Love in the wild

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Movie
German title Love in the wild
Original title Dakota
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1945
length 82 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Joseph Kane
script Lawrence Hazard
Howard Estabrook
production Joseph Kane
for Republic Pictures
music Walter Scharf
camera Jack Marta
Harry Tilzer
Andrew B. Sterling
cut Fred Allen
occupation

Love in the Wilderness (OT: Dakota , reference: Blood on the Fargo River , Cowboy Love ) is an American western from 1945 directed by Joseph Kane and based on a story by Carl Foreman . The leading roles are cast with John Wayne and Vera Hruba Ralston .

action

When Sandy Poli married the player John Devlin against the wishes of her father, Chicago railroad magnate Marko Poli, in 1870, he was angry. When Devlin wants to pay his respects to him, he expels him from the house and pursues the carriage in which his son-in-law and daughter are driving away. Sandy persuades her husband to drive to Dakota . The young woman sold a valuable painting by her father for $ 20,000 to finance her and her husband's escape. Although Devlin wants to go to California , Sandy gets them to take the train to Dakota. The young woman plans to buy land in Fargo because she knows that the railroad is expanding the area there and then needs land, so that she can make a hefty profit on a resale. After a wild brawl on the train, the couple made the acquaintance of Jim Bender and his henchman Bigtree Collins. To reach Fargo, they board the “River Bird”, whose captain Bounce speaks to his ship as if it could understand him and shooed his assistant Nicodemus around. Shortly before casting off, the farmer Anson Stowe is shot. His last words are to tell your wife to watch out for Bender. Devlin's hand is injured in the incident. On the way two men come on board who know very well that Devlin has a lot of money with him. They disarm him, take the money from him and then disappear again. Sandy takes on the arduous task of teaching Stowe's wife of the murder of her husband. The couple's farm was set on fire, which is why Stowe was out in town.

In a saloon owned by Jim Bender in Fargo, Devlin meets him again and demands his $ 20,000 back. In the meantime he has seen through that Bander is the man who pulls the strings in Fargo and uses unfair means to take possession of the land of the farmers in order to be able to sell them to the railroad at high prices. In Devlin he sees a rival whom he will not tolerate under any circumstances. In another shootout, Sandy is shot and injured in the shoulder. The town doctor takes care of them. Bender still wants Devlin and his wife to return to Chicago as soon as possible. The bandit smuggled Bigtree Collins and others of his people into the farmers' house, who worked them on in his favor and duped them, which served the goal of getting their land cheaply. First their farms are set on fire and later their wheat fields. When Devlin learns that Bender is having the farmers sign wheat bonds, he mounts his horse and rides to the gathering. He's determined to get involved. He spreads the rumor that the railway company is now planning a different route. Bender is insecure and accepts Devlin's suggestion that he let him have his loan agreement with the farmers. The down payment is the $ 20,000 that Bender had his henchmen steal. 80,000 more are to follow. Then, at the worst possible moment, Wexton Geary appears, who works for Sandy's father and buys land for the railroad. Bender realizes that Devlin set him up and orders his people to return the signed document to him at all costs.

Devlin is now looking for Plummer, who was always suspicious of Bender, and gives him and his wife Hilda the document signed by Bender for review, and then rides on. Shortly afterwards, the document is taken away from them by Bender's people, who are not afraid to murder both of them in cold blood.

Another shooting breaks out in the saloon, in which Devlin is also involved. They want to hang him, but the wheat fields are burning again and Devlin is able to free himself from the general commotion. Capt. Bounes, who has been asked for help by Sandy, intervenes and approaches in a horse-drawn carriage. A shootout breaks out between Bender and Collins as they distrust each other, with Bender being shot by Collins. Devlin takes on Collins and defeats him in a fist fight. He also immediately takes the stolen $ 20,000 from him. When Devlin decides a few days later to leave for California after all, his wife surprises him with the news that she has bought a ship and that Bounes, who had lost his ship in an explosion, has taken over as captain. She wants to stay in Fargo and help the farmers with him to reorganize their lives.

Production and Background

Shooting started on July 17th and lasted until the end of August 1945. The film is preceded by the words: 1870: The war between the northern and southern states was over. In the years of peace that followed, special interest was given to the construction of the railway lines. Dakota with its endless prairies, mountain ranges and wastelands lay in complete isolation. On the edge of this wilderness, Chicago had developed into a large and lively city even then. This is where the founders and entrepreneurs had their property ...

The premiere of Dakota took place on November 1, 1945 in Los Angeles , on December 15, the film then opened in New York . It was released in cinemas in the Federal Republic of Germany on December 15, 1950. In Austria it ran both under the original title Dakota and under the title Brennende Prärie . It was first shown on television on July 25, 2011, in the program Das Vierte .

DVD

  • Blood on the Fargo River , due May 11, 2007 by Studiocanal
  • John Wayne Western Edition , released May 4, 2004 by Studiocanal (contains blood on the Fargo River, two other westerns and a bonus film).
  • Blood on the Fargo River , release date January 19, 2011 at Kinowelt, special film as part of the large John Wayne DVD collection by DeAgostini

criticism

For the Lexicon of International Films this was “an average Western with good actors”.

Cinema's conclusion was: “Just routine - and the 'Duke' stays pale.” It was added: Wayne refused to play next to the talentless Czech figure skater Ralston, who was the studio boss's love at the time. But he buckled.

Dennis Schwartz of Ozu's World Movie Reviews thought the film had some good action scenes from stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt that would have been the culmination of the action. He further pointed out that both John Wayne and the originally intended director Frank Borzage had refused to work with Vera Ralston, a Czechoslovak-born actress. The boss of the studio Herbert Yates, who was in a relationship with the actress, was able to get Wayne to change his mind, while Borzage was replaced by the director Joseph Kane. Schwartz said that Ralston was n't bad in her role , that was n't the movie's problem .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Jump up ↑ Blood on the Fargo River The Great John Wayne DVD Collection
  2. ↑ Love in the wilderness at zweiausendeins.de
  3. ↑ Blood on the Fargo River at Cinema.de. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Dennis Schwartz: Dakota. In: Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews. Retrieved March 18, 2020 (English).