The rip-roaring, hip-swinging saga of Vermilion O’Toole!The fun she had and the men she fooled!(now that’s what I call classic Hollywood poster artistry, never mind that it’s got next to nothing to do with the product it’s trying to sell)The long and varied career of German emigré director Douglas Sirk (née Detlef Sierck) is way too often reduced to his incredible run of sublime 50s Universal melodramas. That’s selling the fabulous Mr. Sirk short, though, and what's worse, it means missing out on plenty cinematic goodness from his fascinating pre-emigration work in Germany and also from his early Hollywood pictures, which include a string of fine noirish dramas and lighthearted comedies. He also has two Westerns to his name, one being Taza, Son of Cochise starring Sirk’s signature leading man Rock Hudson, the other one this underrated little gem here. It’s actually a borderline Western at best and probably better described as an easygoing, comedic slice of old fashioned Americana.Sirk himself was quite fond of the movie and called it his 'lyrical poem of the American Western past', which hits the mark nicely as far as I’m concerned. Undervalued leading lady Ann Sheridan has a veritable field day and puts on her best Mae West routine as a high-spirited showgirl with the delightful stage name Vermilion O’Toole, who hides out in a sleepy little 1880s Western town while on the run from the law (she’s innocent really). Through a set of typically improbable circumstances she shacks up -and falls in love- with hunky lumberjack and hobby preacher Sterling Hayden (in one of his most memorable movie roles) whose 3 droll little boys had already designated her the perfect wife for their recently widowed Dad. Trouble is never far away in those tales, of course, and soon enough the unlikely couple have to put up not just with the stuffy, disapproving town ladies, but also with a snooping Marshal, Vermillion’s evil former partner in crime and even a surprise Grizzly attack. It all comes together in a clever finish that juxtaposes a melodramatic outdoors theater performance with an unnoticed, simultaneous life-and-death struggle nearby, both occasionally playing out in the same frame. Add beautiful widescreen colour cinematography by the great Russell Metty (who went on to shoot most of Sirk’s subsequent, much-admired classics), stunning location work, fancy costumes, unforced (rom-)comedy and even some exciting action beats with pretty nifty stuntwork and -presto- you got yourself a winner of a B-picture. It wouldn’t be a Sirk joint, of course, if there weren’t also some pointed stabs at small town hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness, although those never intrude on the pure fun and nostalgic old-Hollywood flair of the whole charming show. And all of that in a ridiculously compact, energetic 81 minutes, too. What more is there to ask for, except for some more of those lesser known Sirk pictures, some of which I plan to catch up with soon.
