MovieChat Forums > Track of the Cat (1954) Discussion > A really bad movie!!

A really bad movie!!

posted 17 years ago by jtt-uscg
29 replies | jump to latest

I was so let down on this movie that it is really hard to explain what is wrong with this film.

There are several hundred movies that are sitting in the vault waiting to be released that would make me very happy and this is not one of them.

This was released on 3 things during it's time:
1. Robert Mitchum
2. CinemaScope
3. Color

The outstanding actors were Beulah Bondi and Philip Tonge playing Ma and Pa and Diana Lynn as the outside girl waiting to be bethroved.

Could the film get any worse than lighting of lanterns and the room filled with light before the match hit the wick or Arthur being attacked by the monster Cougar, Mountain Lion or whatever it is and is not mauled to pieces or wintertime in the North Country when frost lines are 8ft deep or are frozen solid thick as rock and you have to dig a grave and bury somebody!!

God help us for "Joe Sam" played no other than Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer of the Little Rascals fame.

Good Luck on this one!

[–] simonhowson 16 years ago

You obviously didn't notice the brilliant use of CinemaScope, especially the use of depth staging, and spreading action simultaneously across the frame and into depth. This is one of the more unusual early CinemaScope films; I'm extremely glad the Wayne estate and Paramount decided to preserve it, and release it on DVD.

[–] mark_shleck-1 16 years ago

I agree: it's a worthy release on DVD.

You can't hold a candle to Gulbenkian.

[–] hellsent1 16 years ago

this is a very good movie and a person has to have taste to like it but you have your own say

i like ice cream and porno

[–] smurky 16 years ago

It is not necessary to imply that a prior poster does not have taste just because he doesn't agree with you....he is entitled to his epinion, that's what message boards are all about.

[–] DaVooz 12 years ago

The theme and the story are excellent, but I agree with the OP the film itself is bad.

with [cheese]

[–] Readerman 16 years ago

I love Westerns and I like Mitchum, but I have to agree with the original poster--this stinks. Was this really directed by Wellman?!? Terrible character for Mitchum to play and I didn't realize the Indian was Alfala. He should have stuck to the Little Rascals. Yes, the color was nice and the few shots of the mountains impressive, though I think Mitchum walked across the same patch of snow about five times. Worse of all was the total waste of Teresa Wright, one of my favorites, and the inexplicable exclusion of even one picture of a cat. Guess the producer couldn't afford even stock footage.

[–] heybabyxxx 16 years ago

Wonderful movie, really impressive. Not everybody will understand it, though.

[–] DaVooz 12 years ago

Understand what? How to light a match and look at it thoughtfully (because it is the last one) without protecting it with your hands to prevent the wind blowing it out? "This is my last one moviefolk!" ugh... actor at work.

with [cheese]

[–] Kanamit99 16 years ago

It was broadcast on TCM on June 7, 2008 and you must be either a Robert Mitchum fan or William Wellman fan to enjoy this film. It was like watching paint dry; it was that boring. And I am a big fan of old films that are shown on TCM. The dialog was very stilted, perhaps of the time period in was produced. Modern audiences would laugh at some of the dialog and acting. Do real people talk and act like that?

[–] paulbrasch 16 years ago

This film is difficult to digest but the colours, direction, and acting are superb. I rate this as a wonderful experiment that just fails but still a beautiful film to watch. This is almost like a western version of 'Ordinary People' but the op is right. It's not for people that have a short attention span....like the op. I enjoyed it immensely however and hope they continue to release these lost classics on dvd.

Deputy Davo's Pig Squeezing Country and Western Comedy Show.

[–] paul_is_taul 16 years ago

watched it last night on TCM. Mitchum is great in this role in my opinion. He's one of the top 5 all time Hollywood bad-asses. He's an egotistical emotional savage. A great macho role that sadly doens't really pop up in modern movies. we have modern bad-asses, i know, but I don't think they compare to this kind of portrayal of the raw purely masculine man that we get in older movies. Mitchum is such a D!ck to his brothers, and to joe sam. the only person that gets any respect from him is his mom. I loved watching his performance.

[–] brandomarlon2003 16 years ago

The acting in the film was powerful but I thought the conclusion of the movie was too abrupt and left me wanting more. For one, they made it look like Mitchum fell all the way to the bottom of the ice fissure. How the hell did Tab Hunter and that Native American fellow find his body when it was all the way at the bottom of the pit? All the suspense of that mountain lion out there and we don't even get to see it clearly, not even after Tab Hunter kills it.

Oh well. I'd give it **1/2 out of 4 stars. Mitchum and Beulah Bondi were both excellent.

[–] DaVooz 12 years ago

Acting superb? Also Pa and Ma in the begining? That's really terrible overacting, making caricatures. Nah...

with [cheese]

[–] vorkapich 11 years ago

Track of the Cat is quite different from the run-of-the-mill movie — it is a drama in the guise of a Western action film, although there is relatively little action. The result is more theatrical than most film fans are accustomed to. In their confusion, they react to it as a "bad" movie. What they they cannot get their minds around, they reject, instead of trying to understand what the filmmakers are up to.

Most of the comments here are like the character Curt, who reads the poetry of Keats, can't quite appreciate it, and ends up burning the pages to make a fire that is smothered. A comment by Wellman on the obtuseness of much of humanity.

[–] richsass 16 years ago

This movie was a real stinker. Terrible dialog and characters that were not very believable. The only worthwhile aspect was the black and white versus colorization of clothing or blood.

What are you gonna do? Kill me? Every body Dies. John Garfield (Body and Soul)

[–] brandomarlon2003 16 years ago

The blood red coat Mitchum's character was visually striking. But then half-way through the movie he took it off and put on a parka instead.

[–] jbwood421 16 years ago

I just finished watching this rather unusual movie. It was rough going at first, I had Tivos it and after about 15 minutes, started to delete it. But if you can get through the first half hour or so, the pace picked up some, and the family dynamic becomes a little clearer, and it was worth watching. I do agree with some of the plot holes, though, but it's just a movie, and I'm usually willing to forgive minor ones.

"Do what I'm tellin' ya!" -Billie Dawn

[–] xylonian-1 16 years ago

Agree JB, it is hard for he to hate anything with Beulah Bondi in it

"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."

[–] Mandy_Rascal 16 years ago

"God help us for "Joe Sam" played no other than Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer of the Little Rascals fame.

Good Luck on this one!"

Don't you dare. Carl is brilliant!

Backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out.

[–] kinggirlfriend 14 years ago

Wonderful movie. Great acting, photography and staging. Mitchum is a terrific jerk.

[–] DaVooz 12 years ago

"Wonderful movie. Great acting, photography and staging" kinggirlfriend?? I think you found it a wonderful and powerful story (family dynamics explode after tragic incident). The nature is beautifully shot, but it's overacted (and mixed with another style of acting by other actors) and overstaged (the snow and the wind and the cold are clearly not felt in the studio - It looks like they were thinking of making a soap for TV).

with [cheese]

[–] DaVooz 12 years ago

The family dynamic and the theme (man vs. nature) is what makes the content so good. There's a really good speech about the effects of a repressor in the family (bully, degenarate, dictatorial, trauma) I thnk it was one of the daughters speaking to the mother. Also interesting I found the alphamale and bully (Mitchum's character) vs. sensitive and vulnerable (Tab Hunter character) contrast or theme.

Anyway I enjoyed the film because it was released on DVD with a lot of interesting extra's and a documentary with information on the director and the writer. Made me want to see Jeremiah Johnson again.

with [cheese]

[–] peterduray-bito 11 years ago

Wellman's own "Island in the Sky" is a much better movie.

[–] thepalestfire 11 years ago

I thought it was good. Most of the complaints seem to stem from things most movies at the time suffered from, and continued to suffer from for years to come. Lighting issues, overacting... It didn't bother me any. The only issue I take with it is the beginning is a little overbearing with all the negativity of the characters, but that soon evens out. If didn't enjoy the film, to each their own, However, any serious fan should marvel at the blocking of the indoor scenes. It is a thing of beauty.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

I think this was a really good film. The story is most interesting as a family begins to disintegrate following the death of one son and the absence of the eldest son, away stalking a wild cat hoping to kill it. The wild cat has a mythical status in the house as it's said to be Joe Sam's soul. Joe Sam is a native American whose people were hunted and hounded like the cat and whose people had the doctrine of the Bible used against them as Ma Bridges wields it against all who don't toe her line.

The acting was good, especially from the man who played Pa Bridges; that character was the most human of them. Added to all this is a film with beautiful cinematography and spare, stark use of colour. What's not to like?

I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.

[–] Charlemagne77 10 years ago

I have no idea if I have watched this movie before, but I agree 100%.

I like it.

[–] hammer4 9 years ago

This is an oddball film and ultimately unsuccessful I believe. It's a very talky "western" and is eventually undone by its histrionics. Some of the outdoor sequences are interesting (especially on a big screen).