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Virginian (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Matthew Crossman (30th November 2015). |
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The Film
 ‘The Virginian’ opens in 1885 as Miss Molly Wood (Barbara Britton) is leaving her family home in Vermont to start her career as a school teacher in Wyoming. She is leaving against the wishes of her Mother and the man who had hoped to marry her but she feels that the security and tedium of Vermont will eventually drive her mad. Molly wishes to spread her wings and experience the World even if that means starting in the a place like Wyoming which is on the border of lawlessness. Molly takes the train and eventually arrives in Medicine Bow. There she meets a cow hand called Steve Andrews (Sonny Tufts), who takes an instant like to young Molly, and a foreman of the cowboys, the titular Virginian (Joel McCrea). The Virginian gets off on the wrong foot with Molly when she is frightened by large bison. The Virginian scoops her up on his horse and rides her to safety but damages her umbrella in the process. Later, whilst Molly is waiting for the stage coach that will take her to the school house and the small cabin where she will live, The Virginian, smitten with Molly, tries to apologise for his earlier actions. She rebuffs his apology. In the saloon bar Trampas (Brian Donlevy) has also noticed Molly and tries to send her a drink which is intercepted and returned by The Virginian. Trampas then slurs Molly’s name and The Virginian pulls a gun on him and warns him off. Just as Molly is settling in to her new surroundings some families are leaving the area due to rustling. The Virginian and the town’s Judge discuss the matter. The Virginian has his suspicions about who is doing the rustling but he won’t say who until he has some concrete evidence. The Virginian then suggests that the town throw a party to welcome Molly and to open the new school house. The Judge thinks this is a fine idea and The Virginian suggests that the Judge makes sure that Trampas and his men are invited. When the Judge questions the reason behind this The Virginian suggests that whilst everyone is at the party it would be a good time for the rustlers to strike again. Meanwhile Steve is becoming quite friendly with Trampas and The Virginian warns his old friend about the company he has been keeping and tells Steve he won’t cover up for him if he discovers that Steve is involved in any rustling activity. Whilst out on a long cattle drive Trampas starts a stampede and in the ensuing chaos he takes the opportunity to rustle several hundred head of cattle. The Virginian is concerned that during the stampede Steve may have been killed but Steve is working for Trampas. The cattle that was stolen belonged to the Judge who persuades The Virginian to gather a posse and go after the rustlers. The Virginian soon catches up with the rustlers and one is killed and two others surrender. Steve is caught by the Virginian who tries to convince The Virginian to let him go. The Virginian refuses and takes Steve, along with the other rustlers, back to town. Trampas, however, manages to escape. The following day Steve, and the other two rustlers are hanged for their crimes. The Virginian then goes after Trampas. Trampas manages to shoot The Virginian in the back. Molly then takes care of The Virginian during his recovery and when she learns that The Virginian had Steve hanged she decides to go back to Vermont. Whilst Molly is in the stage coach that is taking her back to the train station the driver manages to convince Molly that she is in love with The Virginian after all. She returns and agrees to marry The Virginian. Just before Molly and The Virginian’s wedding Trampas turns up and tells The Virginian to leave town before sundown or else. Molly pleads with The Virginian to leave but he refuses. He arms himself with Steve’s gun and awaits Trampas’ attack. The two men then begin to stalk each other in the final, climatic gun battle. ‘The Virginian’ is a classic of the Western genre. By the time this version was released in 1946 the story had already been committed to celluloid on three previous occasions in 1914, 1923 and 1929. All these versions were based on the novel ‘The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains’ by Owen Wister from 1902, which was also made into a stage play in 1904. It is the stage play that this version, and the previous three versions, all adhere to. ‘The Virginian’ is such an iconic Western tale that two more film versions would be made (in 2000 with Bill Pullman and 2014 with Trace Adkins in the title role). It also provided the basis for the long running television series ‘The Virginian’ which ran for nine seasons from 1962 to 1971 and spanned 249 episodes. Despite all those versions it is this version that head and shoulders above them all. All the usual Western clichés are included, none more so than Trampas (the baddie) always being dressed completely in black, hat included, whilst, of course, The Virginian has a white hat. I have to admit that I’m a bit of a sucker for this old Westerns and ‘The Virginian’ ticks all the boxes that reminds me of watching these on television in the early 1970’s (where the seemed to always be playing on a Sunday afternoon) before rushing outside to play cowboys with my cap gun. At it’s heart, as it often is with Westerns from this era, is a moralistic story of one man standing up and doing the right thing against all the odds (see ‘High Noon’, ‘My Darling Clementine’, and ‘Shane’, to name but three, for more of the same). It’s good to see that ‘The Virginian’ will be back on shelves in the UK on DVD.
Video
Presented in it’s original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 which means you will have black ‘pillar boxes’ on the side of your screen (unless you are watching on a really old television). I was quite impressed with the picture presented on this DVD for a film that is approaching it’s seventieth birthday. The picture is free from marks and scratches and the colour palette is pretty good. Everything from the brown trails of the cattle tracks to the blue dress that we first see Molly in is well represented. It’s good to see that someone has taken care of such a classic of the genre down the years.
Audio
2.0 Mono is the only option available. The sound is nice a clear with preference given over to dialogue when musical soundtrack overlaps. This DVD provides are variety of languages to listen to the film in. These are; English, French, German, Italian and Castellano Spanish. The DVD also provides subtitles in a number of languages. These are; English, French, German, Italian, Castellano Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Swedish.
Extras
There are none on this disc.
Overall
This classic Western gets a respectable DVD release with a decent picture and sound. It’s a shame that not even a trailer could be dredged up as an extra that that is the only negative on this release. ‘The Virginian’ harkens back to the days when movies were told in a linear fashion and were very rarely over ninety minutes. It’s moralistic story is perfect for young or old viewers and perfect for watching after your Sunday roast. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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