Kirk Douglas is in his prime in this excellent, subversive epic, directed by King Vidor. Douglas plays a drifter who hooks up with a young traveler (William Campbell) and then starts work on a ranch with a new, strong-willed female boss (a marvelously foxy Jeanne Crane). What gives this movie most interest to modern eyes are some gay undertones, as well as later moments of more overtly suggestive heterosexual dialogue between the randy Douglas and his new employer - reminding this viewer a little of Bogart and Bacall's wordplay in The Big Sleep. A young Richard Boone plays a more conventional heavy brought in to supervise the impending rage war, but even his menacing presence is largely sidelined by the real attentions of the film laying elsewhere. While Douglas' character is outwardly defined by his hatred of any barbed wire enclosing the open range (previous experience of which he has etched across his torso, rather like marks of passion), it is clear that Man Without a Star is more about freedom of the libido to range as it will, constrained only by the various explicit and implicit passions between the principal characters. Claire Trevor, playing Douglas' old flame, is part of a strong support cast which also includes Jay C Flippen. Douglas gets to sing and is a dynamo on screen. Script co-written by Borden Chase.
Review of Man Without a Star
