Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Broken Lance Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 25, 2015

Is it only a coincidence that the rise of the Civil Rights Era also saw a number of films that addressed so-called “race relations” from the standpoint of the Old American West, and specifically with regard to cultural “half breeds” of a sort who might have been born into one ethnicity but who then were raised by another group? While there were certainly potent films made during the 1950s that at least tangentially touched upon the interaction between whites and blacks (The Defiant Ones), some of those entries (including the Stanley Kramer film) tended to approach that subject with kid gloves at times, offering a somewhat refracted take on what turned out to be one of the defining movements of the mid 20th century. It’s possible that the same sort of “sideways” thinking could have helped to spark the ideas behind the redolent novels of Alan LeMay that later gave birth to such films as The Searchers and The Unforgiven, where whites are forced to confront their prejudices with regard to, in the case of The Searchers, a white girl taken by “Indians” (as they were often referred to back in those days), or, in the case of The Unforgiven, a Native American girl who had been raised by a white family. It’s interesting that Broken Lance actually beat both of these well remembered films to the screen by at least a couple of years, and also that the film dealt a bit more directly with perceived bigotry, though again that aspect is simply part of the subtext of some roiling dysfunction within a family. In this particular instance, the racial divide is one between 19th century brothers, as Joe Devereaux (Robert Wagner) is a so-called “half breed” whose Irish American father, Matt (Spencer Tracy), had married Joe’s mother, a Native American woman referred to only as Señora (Katy Jurado, Academy Award nominated for this performance), after Matt’s first wife had died. That first marriage had resulted in Joe’s three older brothers Ben (Richard Widmark), Mike (Hugh O’Brian) and Denny (Earl Holliman).

While Jurado was Oscar nominated for Broken Lance, Philip Yordan actually took a statuette home for his story for the film, though ironically that “story” was actually Yordan’s screenplay for 1949’s House of Strangers, a film which posited Edward G. Robinson as the Italian American paterfamilias of a brood of dysfunctional boys. Broken Lance actually begins in the wake of Matt’s death and Joe’s incarceration, though the film takes a bit of time to actually detail all of this. What’s clear from the get go is that Joe is obviously the outcast (or out half caste, as the case may be), and that his brothers, Ben in particular, don’t want him around anymore. Ben offers him a seemingly generous combination of piles of cash and a new life in Oregon if he leaves the Devereaux homestead to the other brothers, but it’s obvious that Joe is not going to be bribed to forego his inheritance.

Ben and the other Caucasian brothers have actually let the Devereaux ranch go to seed, preferring to manage their estate from the hustle and bustle of the “big city”, but Joe hightails it back to his erstwhile home, where he’s greeted by Two Moons (Eduard Franz), the kindly Native American foreman who is obviously paternally fond of Joe and who also alerts the lad to the whereabout of his mother, who has left the ranch after her husband’s demise.

Ultimately the film employs a long flashback gambit which finally begins to reveal the simmering tensions inherent within the Devereaux family, ones that actually tend to be more focused on interrelationships between Matt and his eldest three sons, than on the dysfunctions between Joe and his brothers. What becomes obvious, especially after Matt catches the older boys trying to siphon off some of his cattle for a little private profit making, is that Matt isn’t especially well disposed toward his eldest boys, finding them freeloaders and maybe even morally repugnant. That said, Matt isn’t exactly the model of paternal nurturing, and the film repeatedly shows him to be something of a martinet, perhaps helping to explain the sulking annoyance of Ben in particular.

A perhaps rash reaction on the part of Matt ends up getting the elder in some legal hot water, and it’s here that Joe’s incarceration is finally explained. A so-called “blood feud” between Joe and his brothers is the upshot, however, and it’s that antagonism that finally colors the film’s closing third or so, leading to a showdown (and expected shootout) with one of the siblings. Broken Lance is quite a compelling film from a number of standpoints, offering a resolute and not always sympathetic Spencer Tracy doing a great job as an almost obsessively driven ranch impresario. While O’Brian and Holliman are kind of shunted off to sidelines throughout the film, Widmark and Wagner are excellent as the two main feuding brothers. Pretty Jean Peters provides some attractive eye candy as Joe’s main squeeze, and Jurado is touching and effective as the emotional core of the story.

Broken Lance Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Broken Lance is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.55:1. This transfer of an iconic Fox CinemaScope outing doesn't have quite the luster we've perhaps become spoiled for expecting from Fox, though it still provides some jaw dropping vistas courtesy of legendary Scope cinematographer Joseph MacDonald's widescreen lensing. My hunch is those who have found fault (rightly or wrongly) with previous Fox high definition masters from this same general era may find this release also tends to tip toward the blue side of things, but what may be more concerning to some will be the somewhat dark ambience throughout much of the presentation. This has the look of restorative efforts having been applied to attempt to regain a natural color palette, but things look at least slightly faded, with flesh tones regularly skewing toward the brown side of things. Grain is organic looking and resolves naturally. Despite a few anomalies like Scope "mumps" and some second unit photography that just looks out of focus (see screenshot 11), sharpness and clarity are largely very commendable.

Broken Lance Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Broken Lance features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 track recreating the film's original 4 track stereo theatrical presentation, as well as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 option. The 5.0 track is a bit diffused sounding at times, but it offers a suitably wide spread for Leigh Harline's nice score, as well as discrete channelization for sound and/or foley effects. There are a number of traditional but still effective techniques employed to achieve immersion, including things like panning horse galloping or the punch of guns being fired. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and is well prioritized.

Broken Lance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Audio Commentary features Earl Holliman hosted by Twilight Time's Nick Redman.


• Fox Movietone Newsreel (480i; 00:52) is a short piece on that year's Academy Awards festivities.


• Trailer #1 (480i; 2:39)


• Trailer #2 (480i; 2:29)

Broken Lance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Broken Lance offers excellent performances and a compelling story of "turning the other cheek", all within the confines of an extremely scenic Western ambience that makes the most of the CinemaScope frame. A bit too rote for its own good, the film is still surprisingly thoughtful and provides great showcases for Tracy, Jurado, Wagner and Widmark. Recommended.