Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

classicsoncall If you want to see Spencer Tracy in a Western, you'll have to take what you get here in this story of a land baron who alienates his sons but expects their undying loyalty at the same time. Don't get me wrong, Tracy's good here in his role, but the story is a bit convoluted with the renegade sons, and relies on youngest half-brother Joe (Robert Wagner) to take the fall for his father's going off half cocked at a copper mine and destroying a good portion of the company's assets. I couldn't help but feel a little more work could have gone into the story line, and yet it won a 1955 Oscar for Best Writing. Go figure.Just going by the cast list, this should have been something special. Richard Widmark, Hugh O'Brian and Earl Holliman portray the older three brothers, born of Matt Devereaux's (Tracy) first wife, but their characters were never really developed to any significant degree. All we get is that Ben (Widmark) is the strong willed oldest brother, and Denny is the whiny, sniveling sibling who has a penchant for being disagreeable. Quite honestly, I don't know why O'Brian was even needed in the story, did he even say anything throughout the picture?Actually, it seemed like Katy Jurado was the force that kept the momentum of the picture on track as Matt's second wife and mother of Joe. Funny, but apparently she didn't have her own name in the story, she just went by Senora Devereaux. The more I see Jurado in these kinds of roles, the more I seem to like her. I guess I'd have to say I enjoyed her best in 1952's "High Noon", a movie that's just about on everyone's favorite Westerns list.Told in an extended flashback manner, the story eventually catches itself back up in real time to find Matt Devereaux attempting to wield his authority one last time to prevent his sons from selling off parts of his empire to fund other interests. Senora Devereaux uses her influence with son Joe to stop him from seeking revenge on his older brothers, though there is a neat fight between Ben and Joe near the top of a rocky outcrop. My vote for best performance goes to the two stuntmen who filled in at that point; the way they rolled down the side of that mountain looked like it would have been mighty painful.

stevealfie "Broken Lance" is an almost scene for scene remake of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's, "House of Strangers". Lightly based on Shakespeare's "King Lear", it tells the story of a family, where the patriarch is forced to break up his empire, and spread the shares among his children(in this case, his sons). His sons, who feel that they are owed the empire, refuse to help the father in times of trouble.Both "Broken Lance" and "House of Strangers" are led by two powerhouse performances by their leading men. Spencer Tracy in the former, and Edward G. Robinson, the latter."Broken Lance" also had a superb supporting cast. Richard Widmark, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters and E.G. Marshall.The story works well as a western, in that, it enables the movie to have the type of large, sweeping scope and grand story that is "King Lear.Told in flashback(just like House of Strangers), the story is the search for revenge by the son that truly loved his father(Wagner). Being his father's favorite, the other brothers plot to do away with him.While the ending is a little contrived, and again, told the exact same way as "House of Strangers", Edward Dmytryk does an excellent job of moving the story along and adding a good deal of action.*** out of ****

dougdoepke Spencer Tracy certainly wasn't looking to win popularity contests with this role. He's a tyrannical old cattle baron with a streak of integrity that nevertheless commands respect. Mainly, what he gets from the three older sons is fear along with a dash of awe. What he gets from his youngest son, Joe, (Wagner) is some understanding based on Tracy's daring marriage to the boy's mother, an Indian, making Wagner a half-breed and a half-brother to the other three sons.These complexities are important because they drive much of the drama. The movie was hailed at the time for dealing tangentially, at least, with a racial topic. Perhaps Tracy punishes his older full-blooded white sons because they don't fully accept their Indian step-mother, or maybe favors his youngest son because he does. But then, Tracy has treated Ben (Widmark) badly for years, suggesting a deeper kind of character flaw. Anyway, there are a number of interesting ambiguities in the Phil Yordan screenplay. And when the showdown finally comes, it's really Dad's bad side embodied in Ben that Joe must go against.At this point in his career, Wagner was considered little more than a light-weight pretty boy. However, his performance here, I think, is both strong and substantial despite the boyish good looks. Still and all, I can't help feeling that Widmark is a shade too old for Ben's role, being only 15 years younger than Tracy. Nonetheless, that role could only be filled by an accomplished actor like Widmark, while O'Brien and Holliman really have little to do other than stand around and fill the slot of the two middle sons. Jurado got an award for her performance as the mother. But truth be told, the performance is rather wooden, along with those clumsy poetic tropes like, "I grieve for you, my husband", that Hollywood long saddled ethnic-types with. Nonetheless, there's enough crackling good melodrama to keep an audience interested. The scenes are well staged except for the huge state capitol building rather poorly matted into an ordinary Western street-- the contrast looking like an NFL lineman in a room full of of first-graders. Note too that even though the movie is filmed in wide-screen Cinemascope the locations are not that scenic. This is not, I think, a particularly picturesque Western. My guess is that the producers thought the story strong enough that it didn't need eye-catching landscape to keep up audience interest. Anyway, the movie remains an A-grade Western with a good story and a powerful Tracy performance.

JohnHowardReid Broken Lance sticks mighty close to the time-proved Western formula, but thanks largely to the skill of director Dmytryk who makes the most of the movie's rich production values, is all the more powerful because of this close adherence. What we have here is (1) an engrossingly realistic story with plenty of strong narrative action and realistic character conflicts; (2) breathtakingly rugged scenery; and (3) star value, particularly in the persons of Spencer Tracy and Richard Widmark (although the latter is let down badly when the screenplay suddenly deserts him at the climax). Hugh O'Brian, Earl Holliman and Katy Jurado also contribute forceful characterizations, easily out-classing the too boyishly eager Robert Wagner and the disappointing Jean Peters (who is further burdened by unflatteringly frumpish photography and colorless costumes).