JUBAL

JUBAL (1956). Director: Delmer Daves.

Shep Horgan (Ernest Borgnine) is a kindly if clueless rancher who gives a drifter named Jubal (Glenn Ford) a job, but trouble takes the form of another hand, Pinky (Rod Steiger), who takes an instant dislike to Jubal. Matters aren't helped when Horgan's overheated wife Mae (Valerie French) takes a shine to Jubal, even though she's already dallied with Pinky. This all leads to melodramatic but not very interesting complications. This silly sex-western has okay performances but the soap opera plot is predictable and the ultimate effect is tedium. A sub-plot with a group of religious wanderers and a pretty gal that Jabal falls for (played by Felicia Farr) doesn't help much. Charles Lawton Jr.'s cinematography is wonderful, however. Charles Bronson has a small role. Valerie French later wound up in The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake.

Verdict: No jubilation in Jubal. **.