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Strong and Moving!

Sadly Over-hyped

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I did not like this at all. At best, it might have been a serviceable Western. Glenn Ford plays Jubal Troop (amusing name), who stumbles upon a ranch run by Ernest Borgnine. Borgnine hires him and likes him so much he soon makes him the foreman. Unfortunately, there's a jerk who's been there a lot longer than Ford who resents him. Even more unfortunately, he's played by Rod Steiger with a Cajun accent. Steiger absolutely stinks this film up. Every moment he's on screen I hated it. There's not too much interest besides that, though. Ford's character is mostly a bore, really disappointing considering how awesome he was when they gave him something to work with in 3:10 to Yuma the next year. A lot of the plot revolves around Borgnine's whore of a wife, Valerie French, who isn't very good, either. Ford's love interest, Felicia Farr, is a bore, too. Charles Bronson also appears. The color cinematography is pretty good.

Pretty good oater. Rod Stieger is authentically hateful as the scheming,conniving, lying,cowardly bully. Borgnine is solid as the crude but nice rancher. Ford should have just opened up to the boss and told him what was going on with his flirtatious wife. You have to be pretty dumb to stand by and let it play out like that. Also, he should have just shot Stieger in the gut after he fired a bullet close to his head with a rifle and then gloated about it. He should have at least have beaten him senseless well before things got out of hand....Like when they first met and Stieger kept insulting him and calling him names; even burning his clothes while Ford slept.....time to pound some face. Not much credibility here. Beautiful scenery. The story was engrossing and well- paced.The film was not hampered by silly soundtrack music typical of the times. It was suspenseful; the tension made me feel uncomfortable, and the film built up empathy for the characters. But in the end, it seemed too fabricated...not really all that intelligent.

I caught this on Comcast's list of free movies, and considering the overall quality level of the flicks Comcast offers for free, I wasn't expecting much. However, I watched it after reading the generally positive comments here, and those comments were correct.There are so many westerns that, just by the law of averages, most of them are mediocre, but "Jubal" is an unexpected standout. The plot - a reworking of "Othello" as has been noted - is a disquisition on the themes of jealousy, loyalty, honor, betrayal, and friendship. Those themes have been done ad infinitum in other movies but I think two things stand put in "Jubal." First is the very high quality of the script. The dialogue is spare, straightforward and free of the hackneyed prose so endemic to most westerns. Second is the outstanding level of the acting, which is perhaps not unexpected with the likes of the great (and greatly underrated) Glenn Ford, Rod Steiger, Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson. Another factor that doesn't hurt is the outstanding cinematography of western vistas.A surprising sleeper, not to be missed if you get the chance to see it.

Jubal is directed by Delmer Daves and adapted by Daves and Russell S. Hughes from the Paul Wellman novel, Jubal Troop. It stars Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger, Charles Bronson, Valerie French & Felicia Farr. David Raksin scores the music and Charles Lawton Jr. is the cinematographer. Out of Columbia Pictures it's a CinemaScope/Technicolor production, and location for the shoot is Jackson Hole, The Grand Tetons, Wyoming, USA.Jubal Troop (Ford) is found exhausted out on the range and given shelter at a nearby ranch owned by Shep Horgan (Borgnine). Shep oversees Jubal's recovery and offers him a job as part of his ranch team. This is met with objection by Shep's mean foreman, Pinky (Steiger), but Shep is undeterred and Jubal goes on to prove his worth in the position. Shep and Jubal get on great, but trouble is brewing because Shep's pretty Canadian wife, Mae (French), has taken quite a shine to Jubal. This further enrages Pinky, and a hornets nest is stirred, spelling trouble for practically everyone.Delmer Daves' (Dark Passage/Broken Arrow) Jubal is often likened to William Shakespeare's Othello, that's something that, whilst being flattering, is best ignored. For Jubal, and its makers, deserve credit in their own right for producing such a tight, tense, adult Western. It's a film that's driven by characters who are caught in a web of jealousy and suppressed emotions, with the underrated Daves bringing some psychological dimensions into the narrative. He's also a director who knows that such a story benefits greatly by not including action and violence just for the sake of upping the tempo. He paces this film to precision, winding up the tension to breaking point, then to unleash all the pent up fury on the viewers, but even then he (correctly) chooses to keep some critical moments off the screen, gaining results far better than if stuff had actually been shown the audience (two shots in the finale are stupendously memorable). This griping human drama is played out in front of magnificent scenery, where Daves and Lawton Jr. (3:10 to Yuma/Comanche Station) utilise the CinemaScope and Technicolor facilities to their maximum potential. Filling the widescreen frame with majestic mountains,vibrant slanted forests and rolling grassy hills. The Grand Tetons location had previously been used in other notable Western movies, such as The Big Trail, The Big Sky and famously for George Stevens' Shane. While post Jubal it served a considerable purpose for Dances with Wolves. All of this grandeur for the eyes is boosted by Raksin's (Laura/Fallen Angel) score, with gentle swirls for the tender Jubal/Naomi thread and rushes for the posse sequences, it's an arrangement very at one with the mood and tempo of the story.The cast list oozes star power, and gets performances to match. Ford is a master at roles calling for underplayed intensity, and that's what he gives Jubal Troop. Keeping the characters cards close to his chest in the beginning, Ford pitches it perfect as the emotionally bottled up drifter. Borgnine, a year after his Oscar win for Marty, is perfect foil to Ford's calmness, he's in turn big and boisterous, often crude, yet under the bluster is a sweet and honest man. And there in the middle of the three men is Steiger, bringing the method. Pinky is brooding, devious and one pulse beat away from being psychotic, but Steiger, with a menacing drawl flowing out of his mouth, is creepily mannered. Steiger and Daves clashed other how to play Pinky, the director wanting something more akin to Ford's serene like role play, but Steiger wanted it played bitter and coiled spring like; the actor getting his way when producer William Fadiman sided with him.Valerie French (Decision at Sundown) looks beautiful in Technicolor, and in spite of an accent problem, does a neat line in how to play a smoldering fuse in a box of fire crackers. Felicia Farr (The Last Wagon) is the polar opposite, religiously comely and virginal, she's a touch underused but the play off with French impacts well in the story. Key support goes to Charles Bronson (The Magnificent Seven) as loyal friend to Jubal, Reb. Played with laid back machismo, it's something of what would become the trademark Bronson performance. Other notables in the support cast are the always value for money Noah Beery Jr. (Wagons West), John Dierkes (The Hanging Tree) and Jack Elam (The Man From Laramie).Damn fine film that's worthy of being sought out by those interested in the best of the 50s slew of Adult Westerns. 8.5/10