It's a pity Joanne Woodward didn't meet Paul Newman earlier as they would have been perfect together in this comic western. I just didn't buy Van Heflin as the hero who is so attractive to women that they melt when he appears. Newman yes, Heflin, no, as much as I admired him in serious roles like Shane and 3.10 to Yuma. He plays a 'Blue legs', that's a Yankee soldier in confederate country. Coming home after the civil war has ended, he's seen the light and has decided he's going to set up church as the local preacher. The town hierarchy led by a grumpy Raymond Burr, always good as threatening thugs, dislikes our Van and wants him gone. A couple of past girlfriends of Vans are still fawning over him and as happens in these 50's Hollywood westerns, brawls break out. Some regular western character actors are thrown in for good measure, Phil Carey, James Griffith and Myron Healy, all serviceable and the result would have been a pleasant easy going family film of it's time. There's no bloodshed, just fist fights, lovely scenery, Cinemascope, a half decent script and acting. What lifts this light hearted romp is a cracking first movie introduction of Joanne Woodward who steals every scene she's in as an orphan country girl, wild and ignorant, sassy as they come and tough as old boots who our Van comes across living alone in a deserted shack. He decides it would be a useful place to hang his hat and takes the girl under his wing, mistakingly assuming she's only about 14/15 years old, it turns out she's actually 18. There's no suggestion of misbehavior in the relationship, although Joanne does in the end calm down and starts to become attracted to our hero. This part is quite hard to believe but she's so good, it's hardly any wonder that within a year or two she would win a best actress Oscar. She left me with a smile on my face. I'm suddenly a huge fan having recently seen her in another terrific movie with Paul, The Long Hot Summer. I did see her quite a bit in the past but clearly not her best movies and hadn't taken that much notice, now I will.
Review of Count Three and Pray
