Three Faces West (1940)

Hot off the heels of John's Fords 1939 Western Epic Stagecoach which solidified Wayne's place as one of the top up and coming actors in Hollywood, Wayne took on his first non-Western role at Republic Pictures (where he had been making Westerns since 1935) in Three Faces West. Wayne's first non-western since a string of flops at Universal in 1936 and 1937 this was Wayne's 6th movie at Republic since Stagecoach as they worked Wayne hard in an attempt to capitalize on his rising popularity.

 Directed by Bernard Vorhaus who also worked with Wayne on Lady From Louisiana along with directing a string of other B pictures for Republic over the years (before his career was effectively ended when Edward Dmytryk named him as a communist before the House of Un-American Activities Committee) Three Faces West tells the story of a doctor (Charles Coburn) who flees Austria with his nurse daughter (Sigrid Gurie) to escape Nazism during the Second World War. Gurie's doctor fiancee gave his life to allow them to escape and they both hope to find a fresh start in the United States. When they arrive Coburn appears on the radio in an appeal to win himself a job, and using his witty charm he gets one, in the dust bowl of the United States

 When they arrive in their unidentified farming town they are greeted by John Phillips (Wayne) and his Doctor/Vet uncle (Spencer Charters.) Both are shocked at the conditions they find themselves living in during the grip of America's dust bowl with their home, clothes, etc all being covered with dust and sand, Gurie who is already suffering from a severe bout of home sickness is adamant she wishes to return home and Coburn is torn between the need to care for his daughter who has already been through so much, and the people of the community who also desperately need his help as a doctor. While he agrees to leave Coburn refuses to go before he can operate on a young boy who needs a simple operation to allow him to walk again, but which his mother cannot afford. During the time it takes for the operation to be performed Gurie is won over by Wayne's character as he shows a love and commitment for his community and the people in it, while deriding her as a refugee for turning her back on a community who would be only too happy to take her in. Wayne is very good in his early scenes with Gurie, although still a young man at this point he plays a more subdued version of the strong and moral character he would become known too millions as, this was the time Wayne really began to come into his own and his renewed confidence in himself as an actor is clear. It also does not hurt that there is clearly real chemistry between Wayne and Gurie who had a brief fling during the making of this film, but she was also deserves credit for her role, which begs the question why her career in movies was so short as on this evidence she was a much better actress than the quality of leading lady Duke was commonly paired at Republic, the much maligned Vera Ralston (wife of studio head Herbert Yates) would be one such example. 

With the relationship between Wayne and Gurie slowly growing Wayne turns his attentions to helping his community fight off the effects of The Dust Bowl and after getting plans from the government on how to combat the dust he encourages them to stay and fight for their land by building irrigation ditches and other farming techniques. When Wayne goes to meet the department of agriculture and tell them of the communities progress he is informed that no matter what measures they take their land will remain useless and he is encouraged to move to Portland where farming land is plentiful and cheap. Desolate Wayne hits the bottle before returning home drunk informing Gurie she was right all along, that their town is unlivable and she would be better off leaving as would he, here she reveals her true feelings for him and they kiss in the rain while Coburn approvingly looks on. Wayne decides to convince the community to pack up together and move to Portland where they can start again but remain together, dissension spreads through the community as some favor moving to California instead which Wayne is against as he feels competition for job's there would be too high and they would be better off going to Portland and continuing what they know, farming. More bad news follows as it's revealed that Coburn is leaving to work at a medical institute and that Gurie's fiancee is not dead after all, he survived the escape and is waiting for her in San Fransisco, Wayne tries to convince her to marry him, but as she owes her life to her former fiancee and with Coburn's encouragement she feels she must return to him. There's a scene where Duke is trying to convince her to stay with him that is quite reminiscent of Wayne's famous bedroom scene with Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man as he forcefully asks her to ignore everyone else and be with him which he knows she truly wants, again this is the beginnings of the strong willed Wayne character audiences would be bombarded with in the coming years. 

 

*WARNING ENDING SPOILERS AHEAD*

Dejected Wayne and the rest of the community set off for Portland and a new life, with Coburn and Gurie leaving them at San Fransisco, along the way the group begins to split and Clem Higgins (Trevor Bardette) stands up to Wayne and insists they head to California, Wayne who at this point has had enough of the infighting and is still angered at the loss of Gurie speeds off and tells them to do what they want as he doesn't care anymore. The plot takes a strange turn when Gurie and Coburn go to meet her fiancee and former colleague Dr. Eric Von Scherer (Roland Varno) who has inexplicably become a Nazi, disgusted at this they leave and go to reunite with Wayne. When they find out he has abandoned his community Coburn is angered and tells him that Higgins is running rough shed over anyone who speaks against him and that Wayne is the only one who can put things right, this is all Wayne needs to hear and he goes after Higgins in a car chase, which is one of the first I have ever seen in a film from this period, a car chase with wind up cars! Wayne runs Higgins off the road and regains his position as community leader, re-united with Gurie they all set off for Portland and a new life together. 

Three Faces West is a surprisingly enjoyable film from a studio not known at the time for making very good non-western or indeed non-Wayne movies. The story while basic is an enjoyable one as The Dust Bowl is not a subject that has been overdone in American cinema, the only thing that hurts the film is the side story of Nazism which isn't really needed and is over propagandized but is understandable given the drive from the government to try and make Hollywood films as patriotic as possible during this time period. What elevates the film is the enjoyable and entertaining cast, I enjoy these older Wayne films as you can almost see him grow in stature as an actor on screen before your eyes and here he shows much of what made him a star in Stagecoach a year prior while also showing what was still to come from him. Charles Coburn is also a quality character actor and I never find the warm and fatherly characters he generally plays to be disappointing and he would go on to win an Academy Award in The More The Merrier while again appearing with Wayne in Trouble Along The Way in 1953. As already mentioned Gurie and Wanye's real life relationship translated onto the screen and good support was offered by Spencer Charters as the older comic relief type character that appeared in all Wayne's films around this period while Trevor Bardette makes a good villain for Wayne to face up against. John Ford stock company member Russel Simpson also makes a short and entertaining appearance as a preacher. All in all I would give Three Faces West 7/10 as it is an interesting little film especially for those who are fans of Wayne or are interested in this period of American history. I imagine the film was hurt at the time by coming out around the same time as The Grapes of Wrath which covered a similar topic much more successfully.