alr

Desert Fury

Screening on Film
Directed by Lewis Allen.
With John Hodiak, Lizabeth Scott, Burt Lancaster.
US, 1947, 35mm, color, 95 min.
Print source: Paramount Pictures

Like Mildred Pierce, Desert Fury is a mother-daughter melodrama that evolves into a film noir—perhaps the only 1940s film noir in color. At the same time, the overheated dialogue, the tough female casino owner protagonist and an undercurrent of homoeroticism make it a kind of harbinger of Johnny Guitar. When the casino owner’s daughter starts dating a racketeer, people get upset: the girl’s mother, the racketeer’s very devoted sidekick and the local sheriff. Adding to the drama is the mounting sexual tension between the casino owner and the sheriff. Desert Fury is an excellent example of the gloss that producer Hal Wallis brought to noir during the years after he quit Warner Brothers and set up his own production company, finding distribution through Paramount. 

Part of program

Read more

100 Years of Paramount Pictures

Current and upcoming programs

Read more

Remapping Latin American Cinema: Chilean Film/Video 1963 – 2013

Read more

Andrés Di Tella – Archives and Memory

Read more

Alice Diop’s Souvenirs of Lost Time

Read more

The McMillan-Stewart Fellowship: Kivu Ruhorahoza

Read more

Med Hondo and the Indocile Image

Read more

Still Life With Hong Sangsoo

Read more

Late Kiarostami