Tourneur Classic Movies revisited

Director Jacques Tourneur was born in November, but for whatever reason TCM honors him from time to time with a daytime lineup of some of his movies. Such is the case today, September 9, and one of his films that I haven't recommended before is the western Great Day in the Morning, which concludes the afternoon lineup at 6:15 PM.

Robert Stack stars as Owen Pentecost, and as the movie opens it's the beginning of 1861. Now, this means the start of the Civil War, although that hasn't happened yet. Owen is making his way west to Colorado, still a territory at the time, and along they way is saved from Indians by Steven Kirby (Alex Nicol). Steven is also helping a northerner make her way west, in the form of Ann Alaine (Virginia Mayo). Owen, however, is from North Carolina, which is going to secede in the not too distant future, but since the war hasn't begun yet Ann is able to stand up for Owen and break up any fighting between northern and southern men.

In a surprisingly small (and snowless, since it's still late March) Devner, they stop at a hotel which, like a lot in town, is owned by Jumbo Means (Raymond Burr) and staffed by barkeep Boston Grant (Ruth Roman). Owen and Jumbo begin to play poker against each other, although Jumbo is an inveterate cheat. Owen spots the cheating and challenges Jumbo to a fair game, eventually bankrupting Jumbo, although the question of how much Boston is helping is an open one: both Boston and Ann have a thing for Owen.

Among the things Owen wins from Jumbo are a bunch of mining claims, as it's thought there's gold in them thar hills. Owen goes out to visit the mining area, and finds a bunch of southerners trying to eke out a living with the hopes of finding gold. They're hoping that in the upcoming war, they'll be able to help the Confederate cause. Owen isn't unwilling, but is there to make money first and foremost. His fellow southerners aren't happy, but Owen has the power.

Pre-war tensions continue to mount and, as you might guess, things break down along the lines of which state people came from back east. Owen would stil rather be more of a mercenary, but with everybody around him being violent, he's forced to defend himself, killing a miner trying to cheat him and winding up taking care of the dead man's orphaned son. And then news reaches Colorado that the Confederates have attacked Fort Sumter, kicking off the Civil War and forcing Owen finally to take sides. The rest of the personal stories of these characters play out against this backdrop.

Great Day in the Morning is another of those well-enough made mid-tier westerns that Hollywood was still cranking out in the 1950s, with them being a bit more grown-up in themes to contrast with what was moving to television. The actors all do a professional job with the material which is competent if not spectactular. The print that TCM ran was also a very good one with nice color and wide-screen photography. If you want to be entertained, you could certainly do far worse than to watch Great Day in the Morning.