Coonskin-hatted trapper Robert Taylor is pursued by coonskin-hatted, Eleanor Parker in the wilds of 1790s Kentucky in this romantic comedy.
It strikes me that this seems much more the sort of movie you might get from Universal than MGM, even though it has the usual MGM gloss when it comes to all the details, what with Taylor's spotless buckskins, and his cap looking like it just came out of the vaults of Revillon Freres. The casting is prime too, with James Arness, Rhys Williams, and Victor McLaglen. Indeed, it's McLaglen who's the tell that this is MGM's take on THE QUIET MAN. Unfortunately, it lacks the boisterous good humor of Ford's take, the fight choreography is dull and cut so you can tell there's a stunt double for Taylor, and Ralph Moody's wooden Indian lacks the lurking menace of Barry Fitzgerald's amiable IRA man.
It's amiable, hokey cheese, and Universal might have cast Tony Curtis, which would have made it fun.
It strikes me that this seems much more the sort of movie you might get from Universal than MGM, even though it has the usual MGM gloss when it comes to all the details, what with Taylor's spotless buckskins, and his cap looking like it just came out of the vaults of Revillon Freres. The casting is prime too, with James Arness, Rhys Williams, and Victor McLaglen. Indeed, it's McLaglen who's the tell that this is MGM's take on THE QUIET MAN. Unfortunately, it lacks the boisterous good humor of Ford's take, the fight choreography is dull and cut so you can tell there's a stunt double for Taylor, and Ralph Moody's wooden Indian lacks the lurking menace of Barry Fitzgerald's amiable IRA man.
It's amiable, hokey cheese, and Universal might have cast Tony Curtis, which would have made it fun.