Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 7-February-10
Spoiler Rating: Medium

The San Francisco Story (1952)

When an irresistible force such as you
Meets an old immovable object like me
You can bet as sure as you live
Somethin's gotta give!

If you apply these Johnny Mercer lyrics to the Old West à la The San Francisco Story, they translate into "This town's not big enough for the two of us." That's because the force and object in question are tough guys played by Joel McCrea and Sidney Blackmer. The pleasure of this movie is watching two stubborn, intelligent, charismatic, and very different men at loggerheads over a woman and the future of a city.

McCrea is a miner who rides into San Francisco seeking recreation while his sidekick (Richard Erdman) picks up supplies. A few years back, he and a newspaperman (Onslow Stevens) cleaned up the settlement's streets with vigilante justice, but things have changed since he left to make his fortune. Now the debonair, ruthless Blackmer runs the town (and is gunning for all California) by threatening, bribing, or intimidating most of the population and bumping off whoever is left. McCrea learns about this state of affairs shortly after his arrival, but he is no longer a lawman and the problem does not concern him. What does concern him is Blackmer's fiery lover (Yvonne De Carlo), whom he wants on first sight. She toys with him to gain information at Blackmer's request. The longer McCrea parries her capricious moves the more she really likes him, and the hotter they get the more embroiled in Blackmer's business he becomes. Before a couple days are out it is apparent that San Francisco's fate rests on this flare-up of love and alpha male competition, and that either McCrea or Blackmer will end up leaving town in some unpleasant fashion.

McCrea shows off his left hook and smashing physique in a few fightin' scenes, but the most rousing parts of the picture are those that define the opposing parties. McCrea embodies a breed we do not see in movies anymore, a man of confidence without arrogance, superiority without corruption, self-assertion without bigotry. He expects to get what he wants because he is bold, able-bodied, and clear-headed, not because he is willing to trample anyone who stands in his way. I love how he exerts a friendly authority over his sidekick and openly tells his rival that he will pursue the lady they both desire. Blackmer is just as bold but, like all tyrants, has respect only for himself. He uses other people's weaknesses to gain his ends as easily as possible, as shown in some wonderfully contemptuous lines delivered while browbeating a group of politicians. Each man is capable of setting an example, leading others, and molding the clay of the Wild West. Their ways are so antithetical that, despite McCrea's wish not to get involved, a showdown is inevitable — and entertaining.

Copyright © 2010 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.