IMDb RATING
6.9/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
The saga of the Devereaux rancher family, set in 1880's Arizona.The saga of the Devereaux rancher family, set in 1880's Arizona.The saga of the Devereaux rancher family, set in 1880's Arizona.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total
Robert Adler
- O'Reilly
- (uncredited)
Richard Alexander
- Extra Outside Courtroom
- (uncredited)
George Bell
- Cowboy
- (uncredited)
Rudy Bowman
- Courtroom Spectator
- (uncredited)
Paul Bradley
- Juror
- (uncredited)
John Breen
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStuntman Russell Saunders broke and did permanent damage to his arm falling fifty feet (15 meters) into a lake while doubling for Richard Widmark.
- GoofsTwice in the film, Arizona is called a "state". The film is set in the 1880s. Arizona became the 48th state in 1912. In the 1880s, Arizona was still a territory.
- Quotes
Mike Devereaux: He'll cool down... and when he does he'll make the deal. He's too smart not to. Ain't that right, Ben?
Ben Devereaux: I don't know. But anybody that throws $10,000 in a spittoon makes me nervous.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Marty (1955)
Featured review
Joseph and his brothers.
Although a remake,this western strongly recalls the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis.After all,that's the hero's name ,and his brothers really sell him when they refuse to give more money to the bosses of the copper mine .Leonard Maltin wrote that it owes a deal to "king lear" too,the daughters becoming sons.Richard Widmark is the stand-out and easily outshines the "good" Robert Wagner and his two other brothers who are no more than walk-ons anyway.In his final confrontation with Tracy,he even surpasses the veteran :he succeeds,which is not a small feat, in making us believe that he had a very hard life and that he's not so bad after all.
"Broken lance" ranks among Dmytryk's best works ,more human than "Warlock" and a thousand times better than the latter days ' fiascoes such as "Alvarez Kelly" and the dreadful "Shalako".Released just after the brilliant "Caine mutiny" ,it compares favorably to it,in its own way.The opening is intriguing :we do believe ,for a short while,that Joe (Wagner) is the black sheep of the family ,and then , a long flashback -a device which is rarely used in westerns - brilliantly starting with the patriarch's(Tracy)painting in a deserted house ,tells the whole story.Also unusual is the rather long trial ,a reason for which some will classify the movie as talky,which is unfair,because so many qualities in a western are rare to find.Tracy's death is a real tour de force verging on supernatural.There's also a sensitive wistful performance by Katy Jurado ,as Tracy's second wife .
"Broken lance" ranks among Dmytryk's best works ,more human than "Warlock" and a thousand times better than the latter days ' fiascoes such as "Alvarez Kelly" and the dreadful "Shalako".Released just after the brilliant "Caine mutiny" ,it compares favorably to it,in its own way.The opening is intriguing :we do believe ,for a short while,that Joe (Wagner) is the black sheep of the family ,and then , a long flashback -a device which is rarely used in westerns - brilliantly starting with the patriarch's(Tracy)painting in a deserted house ,tells the whole story.Also unusual is the rather long trial ,a reason for which some will classify the movie as talky,which is unfair,because so many qualities in a western are rare to find.Tracy's death is a real tour de force verging on supernatural.There's also a sensitive wistful performance by Katy Jurado ,as Tracy's second wife .
- dbdumonteil
- Nov 10, 2003
- Permalink
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1
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