The Secret of Convict Lake
The Secret of Convict Lake is a 1951 American black-and-white western film starring Glenn Ford and Gene Tierney.[2] It was directed by Michael Gordon and produced by Frank P. Rosenberg, with music by Sol Kaplan. The film was a critical and commercial success. Ethel Barrymore and Ann Dvorak (in her final film role) co-starred. The story is fiction, based on legends of Convict Lake, located in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges of northern California.[3][4] and a short story by Anna Hunger and Jack Pollexfen.[5]
| The Secret of Convict Lake | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Gordon |
| Produced by | Frank P. Rosenberg |
| Written by | Ben Hecht (uncredited) Anna Hunger (story) Jack Pollexfen (story) Victor Trivas (adaptation) |
| Screenplay by | Oscar Saul from the short story by Anna Hunger |
| Starring | Glenn Ford Gene Tierney Ethel Barrymore Ann Dvorak |
| Music by | Sol Kaplan |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover |
| Edited by | James B. Clark |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,350,000 (US rentals)[1] |
Plot
In 1871, six convicts escape from a Carson City prison. One of them freezes to death during a blizzard. The others - Canfield, Greer, Cockerell, Anderson and Maxwell - make it to Lake Monte Diablo, where eight women live in a settlement while their men are away prospecting. Granny is the elder, watching over Marcia, Rachel, Barbara, Susan, Harriet, Mary, and Millie.
Frightened, the women reluctantly permit them to use an empty cabin. Granny hides all the guns except one when they realize that the men are escaped convicts. Canfield has returned here for a reason; the other convicts think that he has money hidden somewhere nearby. Canfield was convicted of killing a mine owner, and $40,000 is missing.
Canfield learns that Marcia, to whom he is attracted, is engaged to be married to a man named Rudy Schaeffer. Canfield claims Rudy was took the $40,000 and committed perjury to get Canfield convicted and sentenced to hang. Canfield reveals that he has returned to kill Schaeffer.
A barn catches fire due to Rachel's nervousness. After the convicts rescue the animals, the women treat them more kindly. Canfield is trustworthy, but the other four continue plotting.
Later, Canfield manages to take Granny's gun. Marcia rides off, so Canfield follows and catches up to her. They eventually embrace and kiss. He tells her that Morgan, a mine owner, had swindled him out of the money. When he came to talk to Morgan about it, Morgan pulled a gun on him, they scuffled and the gun went off, killing Morgan. Schaeffer witnessed this, but claimed that Canfield had killed Morgan in cold blood, so that Schaeffer can keep the money himself. While they are away, Johnny Greer charms Rachel, Schaeffer's sister, into revealing where Granny hid the other guns. He, Cockerell and Anderson arm themselves and wait for Canfield.
On the way home, the men of the town stop in a saloon. Rudy Schaeffer spots a wanted poster, so the alarmed men race back to their families.
Clyde Maxwell, a young convict, cannot control his murderous impulses whenever someone resists him. He takes Barbara on a long walk and tries to kiss her. Barbara tries to pull away, so he pulls out a knife. Canfield, riding back with Marcia, hears Barbara's cries and arrives in time to intervene. In the ensuing struggle, Maxwell stabs Canfield in the shoulder. Maxwell chases after Barbara, but the other women, who are out looking for her, kill him. Canfield is so weakened that Greer has no trouble taking his gun.
Rachel finds the $40,000 in a trunk belonging to Rudy. She gives it to Marcia who then gives it to Greer to get him to stop beating Canfield.
Schaeffer and his men arrive back in the small town and confront the convicts. In a gunfight, Cockerell and Anderson are shot. Greer flees up the mountain, chased by all but Schaeffer. Greer drops the $40,000. He tries to pick it up, is shot, and falls to his death. Schaeffer goes for the stolen money. Canfield comes up behind him and at gunpoint, telling him he is going to confess. Marcia runs up behind screaming. As Canfield turns to her, Rudy spins around and draws his gun, but Canfield kills him.
The townsfolk dig graves for the four convicts and Schaeffer. The sheriff and his posse arrive. When he asks about the five fugitives (they found the frozen sixth man earlier), Granny tells them that they are buried in the five graves. The others go along, and the sheriff is satisfied.
The narrator (an uncredited Dale Robertson) relates that the lake was renamed Convict Lake.
Cast
- Glenn Ford as Jim Canfield
- Gene Tierney as Marcia Stoddard
- Ethel Barrymore as Granny
- Zachary Scott as Johnny Greer
- Ann Dvorak as Rachel Shaeffer
- Barbara Bates as Barbara Purcell
- Cyril Cusack as Edward "Limey" Cockerell
- Richard Hylton as Clyde Maxwell
- Helen Westcott as Susan Haggerty
- Jeanette Nolan as Harriet Purcell
- Ruth Donnelly as Mary Fancher
- Harry Carter as Rudy Schaeffer
- Jack Lambert as Matt Anderson (uncredited)
- Max Wagner as Jack Purcell (uncredited)
- Ray Teal as Sheriff Cromwell (uncredited)
- Tom London as Jerry (uncredited)
- Houseley Stevenson as Samuel Barlow (uncredited)
References
- 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
- Maddrey, Joseph (2016). The Quick, the Dead and the Revived: The Many Lives of the Western Film. McFarland. p. 175. ISBN 9781476625492. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- Ford, Peter (2011). Glenn Ford: A Life. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 113. ISBN 9780299281533. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- Thomson, David (2014). The New Biographical Dictionary of Film: Sixth Edition. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 66. ISBN 9781101874707. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- "The Screen in Review; 'Secret of Convict Lake,' Depicting Desperadoes and Helpless Women of 1870's, Is Bill at Globe". The New York Times. 4 August 1951. Retrieved 21 June 2020.