- Desert Fury
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Desert Fury 
Theatrical release posterDirected by Lewis Allen Produced by Hal B. Wallis Written by Screenplay:
A. I. Bezzerides
Robert Rossen
Story:
Ramona StewartStarring Lizabeth Scott
John Hodiak
Burt Lancaster
Mary Astor
Wendell CoreyMusic by Miklós Rózsa Cinematography Edward Cronjager
Charles LangEditing by Warren Low Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release date(s) August 15, 1947
(United States)Running time 96 minutes Country United States Language English Desert Fury is a 1947 Paramount Pictures color film noir drama film starring Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak and Burt Lancaster, with Mary Astor and Wendell Corey.[1]
Directed by Lewis Allen, the story was adapted for the screen by A.I. Bezzerides and Robert Rossen, based on the racy novel Desert Town by Ramona Stewart. It was produced by Hal Wallis. Music was by Miklós Rózsa, and cinematography in Technicolor by Charles Lang.
Desert Fury has fast and furious dialogue, dark secrets and outraged face slappings.
Contents
Plot
Fritzi Haller (Mary Astor) is the tough owner of a saloon and casino in the small fictional mining town of Chuckawalla, Nevada. Her daughter, Paula Haller (Lizabeth Scott), has just quit school and returned home at the same time that gangster Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak) has returned. He was once involved with Fritzi, but left town under suspicion of murdering his wife.
Paula falls for Bendix and they become involved. Paula's old boyfriend, and local lawman, Tom Hanson (Burt Lancaster), along with Bendix's sidekick, Johnny Ryan (Wendell Corey), try to break up the relationship. When Fritzi finds out, she angrily tries to protect Paula and put a stop to her seeing Bendix.
Bendix's past catches up with him in an unexpected way when the car he is in, running from Hanson (who wants to rid the town of the likes of Bendix and Ryan), crashes through the railing as it is going onto the bridge and plunges down the embankment, killing him.
Cast
- Lizabeth Scott as Paula Haller
- John Hodiak as Eddie Bendix
- Burt Lancaster as Tom Hanson
- Mary Astor as Fritzi Haller
- Wendell Corey as Johnny Ryan
- Kristine Miller as Claire Lindquist
- William Harrigan as Judge Berle Lindquist
- James Flavin as Sheriff Pat Johnson
- Jane Novak as Mrs. Lindquist
- Anna Camargo as Rosa
Production
Scenes were shot on location in the small Ventura County, California, town of Piru, with the northwest side of Center Street, at Main, used as the exterior of Fritzi's saloon and casino; the Piru Mansion was used as the Haller home and the historic Piru bridge was used as the locale of the car crash. Some scenes were also shot in Clarkdale, Arizona.
See also
References
- ^ Desert Fury at the Internet Movie Database.
External links
- Desert Fury at the Internet Movie Database
- Desert Fury at AllRovi
- Desert Fury at the TCM Movie Database
- Desert Fury film clip at DVD Beaver (includes images)
- Desert Fury film clip at You Tube (beginning of film, including film credits)
The films of Robert Rossen Films Johnny O'Clock (1947) • Body and Soul (1947) • All the King's Men (1949) • The Brave Bulls (1951) • Mambo (1954) • Alexander the Great (1956) • Island in the Sun (1957) • They Came to Cordura (1959) • The Hustler (1961) • Lilith (1964)Screenplays Marked Woman (with Abem Finkel) (1937) • They Won't Forget (with Aben Kandel) (1937) • Racket Busters (with Warren Duff) (1938) • Dust Be My Destiny (1939) • The Roaring Twenties (with Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay) (1939) • A Child Is Born (1939) • The Sea Wolf (1941) • Out of the Fog (with Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay) (1941) • Blues in the Night (1941) • Edge of Darkness (1943) • A Walk in the Sun (1945) • The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) • Desert Fury (with A.I. Bezzerides) (1947)Productions The Undercover Man (1949)Categories:- 1947 films
- 1940s drama films
- American drama films
- Color film noir
- English-language films
- Films based on novels
- Films directed by Lewis Allen
- Films shot in Technicolor
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