DVD Review: Kino releases Four Faces West (1948)
Continuing their great work in making vintage cinema readily available, Kino Lorber's classics division has released Alfred Green's "Four Faces West" starring Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.
Back in the summer of 1948, producer Harry Sherman chose to withdraw “Four Faces West” from distribution simply because there were too many westerns in the theaters already. It was held off until a Fall release. Unfortunately, it still managed to lose money at the box office despite critical acclaim. This quiet western is, in fact, quite good!
Joel McCrea, as Ross McEwin, opens the film by robbing a bank, but doing so in a calm, almost friendly manner, leaving behind an IOU that he intends to honor when he can. Charles Bickford, playing law man Pat Garrett, gathers a posse and goes after him. McElwin is bitten by a rattlesnake as he waits to hop a train, and once on board is helped by passengers Monte Marquez (Joseph Calleia) and Fay Hollister (McCrea’s real life wife Frances Dee). The film then takes us on a journey where McEwin continues on his journey, picks up a job as a hired hand, and develops a romance with Hollister. Meanwhile, Garrett and his posse remain on his trail.
“Four Faces West” was made for a budget of $1.2 million dollars and grossed only $1.1 million, falling short of breaking even. It is perhaps due to the abundance of westerns in release at the time (including John Ford’s “Fort Apache”). Director Alfred E. Green was a veteran by this time, having helmed such notable films as “Ella Cinders” (1926), “Smart Money” (1931), “Baby Face” (1933), “Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry” (1937), and “The Jolson Story” (1947). “Four Faces West” is a rare western for Green, whose prolific career crossed over many genres, having begun in 1917 and continued into television production.
The filming of this western fluctuates between vast outdoor footage and some pretty obvious projection screen scenes. The location filming was at Inscription Rock in New Mexico. Production notes state that cinematographer Russell Harlan shot a sequence where Frances Dee, on horseback, is surrounded by fire by placing the her 24 feet away, but at an angle where she was caught by a coated mirror. Her image was secured by filming the mirror, which made it unnecessary to shoot the flames, subsequently shoot the actress, then expose both negatives.
It is the performances that sustain “Four Faces West” with the palpable chemistry between McCrea and Dee central to the film. Supporting work by Bickford, Calleia, William Conrad, and Martin Garralaga are also worth noting. This was the fourth and final film that McCrea and Dee did together, and one of the few films Frances did while raising her children. McCrea is an effective throwback to the presentation of William S. Hart in silent westerns.
Kino Lorber’s classics division offers a beautiful transfer with sharp images that are especially impressive during the location filming’s long shots. Some of the darkly lit studio-filmed sequences also resonate nicely, with McCrea’s charismatic presence in the foreground.
The blu ray will be released December 19, 2017, and is available for order here.