Yellow Sky (1948)

William A. Wellman: Yellow Sky (US 1948). Harry Morgan (Half Pint) and Richard Widmark (Dude). Photo: La Cinémathèque française.

La Ville abandonée / Polttava aurinko / Desperados (Swedish title) / Cielo amarillo (US Spanish).

US © 1948 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.

William A. Wellman / États-Unis / 1948 / 98 min / DCP / VOSTF

D'après le roman Yellow Sky de W. R. Burnett.

Avec Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, Anne Baxter.

Almost no music on the soundtrack, natural sound effects instead.

Loc: Death Valley National Monument, CA/NV; near Lone Pine, CA (ghost town).

E-sous-titres français: Scena Media.

Vu samedi 26 avril 2025, La Cinémathèque française, Rétrospective Le Western, en 25 films indispensables, Salle Henri Langlois, 51 Rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, M° Bercy Lignes 14, 6

La Cinémathèque française: "Poursuivis par des soldats, des hors-la-loi se réfugient dans une ville fantôme perdue au milieu du désert. Rongés par l'appât du gain, Richard Widmark et Gregory Peck s'affrontent dans un huis clos tendu, qui questionne la loyauté envers les siens et le désir de rédemption. Un western atypique, perpétuellement surprenant par sa violence contenue."

AA: A vigorous, ascetic Western about the desperate escape of brutal bank robbers into Death Valley. Nomen ist omen, but the robbers avoid what looks like certain death thanks to a prospector and his granddaughter (Anne Baxter) who against their better judgement decide to help them, which they will soon enough regret. A band of Apaches appears in an unconventional function. They pursue peaceful coexistence with the prospector team in the ghost town called Yellow Sky. 

 

Also the female protagonist interpreted by Baxter is unusual. She is a true Wild West woman, raised by the Apache, able to defend herself in gunplay and fistfight. A real danger of sexual violence is omnipresent from the side of the bandits, even from "the good bandit" Stretch (Gregory Peck). Richard Widmark is a reliably menacing figure, driven by hate and revenge. Gregory Peck is the weakest link in the cast, phony as the bandit leader.

William Wellman was a fine director through all decades, and Yellow Sky belongs to his best achievements, also thanks to the powerful cinematography of Joseph MacDonald. The action choreography is effective, and there are memorable visual effects such as an extreme close-up through the helical grooves of a rifle barrel. Samuel Fuller reused the effect in Forty Guns. And it became a permanent element in James Bond opening credits.

Wings, Beggars of Life, The Public Enemy, Wild Boys of the Road, A Star is Born (1937), Nothing Sacred, Story of G.I. Joe, Westward the Women, Island in the Sky, Track of the Cat and Good-bye, My Lady are among my favourites.

The theme of sexual violence appears also in Beggars of Life, Wild Boys of the Road and Westward the Women. In all three the rapist is killed.

The year is 1867. The banditry belongs to the aftermath of the Civil War. Stretch's home has been destroyed by Quantrill's Raiders.

...

I had seen Yellow Sky on Finnish tv in 1975 and on German tv in 1982 (Deutsche Fassung). Now I saw it for the first time on a cinema screen, and it made a big difference. Joseph MacDonald was at his finest in this period (My Darling Clementine, Call Northside 777, Panic in the Streets, Viva Zapata!). Because the show started over 20 minutes late, I missed the ending in order to catch rare Anna May Wong screenings.