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Store at Amazon or from other online retailers.

The Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival in Review

This weekend I was fortunate to enjoy a wonderful time at the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival!

The festival was held at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, where six months ago I also attended the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.

Both festivals were expertly produced and hosted by Alan K. Rode, and it's safe to say that thanks to Alan's great work I'm a convert to the Palm Springs festival experience! It's a relaxed and congenial setting with time for plenty of movies but with enough down time built into the schedule to relax a little in between screenings.

Alan's knowledgeable intros provide interesting background and humorous insights into each of the movies shown.

The festival kicked off on Friday evening with star David Hedison in attendance at a screening of THE FLY (1958). I missed that film, but I was there for every one of the seven films shown on Saturday and Sunday!

I've previously written here that I came to watching '50s science fiction relatively late, but I'm certainly making up for lost time!

I'd previously seen two of this weekend's films; I reviewed CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) in 2011 and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) in 2012. Both films were originally shown in 3D but were shown "flat" at the festival.

The other five films were all new to me. What a great experience! The prints were all excellent. I loved three of the movies, liked a fourth, and appreciated seeing the last title, though I found it a bit exhausting to watch. To find out which is which, stayed tuned for my upcoming reviews; I suspect some of my most faithful readers might even be able to predict in advance which ones I liked best!

Watch for posts in the near future on the films which were new to me; in order of viewing, they are INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956), THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953), THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957), THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951), and THEM! (1954).

The wonderful Julie Adams made the trip to Palm Springs to greet fans at the screening of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. It's always a treat to see her! What a friendly, gracious lady.

After the film, Alan interviewed Julie, along with her son Mitchell Danton, who worked with Julie on her memoir THE LUCKY SOUTHERN STAR and is very knowledgeable about his mother's career.

Julie said she never dreamed audiences would still be interested in CREATURE 61 years later! She said when she'd looked at the script she thought it would be fun to make and it was, adding "I was a pretty good screamer!"

She said that making a movie in 3D was fun in its way, "part of the challenge." She had particularly high praise for director Jack Arnold, saying, "You could understand him, and he knew what he wanted."

The interview was filmed and will be available on the internet at a future date. For more of Julie's memories, please visit my account of her 2011 interview with Alan at the Egyptian Theatre.

On Sunday festival attendees enjoyed watching IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE with costar Kathleen Hughes in attendance. She's seen here with Alan Rode:

Kathleen had helped make 3D tests at Universal before the picture was filmed and very much wanted to be in a 3D movie. Although Universal was initially reluctant to cast the up-and-coming actress in a supporting role, she convinced them. Her part might have been relatively small -- though memorable! -- but the publicity stills she shot for the film have had a life of their own, even turning up on birthday cards!

During her interview with Alan Rode, which was also filmed, Kathleen spoke charmingly of her courtship with producer Stanley Rubin. She had initially brushed him off when he'd first asked her out, but when an acquaintance later told her he was "one of the nicest guys in Hollywood," she asked her friend to tell him she'd go out with him.

Stanley asked her out again, and she said when he showed up for the date -- which included a studio screening of his film RIVER OF NO RETURN (1954) -- her feelings toward him had completely changed. She said when she opened the door and saw him, it was as though she'd been hit by "a bolt of lightning" and she would have married him on the spot!

As a matter of fact, they married just two months later and were happily married for 49 years, until Stanley passed away early in 2014. I was fortunate to attend a moving tribute to Stanley Rubin at the Egyptian Theatre a few weeks after his passing.

As we took in this view leaving Palm Springs last evening, I couldn't help thinking that it looked like it could be a shot in a science fiction movie!

As a postcript, I again stayed at the Best Western Plus Las Brisas Hotel and was very satisfied with the experience. It's conveniently located just minutes from the festival site. We especially enjoyed our dinner at Bill's Pizza on Indian Canyon Boulevard and recommend it to future festival attendees.

I'm hoping to return to Palm Springs for more film noir and science fiction in 2016! It was a great pleasure to be one of those attending the inaugural edition of a wonderful science fiction festival.

I'll be adding all the festival review links to the end of this post so that they can be easily found in one place.

Previous festival preview posts: Coming Next Weekend: The Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival; Coming Soon: The Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival.

Festival review links: Tonight's Movie: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) at the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival; Tonight's Movie: The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) at the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival; Tonight's Movie: The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) at the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Festival; Tonight's Movie: The Thing From Another World (1951) at the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Festival; Tonight's Movie: Them! (1954) at the Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Festival.

Sincere thanks to Alan K. Rode for providing an All Access Pass to help facilitate my festival coverage.

Coming Soon: The Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival

I'm back from a really wonderful weekend at the Palm Springs Classic Film Festival!

I spent a terrific two days watching seven '50s sci-fi classics, five of which were new to me. My favorite new-to-me titles were THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953), THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951), and THEM! (1954). Each of those titles was exactly the kind of classic sci-fi I like best, and I enjoyed them tremendously.

Add in personal appearances by Julie Adams and Kathleen Hughes, and it was a special weekend. I'll have complete coverage coming soon, including an overview of the festival and reviews of individual films.

Also ahead in the coming days, as time permits: A tribute to Maureen O'Hara, a final photo post on the Lone Pine Film Festival, a look at TCM in November, Warner Archive DVD reviews, an Around the Blogosphere link roundup, and more!

Stay tuned...and "Keep watching the skies!"

Update: The Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival in Review.

Tonight's Movie: Appaloosa (2008) at the Lone Pine Film Festival

The last "new to me" film seen at the Lone Pine Film Festival was APPALOOSA (2008).

APPALOOSA, a much more recent film than the majority of the films shown at the festival, was screened with co-writer and co-producer Robert Knott in attendance. The movie was co-written, co-produced, and directed by its star, Ed Harris.

I had been a little unsure about trying APPALOOSA, as R-rated movies are fairly rare for me, but it's a movie my dad liked so I decided to give it a try. As it turned out I enjoyed it a great deal, and I think other fans of classic-era Westerns would enjoy it as well.

(And to take care of my usual Parental Advisory for "newer" movies up front, APPALOOSA is rated R for some brief language, violence, and rear-view nudity seen at a distance. In my opinion it's very close to a PG-13 and would probably be fine for mature teens under 17.)

APPALOOSA was based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, whose writing also inspired a TV series I enjoy, SPENSER: FOR HIRE. Like SPENSER, APPALOOSA is first and foremost a character study, though there's plenty of action as well.

Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) are town tamers, enforcing the law as marshal and deputy -- as long as a town's leading citizens are willing to sign their contract for services. By the time the mayor of the wild Western town of Appaloosa summons Cole and Hitch, he's only too happy to agree to their price and conditions, and they immediately set about cleaning up the town.

The biggest problem is Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons), who gunned down the previous marshal (Bobby Jauregui) and two other men in cold blood and then hid the bodies. The vanished marshal was a friend of Virgil's, and he's determined to find a way for Bragg to be tried for the crime.

Meanwhile a woman named Allie French (Renee Zellweger) gets off the train in Appaloosa. She has little in her purse but immediately intrigues both Virgil and Everett, with Virgil awkwardly but successfully courting her. What seems as though it will be a quick, straightforward happy ending for the pair, who set about building a little house in town, turns out to be considerably more complicated, as Allie latches on to a succession of men and even makes a play for Everett.

At 115 minutes the movie goes on just a beat too long, with another sequence after what seems a natural ending point, but all in all this was a very good movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of Harris and Mortensen in particular, both their humorous repartee and also the unspoken interactions of men who have known each other for many years.

Both actors are truly excellent as two very well-written, fully formed characters; of the two, I especially enjoyed observing Mortensen and the way he constantly backs Virgil, both physically and emotionally. Everett is the observant man always sitting quietly in a corner with his rifle, ready to leap into action at a moment's notice, and he's also the man who clears the playing field for Virgil with Allie, although Everett spotted her first. This deference doesn't diminish Mortensen's character, but makes him more powerful; he's easily the most mature character in the movie.

While most of APPALOOSA plays very well, there are a couple of flaws in the story and/or screenplay. The first is that it made no sense to me that men as experienced and cagey as Virgil and Everett didn't see that they had a chink in the armor, namely Allie, which could be successfully manipulated by Bragg. Did they think a cold-blooded killer would be a gentleman and leave her out of the situation? I'm intentionally being a bit vague so as not to be too spoilerish, as it's a major turning point in the story.

I also found it interesting that a scene where Virgil has, shall we say, "anger management issues" and is restrained by Everett isn't developed further. It seemed as though that moment was setting up something deeper to be explored in the character, but they never end up going there.

My only other negative feedback on the film is that I didn't especially enjoy Renee Zellweger's Allie, but I can't quite decide if that was more a function of the actress or the character. I've liked Zellweger fine in other films, but she seemed a bit out of place here, and while her rather "lived in" appearance in this film might have fit a character struggling to survive in a rough environment, at the same time I didn't quite get why she enthralled so many men. Perhaps her constant "availability" to the most powerful man in her orbit at the moment had something to do with it, if women were in short supply in the struggling Appaloosa.

What intrigued me more than Allie herself was the very interesting way Virgil and Everett dealt with her, including Virgil taking Everett's word over Allie's at a key moment near the end. It got a nice chuckle from the audience.

APPALOOSA was filmed by Dean Semler.

Despite any quibbles, all in all I thought this was a very good film which I look forward to seeing again in the future.

I regretfully chose not to stay for the Q&A ssession with Robert Knott, as I was pretty tired after a very full 48 hours at the festival!

APPALOOSA is available in a low-priced widescreen DVD. It can also be rented for streaming from Amazon; there's a trailer at the Amazon link.

Tonight's Movie: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) at UCLA

Last Monday's John Ford double bill in the Archive Treasures 50th Anniversary Celebration began with MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), reviewed here, and continued with a 35mm print of SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949).

As I mentioned in my review of CLEMENTINE, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON has been one of my favorite movies for many years -- since I was a young teenager, as a matter of fact. I was fortunate to see it on a big screen at an impressionable age, when my parents took me to see it in the huge (maybe even legendary) RKO retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art when I was about 14 or 15.

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy," following FORT APACHE (1948) and preceding RIO GRANDE (1950). It's my favorite of the group -- though RIO GRANDE is an awfully close second -- and it's my favorite John Ford film. Ford's THE SEARCHERS (1956) might be the greater movie, but YELLOW RIBBON is the one with the bigger place in my heart.

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is really a fairly simple tale of cavalry life on the American frontier; indeed, the longest section of the film depicts an army unit simply going in a big circle, heading from the fort to a stagecoach station but instead encountering "Indian trouble" and ultimately heading back to the fort. It's the journey that matters, not so much the destination.

John Wayne, in one of his finest performances, plays Captain Nathan Brittles, who's about to retire. Major Allshard (George O'Brien) commands the fort, but Brittles is greatly looked up to by his men -- not to mention the major, who cheerfully encourages Brittles to protest his orders, in triplicate. The widowed Brittles serves as a father figure to those who serve under him, such as the fractious Lt. Flint Cohill (John Agar) and 2nd Lt. Ross Pennell (Harry Carey Jr.), who squabble over Major Allshard's pretty niece Olivia (Joanne Dru).

It's because Olivia isn't "army" enough that the Major directs Brittles to deliver her and his wife Abby (Mildred Natwick) to the stagecoach station, so Mrs. Allshard can escort her niece back to the East. Ultimately Olivia, Flint, and Ross will all do some maturing due to their experiences traveling with Captain Brittles.

How do I love SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON? Let me count the ways:

*John Wayne, John Wayne, John Wayne. He is simply superb as the aging longtime soldier who will soon be leaving his military "family." The scene where his men honor him with a retirement gift never, ever fails to make me cry. Perfect acting, and perfectly hitting the emotional notes without being manipulative.

*Ben Johnson, in a charismatic performance as Captain Brittles' scout, Sgt. Tyree, a former Confederate soldier. Has there even been an actor who could ride on screen like Ben Johnson? Having recently heard movie horse expert Petrine Day Mitchum speak, along with currently reading her book HOLLYWOOD HOOFBEATS, I particularly noticed Johnson's beautiful horse on this viewing; Steel, who was owned by Johnson's father-in-law, was considered one of the greatest of all movie horses. (Johnson, incidentally, plays a character named Trooper Travis Tyree in RIO GRANDE and another Travis in WAGON MASTER.)

*Monument Valley. My 2013 photos of my visit to the movie's locations may be found here.

*The Ford Stock Company. Ward Bond may be missing on this go-around, but George O'Brien is on hand, and many of the players worked with Ford on other occasions, including Johnson, Carey, Agar, Dru, Natwick, and Victor McLaglen, Arthur Shields, Francis Ford, Jack Pennick, and more. For me, the film is a visit with beloved friends.

*The tone. The film has moments of melancholy and enough issues and conflicts between the army and Indians to keep things interesting and even thought-provoking, but it's essentially an optimistic view of the military and the American West, rather than the more mournful takes of some of Ford's later work. There are some later Ford films I still need to see for the first time, including TWO RODE TOGETHER (1961), but I'll confess that I've never been especially taken with the downbeat THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962). That said, it's been enough years since my last viewing that I need to try it again -- especially as Edmond O'Brien is in the cast.

*Always noticing something new, even on the tenth viewing -- this time it was the constant presence of dogs, not just at the fort but on the road with the troops, even fording a river alongside the soldiers! I believe I've heard they were all unscripted local dogs who wandered into the film; the funniest dog is the one who sleeps alongside the horses lined up for inspection.

*The Technicolor cinematography, the last point I'll mention, which I will comment on at greater length. My favorite sequence in the film, as I'm sure it is for many, is the scene when the soldiers are trudging through the desert during a lightning storm, while the doctor (Shields) and Mrs. Allshard attempt a surgical procedure on a wounded soldier in the caravan's lone wagon.

The look and feel of this scene is simply stunning, unlike any other film I can recall before or since. You can almost smell the dust as the raindrops hit the ground. Cinematographer Winton Hoch shot this scene under protest, due to both the lack of light and the danger from the lightning, but I don't think anyone would dispute it's ironically Hoch's work in this sequence which cemented the Oscar he won for SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON.

This sequence also underscores something modern movies have lost: the magic of reality captured on film. Surely, older movies had all sorts of special effects, with glass plates, forced perspectives, miniatures, and back projections, but at the same time they weren't completely overrun with CGI so that the viewer constantly wonders what's real and what's been generated on the computer. Some of the power and the beauty of the storm sequence is because it's real.

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON runs 104 minutes. The Frank S. Nugent and Laurence Stallings screenplay was based on a story by James Warner Bellah. The narrator is actor-director Irving Pichel.

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON has been released on DVD multiple times, including several single title editions and in more than one TCM collection. It's also part of the John Wayne - John Ford Film Collection. Years ago it also had a release on VHS.

Last week the Warner Archive conducted a survey to assess interest in the Blu-ray releases of several titles. SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON was one of about 10 candidates, so perhaps it will have a release in that format in the future.

Update: SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is now available on Blu-ray, which I have reviewed here.

Finally, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON can be rented for streaming on Amazon.

Most highly recommended. "Lest We Forget."

May 2016 Update: I had the chance to see this again via a digital restoration at this year's TCM Classic Film Festival.