dbdumonteil Anthony Mann made five movies with James Stewart;my favorites are "the naked spur "and mainly "the man from Laramie" ."Thunder bay " is,IMHO ,the least interesting of the lot.Conceived to be shown on a wide screen for it contains many spectacular scenes (particularly the finale),much of it is lost on a tiny TV screen.Besides ,if James Stewart and Dan Duryea seem to be as thick as thieves ,you cannot say the same about the two love affairs.Joanne Dru is so cold there's no real chemistry between Steve and Stella .Like in "bend of the river" ,Mann shows some interest in economics :oil- drillers against shrimp fishermen,in this case.

MartinHafer Jimmy Stewart was directed by Anthony Mann in many wonderful Westerns--all made in the 1950s. They are classics--every one of them--ranging from WINCHESTER '73 to THE FAR COUNTRY to THE MAN FROM LARAMIE. However, they also made one non-Western together and this is that film. Considering the track record, I certainly expected so much more from this film. Instead of the usual high-caliber work, this film was amazingly flat and uninspiring despite having a very original story. I guess you can't win 'em all! Oddly, the film begins with Stewart and Dan Duryea as pals who are out to make a deal on an offshore oil rig. I say this is odd because usually, Duryea plays bad guys and NEVER buddies of the leading man. However, in this film he is a basically good guy--though he does have a hint of larceny about him! The oil rig is at first welcomed by the local shrimp boat operators. However, when they find that the oil company is using dynamite to help them detect oil deposits, they are afraid of losing their livelihoods and violently oppose the drilling. It is actually an interesting look at the 1950s, as Stewart is portrayed as the good guy and the dynamiting is explained away very glibly--saying it won't cause any lasting harm to the environment! As an avid fisherman, I didn't buy this explanation--nor did the shrimpers. But, the damage had already been done and the location for the well was determined quickly before the boat owners could do anything to stop this. The rest of the film follows the up and down relationship between the two factions until ultimately everyone is happy and the film ends--especially when they discover that the oil platforms are great attractants for sea life.The problem with all this is that while this might be modestly interesting from a historical sense, none of this seems compelling enough for a film. Plus, some of the characters in the film seem a bit stupid and tough to believe--apart from Duryea and Stewart. The film just seemed to lack energy or lasting appeal, though it was mildly diverting enough to merit a 6.

telegonus Thunder Bay is an anomaly, a pedantic film on a subject seldom dealt with in the movies, the conflict between businessmen, whose ambitions will cause great change in the local landscape, and the locals, who want things to remain as they are. In this case it's oil drillers versus shrimp fisherman in the Louisiana of the early 1950's. The conflict at times seems almost Marxian, with James Stewart's hardheaded, no-nonsense outsider going up against ragin' Cajun Gilbert Roland, a far more charming and sympathetic figure. Rather than shy away from class conflict, the movie confronts the issue repeatedly, in a variety of ways, and builds up a good deal of tension along the way, as Stewart's compulsive, oil drilling loner, increasingly isolated, takes on the entire community. There's a good deal of fifties sociology here, with the modern, inner-directed Stewart against the tradition-centered fishing people. Neither side understands the other, as one can well see how these local folks would view Stewart as an uncaring and forbidding figure, the embodiment of alien, big city values. On the other hand these people are a rough and tumble lot, uneducated, clannish and utterly without curiosity. It's easy to see how an educated man might look down on them. There's a good deal of action along the way, and some fist-fights. At a time when many Americans still thought of themselves in terms of class, and with the Depression fresh in everyone's minds, it was rather bold of director Anthony Mann to take on this subject from a middle of the road, basically Republican (but not right wing) perspective. In this respect the movie, which came out in the first year of the Eisenhower administration, heralded a new era of compromise, with the promise of better things yet to come. As to which side is right, well, you be the judge. I'm still thinking this over.

Nazi_Fighter_David "Thunder Bay," strictly a man's picture, may be considered a Western, with boats and oil substituting for horses and guns, on the Gulf Coast off Louisiana...Stewart and Mann considered as regular partners begun for what they thought were fresh pastures... Stewart is properly tough, wild and laconic as the enthusiastic engineer convinced that oil reserves might lie beneath the Louisiana waters, and Duryea have come up with a drilling platform that resists the fury of even the worst storms... Away they go to find offshore oil, with the encouragement of Jay. C. Flippen willing to ramp up, pumping money on exploration...The drilling clashes with the plans of shrimp fishermen who are opposing the test on the fishing grounds... It may have an adverse affect on their marine life...Duryea adds more complications to the action-drama by falling in love with the girlfriend of one of the fishermen, whose sister, Joanne Dru (echoing the sentiments of Janet Leigh in "The Naked Spur") is putting her eyes on Stewart... But the machinations of the two girls seem worthless material against the struggles between the guys, which are actually the main force of the movie...After several obstacles, violent storms, romantic distrust, and the retraction of magnate Flippen, who has lost faith in the project, all ends wonderfully when Stewart (hard to believe) discovers not only oil but an abundant source of shrimp...Subsequently the lovers pair off, and the former enemies become allies as they share their beneficial trades...Photographed in Technicolor, "Thunder Bay" is a well-produced movie, an entertaining piece of film making...