ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

skimari I don't particularly like westerns. I am usually bored with their macho heroes and their stereotypes. In "California", however, stars my all-time favorite actor, Ray Milland, so I wanted to see whether he is as good in this genre as he is in romantic comedies, adventures and dramas. Not to my surprise, he proved to be much above the typical western hero. He is realistic and effective, without excessiveness, mannerisms or gimmicks. What I consider one of the best westerns, "A Man Alone", is played and directed by Ray himself...Returning to California, it is an epic movie, a large scale production, in glorious color, rich in costumes, settings and extras. It covers important historical ground, including the 1848 mass migration, the gold rush and the political struggles that led to the incorporation of California to the United States. All this is the background of the tumultuous love-hate relationship between Trumbo and Lily, Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck.One cannot find fault with this movie: It is aptly directed by John Farrow, the music score by Victor Young is memorable, the script, in the 98 minutes duration of the movie, gives a balanced account of the personal story and the ampler historical events of the time, while a plethora of talented character actors contribute to its authentic touch. My only objection is the folklore singing at the movie's opening sequence, which could well be omitted, and the same goes for other singing interludes as well as the songs, supposedly sung by Barbara Stanwyck, all of which interrupt the action. Maybe the Studio heads imposed them, as a sort of lyric accentuation, but they actually steal valuable time that could be used for better character development. As for the two stars: Although very beautiful in her own way, I think Barbara Stanwyck is not cut for period roles, her type is not that of the traditionally classic beauty. Also her acting in the first half of the movie is more aggressive than required. Ray Milland, on the other hand, has the correct approach of the man who does not trust women, after a previous involvement that made him desert his post in the army. Their mutual distrust causes a fierce antagonism, and they go to extremes to conceal their true feeling for each other. Of course, love finds its way in the end and the final scene is very tender. Trumbo must pay his due to the army, and Lily is ready to wait for his return, for as long as it takes. They are both charismatic actors, and if the movie concentrated more on them and less on the "epic" side, it would have been immensely richer. Nevertheless, the movie is very much worth seeing and great entertainment.

Robert J. Maxwell A massive gold rush takes diverse types of California, where they meet their destinies. Some find gold, most melt into the background, some run saloons, others gamble and win saloons from the others, some are pervicaciously greedy and deprive others of water, some wear sandals and lift weights on Muscle Beach, some organize a personal militia to fight against the statehood that would deprive them of their unethical power and their mountain of riches, some found loony religious cults.Everyone except Anthony Quinn is miscast. Ray Milland is a suave Englishman, not a wandering cowboy who needs a shave. George Coulouris isn't bad as the powerful heavy and gang leader, but Barry Fitzgerald does not belong in the small part of the grizzled side kick. That's Gabby Hayes' or Walter Brennan's role. Barbara Stanwyck is miscast too. She belongs in the city, not singing in Coulouris's gambling den and bar. She gets to sing (dubbed) two or three fully orchestrated 1947-era songs.There are a few unexpected objets trouvee in the script. Stanwyck's songs are dumb, but there is a pretty Mexican folk song, "Carmel, Carmela," sung by a tenor with a simple guitar accompaniment. And Coulouris gets a bit of sympathy from his personal background -- poverty and sadness -- during his apparently genuine proposal to Stanwyck that the ordinary bad guy is usually denied in these perfunctory scripts. I mean, after all, Coulouris was the captain of a slave ships. The horror, the horror.And, unexpectedly, the hero, Ray Milland, gets clobbered in two fist fights. True, he's outnumbered or outweighed, but that usually doesn't stop the hero from winning, even if, in the process, he winds up with a tiny and colorful trickle of blood from the corner of his lips. The viewer also acquires a bit of incidental learning regarding the history of the state of California in the lead-up to the Civil War.

bkoganbing If back in 1946 when California the movie was made, let alone in the 1840s when California came to the USA via the Mexican Cession, people knew what a sprawling entity California would become, the idea of a separate California country that George Coulouris wanted to have might have been the idea might have been sold. As it is now California has about 9% of the House of Representatives and a population and budget bigger than most countries.But we're back in the year of 1849 when trail guide Ray Milland is guiding a wagon train to the Pacific, to the newly acquired lands of the Mexican War. He's reluctantly allowed Barbara Stanwyck to travel with Barry Fitzgerald on the train. Stanwyck's been given a heave-ho out of town similar to what Claire Trevor got in Stagecoach. The two of them are mighty attracted to each other, but Milland thinks she's cheap and Stanwyck thinks he's stuck up.It tears it for Milland when Stanwyck upon reaching California takes up with George Coulouris, a powerful, rich, and mysterious former sea captain who gained his fortune in the slave trade. He's a mean one to cross and his ambitions include nothing less than carving out a separate California Empire with himself as head.So the political mixes with the personal as Milland fights Coulouris for California and Stanwyck.California was a big budget item for Paramount that year, the only thing it lacked was Cecil B. DeMille directing it. The film was shot on location in Sedona, Arizona in gorgeous technicolor, courtesy of Ray Rennahan. You have to remember that Milland had won the Best Actor Oscar for The Lost Weekend the previous year and Paramount was now trying to take advantage of that.Stanwyck loved making westerns and it sure shows here. This was Ray Milland's first starring western, he'd do a few more and not bad ones either. Fitzgerald steals the show of course in every scene he's in as the wise grape grower who sees vineyards in the Napa Valley as part of California's future.The whole thing is nicely directed by John Farrow. And of course Coulouris will creep you out with his brand of villainy. Catch it when it's broadcast.

JoeytheBrit A film that starts out as camp as this – apple-pie and syrup homilies to the great state voiced over saturated colour shots of its natural landmarks – can only get better, and thankfully it does. Despite the improvement California never really reaches the big budget quality heights to which it aspires though. The colour looks good, and some of the cinematography is terrific, and John Farrow's direction is as reliable as it always was, but the plot is a little stale to say the least.Ray Milland struggles to convince in a role more suited to the likes of Robert Taylor, but he gives it his best shot and is merely unmemorable rather than annoying in the role of principled cavalry deserter and wagon leader Jonathan Trumbo, who spends most of the film fighting his desire for saloon girl Lily Bishop (Barbara Stanwyck, opposite whom Milland seems to become invisible every time they share a scene) before inevitably melting into her arms in the final scene. This being a colour film, Lily often wears red, just to let us know the colour of her past and the passions lurking beneath her frosty exterior. If George Coulouris were half as colourful as his character's name – Pharaoh Coffin – an ex-slave trader intent on making California his own little kingdom, instead of an oddly insipid nonentity he might have provided a little more zip to the proceedings, but most of the bad guy antics are left to the ever-reliable Albert Dekker. The film also features a young Anthony Quinn, impossibly handsome in a latino way, who sadly has little to do other than dance, get drunk and die. Barry Fitgerald rounds out the cast as Fabian, a wine grower on Trumbo's wagon trail who allows himself to be talked into running for governor of California so that Johnny can hammer a nail into Pharaoh's, ahem, coffin.This is old-style major studio entertainment so you pretty much know what you're going to get. Good, solid production values, some not insubstantial star power – and a story that is almost as lightweight as tiny Mr. Fitzgerald.