The Oaters
A western never misses. The actors and director may be untalented, the budget low, but the movie camera always finds some beauty and some excitement in galloping horses and sweeping landscapes. Since The Great Train Robbery (1903), Hollywood has made a steady, handsome income--and taken frequent expensive flyers--on what the trade calls "oaters" (TIME, April 29). There is still no sign of a letup.
David 0. Selznick's Duel in the Sun, with all its dazzling cast and alleged $7 million cost, is nonetheless a horse opera. So are Howard Hughes's The Outlaw (which started out to be a story of Billy the Kid, but now features Jane Russell) and John Ford's handsome My Darling Clementine. Still to come: P: Walt Disney's Pecos Bill, another mixture of cartooning and live action, with Roy Rogers and horse, Trigger. P:Winchester 73, Walter Wanger's oater-with-psychology, starring Joan Bennett. P:| Frank Capra's Pioneer Woman. P:J Cecil B. De Mille's Unconquered, involving Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard in flying tommyhawks. P: Warner Bros.' Calamity Jane, with Ann Sheridan. P: Paramount's California, with Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck.