Marguerite Chapman | Through the Shattered Lens

Earlier today, I was searching for an old Johnny Mack Brown Western called Fronteir Agent. I found a video on YouTube that claimed to be an upload of Frontier Agent but, when I started watching it, I discovered that the movie, while a western, was definitely not a Johnny Mack Brown programmer. Instead, it was a movie called Relentless and it was about as different from Johnny Mack Brown’s cheery B-westerns as you could get.

Robert Young plays Nick Buckley, a drifter who is more comfortable riding the range than spending time with “civilzation.” He rides into town on a rainy night, looking for shelter for him both him and his pregnant mare. At the local saloon, two prospectors invite him to stay at their cabin for the night. Another man, Tex (Barton MacLane), suggests that Nick and his mare should instead stay in Tex’s stables. Tex isn’t just being altruistic. He and Jim (Frank Fenton) murder the prospectors at their cabin and steal their map to a gold mine. Tex then kills Jim and frames Nick for all three of the murders. The entire town wants to either hang Nick or turn him in for the reward or force him to draw the map that they think he killed the prospectors for. Only the owner of the traveling general store, Luella (Marguerite Chapman), believes Nick when he says that he’s been framed.

Dark and moody, Relentless is almost as much of a film noir as a western. At first, Robert Young seems like a strange choice to play a drifter but he actually does a good job of showing how Nick is someone who has spent so much time on the frontier that he’s not really sure how to deal with civilization. One reason that Tex is able to frame Nick is because Nick is a stranger. He has no history and, at first, his main concerns seems to be taking care of his mare and her foal. Nick was unlucky enough to ride into town at the wrong time and soon, he’s worth more dead than alive. Nick’s quest to both clear his name and get revenge becomes an obsession (you might even call it relentless) and it takes him from the town to a barren desert.

One thing that sets this western apart from so many others is the relationship between Nick and Louella. Louella is also a loner but, as a store owner, she’s accepted by the town in a way that Nick is not. Louella and Nick come across as two mature people who have been hardened by life in the old west but who still haven’t surrendered their morals to greed like so many other characters in the movie.

Relentless is a superior western, featuring good acting and interesting characters. I may never find Frontier Agent but I’m glad I found Relentless.

Are you lucky enough to have an extra 70 minutes free today? Why not spend them watching an entertaining little B-movie called Flight to Mars?

First released in 1951, Flight to Mars is reportedly the first American film to ever be made about traveling to the red planet. At the start of the film, a rather phallic spaceship is launched into space. Aboard the ship are cynical reporter Steve (Cameron Mitchell), brilliant scientist Jim (Arthur Franz), token female scientist Carol (Virginia Huston), and a few other scientists who all kind of blend together. Steve is attracted to Carol but Carol is more interested in Jim. However, Jim isn’t interested in anything other than his work. When the spaceship does reach Mars, it turns out that Mars is a lot like Earth and the Martians are a lot like us. The main difference between humans and Martians appears to be that Martian women wear miniskirts. Among those Martian women is Alita (Marguerite Chapman), who falls in love with Jim. The rest of Mars, however, is not quite as infatuated with their intergalactic visitors…

Flight to Mars is definitely a product of its time. This is one of those films where the men are all blatantly sexist and the women are usually just happy to be noticed. Carol, for instance, is overjoyed to discover that they have kitchens on Mars and, while the men spend all of their time making plans, Carol usually just stands in the background, eating Martian snacks and pining for Jim. Of course, Jim only has eyes for Alita, who, upon meeting the virile males of Earth, has absolutely no problem betraying her entire planet. Beyond the sexist attitudes, Flight to Mars is also distinguished by presenting space travel as being the equivalent of a long flight on a small airplane. This is definitely a low-budget B-movie that has absolutely no relation to science fact (or, for that matter, any other type of fact).

And, to be honest, that’s why I like the film. It truly is such a time capsule that just watching it will make you wonder if Eisenhower is still in the White House. I’ve always felt that the best way to learn about history is to experience it personally and one of the best ways to do that is to watch a movie that could only have been made during a certain period of time. And trust me, Flight to Mars is pure 1951. As for the film’s low budget — well, this film proves that you don’t need CGI to create an alien world. Sometimes, cardboard and colorful costumes work just as well. And, as for the film’s science — well, facts are boring. That’s one reason why good people have often turned to science fiction.

So, if you’ve got 70 minutes to kill, why not experience Flight to Mars?

Enjoy!