DESERT FURY (1947)

Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak) is a shady small-time gambler. His constant companion is Johnny (Wendell Corey) who acts as a valet, a cook, a protector, and maybe more. The two have returned to the small Nevada town of Chuckwalla after a few years away; Eddie left under a cloud when his wife died in a suspicious car accident, but now he seems to be in trouble with some big-shots in Las Vegas. Arriving in town at the same time is young Paula Haller (Lizabeth Scott, pictured with Hodiak) who is coming to stay with her mother Fritzi (Mary Astor) after bailing on yet another college. Mom is a big name in Chuckawalla as the owner of the town casino, but she wants Paula to do better for herself. Tom (Burt Lancaster), a handsome guy who used to be a rodeo rider until he hurt himself and is now the town cop, has a bit of a past with Paula, and Eddie has his own past with Fritzi. Now Eddie starts seeing Paula, who thinks he can be her ticket to a more exciting life. This makes Tom a little jealous, Johnny a lot jealous, and Fritzi steaming mad. She tries to bribe Tom into marrying Paula by offering to buy him his own ranch, but instead he tells Paula about the plan which sets her against her mother. When it looks like Paula is getting serious about Eddie, Tom warns her that she looks a lot like Eddie's first wife, whom locals think he murdered. All these seething passions start fires that will inevitably lead to tragedy for someone.

Film noir historian Eddie Muller calls this the most homoerotic film noir of all time, and he's probably right. Eddie, dark and handsome but a little slimy, is clearly in thrall to the mousy, mostly passive Johnny (mostly passive until he threatens to shoot Paula where she stands if she ever comes back to their place). The two met years ago at an automat in New York City at 2 in the morning and have been together ever since. At one point, Paula says to Eddie, "If you love me, get rid of Eddie!" He doesn’t—near the end when he tries to, Johnny sneers, "I'm Eddie Bendix!" Even ignoring the gay subtext, the film is a great noir view. Scott is dead sexy and Lancaster is almost as pretty. The dynamic between Astor and Scott is reminiscent of the dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship in The Little Foxes. Astor gives the best performance, but really all the actors are fine. I'm not a big fan of Hodiak or Corey, but they work well together here. The supporting cast is only so-so, but with five good leading actors, it doesn't matter. The color cinematography (especially the shots of the lovely Arizona locations) is dazzling, at times reminding me of the heightened colors (and heightened emotions) of a 1950 Douglas Sirk melodrama. This is definitely one to catch. [DVD]