CALIFORNIA

US, 1946, 97 minutes, Colour.
Ray Milland, Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Fitzgerald, Albert Dekker, George Coulouris, Anthony Quinn.
Directed by John Farrow.

California is a colourful and ambitious western made at Paramount by John Farrow when lie was one of the principal directors at the studio. He made a number of action adventures as well as war propaganda films including Wake Island. tie also directed Alan Ladd in a range of adventures including Two Years Before the Mast. His films are generally routine - competent but lack the traces of greatness.

Here fie works with a fine cast - though Ray Milland is not exactly the western adventurer type. Barbara Stanwyck is her usual competent self. Barry Fitzgerald is, as always, most engaging. The film shows the wagon trains trekking towards the West, the impact of the gold rush, the questions about the statehood of California and the political wheelings and dealings. George Coulouris gives a very good performance as the strangely-named Captain Pharaoh Coffin, an ex-slaver who wants to be Governor of California.

Nothing particularly new, nothing particularly memorable, but enjoyable while it is on screen.

1. An entertaining western? Its reliance on the tradition of western conventions? Quality?- Entertainment value? Piece of Americana - the history of California?

2. Colour photography, location work? The vistas of the wagon trains, of the trek to the West, the gold towns and their way of life, 19th century California? The rousing musical score? The songs?

3. The title and the focus on the state of California? The credits sequences and the opening showing the vistas of the beauty of nature in California? The film as the glorification of the state? Natural beauty, history, the interactions of people to establish the state?

4. John and his place on the wagon train, army deserter (the credibility of his. amorous background)? His decisions about the wagon trains, the clash with Lily, the news of the gold rush and the people leaving him, Michael Fabian and his support? The clash with Lily? His winning at cards and getting the hotel from her? The clash with Pharaoh Coffin? The army and their pursuit of him? His decisions for revenge against Coffin? Pushing Michael into politics? The ups and downs of his relationship with Lily? The convention in Monterey? Michael's death? The pursuit of Coffin and the gunfight? His going back with the army? Ray Milland as a man of the West?

5. Lily and her place in the western towns, rejected by the women of the wagon train, her flirting with John, the clash, the rivalry, card-playing and her father's tuition, her winning the saloon, her songs and entertainment, her relationship with Pharaoh Coffin and the decision to marry him, friendship with Michael, her discovery of the truth, rejection of Coffin, her inability to save Michael
from his death, the reconciliation with John?

6. Barry Fitzgerald's style as Michael Fabian - leadership of the wagon train, reliance on John, his wisdom, wanting to introduce vines into California? Settling on the land? Being persuaded to enter politics? His speeches at the Monterey convention? The threat on his life? His death? A man of integrity?

7. Pharaoh Coffin as villain - his background as a slave-trader, his reliance on Pike's tough measures? His ownership of the town, political ambitions, the storing of arms? The politicians helping him? Clash with John, being defeated in the election for Monterey? His presence, strong-arm tactics, the attempt on Michael's life? Lily's disillusionment? The confrontation - and his madness remembering the revolt of the slaves on his ships? His treatment of Pike?

8. The villains of the West - Pharaoh Coffin's men, gunfighters and assassins, Pike and his background on the slave ships?

9. The settlers, the gold rushes, Coffin's hold and bargaining, the reaction of the settlers, the meeting at Monterey, the politics involved in the setting up of California as a state?

10. Popular western themes? Justice and the law? Greed? Violence? The emergence of-the 20th. century state? An entertaining piece of Americana?