"I am legally dead!"

It was the first film, that Fritz Lang made in America after he flew from the Nazi regime in Germany - yes, I am talking about FURY (1936).

In a nutshell:

Joe Wilson (Spencer Tracy) and Katherine Grant (Sylvia Sidney) are engaged to be married. To raise money Katherine goes west and takes a job as a teacher, while Joe stays in Chicago and - together with his brothers Charlie (Frank Albertson) and Tom (George Walcott) - establishes a filling station.

A year has elapsed and on the way to Katherine (finally the date for the wedding is set) Joe is mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested. Gossip goes wild in that small town called Strand and a furios mob - leaded by Kirby Dawson (Bruce Cabot), a local ne'er-do-well - rages against the prison, where Joe is locked, and blows it up.

Joe is believed to be buried to death but he has survived. He pretends to be dead and goes back to his brothers, where he hides out. Tom and Charlie bring 22 citizens, who were ivolved in the lynching, to trial. The witnesses tell lies to protect the defendants. Joe anonymously sents evidence, which prove Katherine that he is still alive. Tom and Charlie change their opinions and want to withdraw the charge, whilst Joe is all "eye for an eye". Finally he changes his mind and in the moment the defendants are about to hear wether they are found guilty or not guilty he steps in the court.

Watch out for:

• Walter Brennan (who may be bestknown as "Stumpy" in RIO BRAVO),
• George Chandler (one of the Sheriff's helpers - amongst others he was the bell hop in LIBELED LADY) and
• Walter Abel, who gives a marvellous perfomance as district attorney.
• And if you wonder wether you know that youngster at the salon yelling: "Come on, let's have some fun!" - it's George Offerman, jr, whom you may know from A LETTER TO THREE WIVES.

Schmooze:

• Rainbow, Joe's dog, was portrayed by no one but Terry, who you may know as "Toto" of THE WIZARD OF OZ - I forgot to mention that in my last post: Terry has a fighting scene in THE WOMEN at "Sydneys"! She later would star under the name "Toto". (Guess why!)
• Ward Bond and Clara Blandick (another cast member of THE WIZARD OF OZ) did scenes but were cutted out.
• It was the only film Sylvia Sidney made for MGM.
• FURY was Leila Bennett's (who plays the "modiste" Edna Hooper) last picture.

Celebrate the celluloid:

Eat salted peanuts!

Murphy's law:

• When the newsreel pictures a held you can still hear the projector.
• After Kirby Dawson has thrown a stone into the sheriff's office you can see, that he had worn out one bar. When the sheriff goes to the window and looks out of it, there is no bar left - boy, what a pitch!!

My favourite feature:

The wedding ring Katherine gives to Joe! It is engraved "Henry to Katherine to Joe" - Henry was her father and she is named after her mother - In my opinion this ring says: "You are part of my family." and I think this is a really, really wonderful thing to say to someone.

Scene to see:

The court scenes are a must - and because half the movie takes place in the court, you might as well watch the whole movie.. ;")

Wishlist:

I simply love Sylvia Sidneys' hats and I would like to get some of the flowers of the flowershop Spencer Tracy gazes at..

This film is really awesome. Sometimes I wonder that the newsreel pictures show so many angles - but that's allright with me.

It is quite creepy to see that mob go off the rails. (I confess: especially the women!) - And each time I wonder wether I should laugh about that visual analogy between the chatting women and the gaggling chicken or should I be offended. (Most of the time I laugh..)

And my favourite line is that about a citizen "peaceably armed with an axe". Terrific!!

By the way: To those who expected a post about "that horse-movie": There are actually NO horses - I have checked that. But don't be sad: There're a few puppys in it. (who don't look like their mother, but: they're dogs and that's possibly the main point..)

Goodbye - I'll go and watch another movie. Because:

"An impuls is an impulse. It's like an itch. You gotta scratch it."