Yellow Sky [1948] | ![Yellow Sky [1948]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VJYCHJWTL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Directors: William A. Wellman, John Schlesinger
Actors: Gregory Peck, James Barton, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark, Robert Arthur
Studio: Cinema Club
Category: DVD
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £2.97
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Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 3313
Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Region: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5014138302818
ASIN: B000EZ3F3U
Theatrical Release Date: 1948
Release Date: August 28, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: IN STOCK. USUALLY DISPATCHED SAME OR NEXT WORKING DAY (MON - FRI). PLEASE ALLOW 3 - 6 DAYS FOR DELIVERY. BRAND NEW AND FULLY GUARANTEED BY A WELL ESTABLISHED TRUSTED LTD COMPANY. EMAIL DISPATCH CONFIRMATIONS SENT. TRACK PROGRESS 24/7
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| Customer Reviews:
Great film, fine transfer July 27, 2008
Ralf Bader (Germany)
FILM: Wellman's Yellow Sky might be one of the finest westerns of the 40s, with stunning photography, convincing dialogue and a thrilling soundtrack: there's hardly any music, instead the sounds of nature are recorded as if it was an orchestra. The only reason this is not one of the great masterpieces of world cinema (but "only" a very good film), is - in my opinion - the casting of Gregory Peck. He's not acting bad, but he's just not convincing as the bad guy turning good (as Humphrey Bogart e.g. very convincingly represented the bad guy with a golden heart). Peck just lacks the nastiness, the menace to make him believable as the leader of outlaws. DVD: there are no extras, not even english subtitles, but the transfer is excellent, the soundtrack fine. The only pity is the cover being a bore (compare it with the wonderful region-1-dvd).
Great Film for Sunday Afternoons April 25, 2008
G. A. Readman (London)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The first time I saw this film was on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I should have been outside collecting on the sunshine and warmth. Oh no, here was a bleak black and white film of cowboys crossing a salt flat, they and their horses dying of thirst - I was captured. Old shack, grandfather and proto feminist daughter, ghost town, gold, greed - the plot is like that of Shakespeare's Tempest. A dignified outlaw in the form of Gregory Peck leading a band of some really awful men. You can't fault Greg in any film - he's as smooth as inside of an horse's ear. Yep, it was all there. I love this film. I love it to bits.
 An excellent example of William Wellman's professional craftsmanship September 11, 2007
C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
When it comes to the movies, in my opinion, craftsmanship trumps art most of the time. William Wellman's Yellow Sky is a movie with an intriguing story-line, strong characters in conflict, well-paced and dramatic direction, skillful acting and a satisfyingly good-natured conclusion...and without a "message" in sight. It's a small-scale and very well-made Western which, without DVDs, would probably remain as forgotten as it has been for the last fifty years.
James Dawson (Gregory Peck) leads a gang of bank robbers, a gang that includes Dude (Richard Widmark), a gambler with a bad lung, a taste for white shirts and a love of gold. It's a couple of years after the Civil War. They rob a bank and ride out of town with the money but find themselves pursued by a cavalry troop. Their only chance at escape is to head out over the salt plains, where it's deadly hot, there's no water and men and horses usually die. Half dead they manage to cross and find themselves in Yellow Sky, a broken-down ghost town filled with rolling brush and dust. They encounter the only people who live there, Mike (Anne Baxter), a tomboy who can shoot as well as most of the gang, and her aging grandfather (James Barton), an old miner. It doesn't take long for the gang to figure out that Grampa and Mike have been quietly mining and stashing away gold.
And that's the set-up. Dawson and the gang want the gold and will take it, but Dawson is prepared to share it with Mike and Grampa. Dude is willing to go along...until he has an opportunity to take all the gold for himself. And the rest of the gang? There's Lengthy (John Russell), mean and aggressive who plans to have his share of the gold as well as having Mike; Bull Run (Robert Arthur), a kid who may be too sentimental for his own good; Walrus (Charles Kemper), usually good-natured, not too smart and willing to follow along; and Half Pint (Henry Morgan), maybe he's okay, maybe not, but he's not one to break things up.
Before long Dawson realizes that Mike is someone special. He remembers that he wasn't always a bankrobber. But by then, in this blazing hot ghost town, it's Dude and the gang against Dawson, with Mike using her rifle to back Dawson. The resolution, which started as a good guy versus bad guy drama, ends up as a good guy versus bad guy versus bad guy shootout in the dark, deserted, broken-down saloon. Wellman plays it so we see no action inside, only Dawson walking in, then two or three gunshots and powder flashes. The movie ends with some good-natured bank robbery redemption on the part of Dawson, and a nice mixture of doubt at first by Mike and then trust.
The movie was shot in California's Death Valley and looks it. There is no shade, just burning hot boulders, dirt, dust and sand and the falling-apart buildings that were Yellow Sky. What makes this movie such a pleasure to watch is that Wellman knows his business. There are no false starts, unnecessary emotional anguish, over-acting, back stories or meaningful subtexts. Wellman shows us what these people are like, even the gang members, but he shows us just enough to keep the story moving forward. The story, with two attractive leads in Peck and Baxter and one creepy and untrustworthy bad guy (Widmark), is the important element. Wellman was one of the great craftsmen of Hollywood movie making. He was a pro. He directed such varied and excellent movies as Beau Geste, Nothing Sacred, Battleground, The Public Enemy, The Ox Bow Incident and Roxie Hart. Yellow Sky may not be in that category but it is a skillful and satisfying movie.
Magnificent oater October 14, 2006
Mr. T. J. Denman (London, UK)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is one of the best westerns ever. Fantastic atmospheric direction from the master of westerns William Wellman (Ox Bow Incident, Track of the Cat). I've watched thousands of westerns, but I'd definitely put this in my top 50.
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