Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Produced by Edmund Grainer
Screenplay by Lesser Samuels
Based on the novel by Robert Hardy Andrews
Music by Leith Stevens
Cinematography: William E. Snyder
Film Editor: Harry Marker
Cast: Virginia Mayo (Ann Merry Alaine), Robert Stack (Owen Pentecost), Ruth Roman (Boston Grant), Alex Nicol (Captain Stephen Kirby), Raymond Burr (Jumbo Means), Leo Gordon (Zeff Masterson), Regis Toomey (Father Murphy), Carleton Young (Colonel Gibson)
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Director Jacques Tourneur is well known for his horror (Cat People) and noir (Out Of The Past) pictures, and he should be. It’s a shame his Westerns — a handful of very good, and very unique, pictures from the 40s and 50s — don’t get the same recognition. Great Day In The Morning (1956) was Tourneur’s last Western feature (he did some cowboy stuff for TV), and it’s often overlooked or shrugged off. It’s well worth seeking out, especially now that we can see it in all its Technicolor and Superscope glory on Blu-Ray from Warner Archive.
Owen Pentecost (Robert Stack) arrives in Denver from his home in North Carolina, right before the start of the Civil War. He finds the place divided between those sympathetic to the North or the South. He’s a self-centered opportunist (about the nicest thing you could say about him), hoping to profit from the gold being discovered there and the unrest created by the impending war. Owen quickly establishes himself, drawing the ire of the town boss (Raymond Burr), getting caught up in all the pre-war bickering and fighting, and catching the eye of both a businesswoman (Virginia Mayo) and saloon girl (Ruth Roman). He’s always willing to play one side against the other for his own benefit.
And that’s where the trouble comes in. The male lead isn’t very likable, and it’d be easy to transfer that opinion to the film itself. But you’d be overlooking a lot of good stuff. First, there’s the incredible look Tourneur gives all his films. Pools of light in deep shadows are used well to direct our eye and highlight certain characters or bits of action. Cinematographer William E. Snyder does some great work here.
The cast of Great Day In The Morning is terrific, from the villains like Raymond Burr and Leo G. Gordon to the ladies, Virginia Mayo and Ruth Roman. Roman is especially good. Robert Stack is fine as Pentecost, and he’s to be commended for playing the character as the creep that he is. Westerns, especially the ones from the 1950s, get a lot of mileage out of the theme of redemption. It’s the backbone of many of the genre’s finest films. Here, we fully expect Pentecost to see the error of his ways, have a change of heart and make amends before the final fade. But with almost every genre convention Tourneur faces, his pictures seem to zig where other films zag — it’s very evident in his first Western, Canyon Passage (1946). Being that Tourneur is at the wheel on Great Day In The Morning, we shouldn’t be surprised when Pentecost’s redemption doesn’t happen the way it usually does.
Warner Archive has been bringing out 50s SuperScope movies on Blu-Ray lately, such as John Sturges’ Underwater! from 1955, and they’re doing a tremendous job with them. You hear a lot about how the process was grainy and soft, but you’d never think that after look at these Blu-Rays. They’re beautiful. It’s great to see them looking like this, and I’d certainly welcome some more.
A lot of people simply don’t like Great Day In The Morning. But it’s a Jacques Tourneur movie that’s often overlooked, and for that reason, along with its superb presentation on Blu-Ray, I recommend it highly.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
An awful boring picture from beginning to end, and saluting the production, or invisible direction is like talking about the scenery. No one, then or now, responds positively, other than a few wishful thinking aficionados to Great Day In the Morning.
Well Barry, I seem to be one of those wishful thinking aficionados. 🙂 I like this film and I’ve only seen a crappy bootleg copy. Though Robert Stack doesn’t play a particularly nice person, he’s still Stack and as such sexy.
But I think it’s Ruth Roman who the movie belongs to. Her ending was sad and…
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS…I couldn’t believe Pentecost never finds out about it. It took my by surprise.
Both Mayo and Roman have good roles and I found both ladies different view on love very interesting.
The ending is where it’s at for me, Margot. A complete shock — and so cool to have it play so counter to what you’d expect.
This one hit me as hard as the end of Rage At Dawn (1955). Remember that one?
You’re so right. This is 100% Ruth Roman’s movie.
I liked that the ending was so very unexpected, but it was a real punch in the gut.
You’re right about Rage at Dawn.
I do agree with you about Roman and Mayo. Now, had Roman and Raymond Burr changed parts….
Very nice review, Toby. The Blu-ray sounds very nice and, as a dyed-in-the-wool Tourneur fan, it will be mine at some point.
Working on a commentary for Canyon Passage and doing some interesting research on Stranger On Horseback, I’ve been really focused on Tourneur of late. That made this nice Blu-Ray even more of a treat.
I’m really looking forward to your take on it.
Kirk Douglas is gone; thought he would live forever and hoped he would.
RIP Kirk Douglas .Watched him last night in THE FINAL COUNTDOWN which was directed by one of my favourite actors,Don Taylor.
Stranger on Horseback is a fine film. But judging from VCI’s DVD, it’s in bad shape and desperately in need of restoration. (Apparently the only known copy is in the hands of the BFI.) Given the importance of Tourneur as a director, it’s a shame this is unlikely to happen.
KIRK DOUGLAS R.I.P. We will always have his great performances that he gave us.
Jacques has got to be the most self effacing, invisible director. Nevertheless his presence is unmistakable. He doesn’t put his stamp on a picture so much as leave a ghostly imprint. When I first saw GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING, nearly 50 years ago, I thought it was brilliant. This time around, I was somewhat disappointed – for half its duration. Yet the film haunts me days later. It’s wonderful. All genre expectations are undercut. Nothing is resolved as it usually is in a 50’s western. Ruth Roman shows off her accordion, yet we never see her play it. The vicious heavy Leo Gordon ordinarily would have to bite the dust, but nothing happens to him. The reformation of Robert Stack takes place, but we don’t see how exactly. Heroines die and the hero doesn’t even find out. Bubbling to the surface is the whole issue of peace as opposed to violence. There is a wonderful moment when Regis Toomey, the priest, steps into the middle of a gunfight demanding peace, and is shot dead. Tourneur doesn’t even take time out to sling dirt on his face up in Boot Hill and sing a hymn. There you go, Ruth Roman could have pulled out her accordion. There are low angle camera shots of the patriots marching to fife and drum that would serve well in any WWII movie,yet the film never takes sides and seems to be saying, why go and fight in a war? Take care of the people you love at home. The landscapes are magnificent. The staging brilliant, as you would expect in any Tourneur movie. This all said, I still believe CANYON PASSAGE is his western masterpiece. The Ernest Haycox story splitting the difference. But what a spectral, spectacular filmmaker he is.
You’re so right about Great Day In The Morning. It’s so easy to marvel at it, and appreciate all that Tourneour did with it, even though it’s not entirely satisfying in the way we want out movies to be after the final fade. I’ve always wondered if there was a conscious plan going in to have the picture hold back like that, or if it veered that way as it went along?
For me, the whole movie is Ruth Roman. She’s great in it, we really feel for her character and she looks terrific.
Nearly all of these things you admire are story points and are to the writer’s credit.
I’ve never read the novel or seen a copy of the script.
Maybe I should re-phrase what I was asking/wondering — how much, and at what point, did Tourneur get involved? Was he handed a script and he just did it? Was he involved in rewrites, etc? Or did its shape change in production?