Desert Fury (Desert Town) (1947)

82% of users liked it
(45 ratings)

Desert Fury is a rarety for the 1940s, a Technicolor "film noir." Set in a Nevada gambling town, the story concerns the various misadventures, romantic and otherwise, of Paula Haller (Lizabeth Scott), the rebellious daughter of gambling-house proprietress Fritzie Haller (Mary Astor, who steals the… More Desert Fury is a rarety for the 1940s, a Technicolor "film noir." Set in a Nevada gambling town, the story concerns the various misadventures, romantic and otherwise, of Paula Haller (Lizabeth Scott), the rebellious daughter of gambling-house proprietress Fritzie Haller (Mary Astor, who steals the picture). Though no better than she ought to be, Fritzie is determined that Paula will not grow up as a "shady lady", but she'd fighting an uphill battle. John Hodiak plays crooked gambler Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak), who tries to exploit Paula's fascination with him for his own gain. Thank heaven that upright lawman Tom Hanson (Burt Lancaster) is on hand to rescue the heroine from the machinations of Bendix and his partner-in-perfidy Johnny Ryan (Wendell Corey). Desert Fury was adapted from the far racier and more explicit novel by Ramona Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Lewis Allen
Genres: Classics, Drama

In Theaters: Aug 15, 1947 Wide

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

well this is just a hoot IF u can find it. it's a completely oddball technicolor noir with a very strong gay subtext, completely subverting the hayes code of the period. as a friend of mine put it, it's as if tennessee williams wrote a western. lizabeth scott looks amazing… More
well this is just a hoot IF u can find it. it's a completely oddball technicolor noir with a very strong gay subtext, completely subverting the hayes code of the period. as a friend of mine put it, it's as if tennessee williams wrote a western. lizabeth scott looks amazing but mary astor steals the film. also this was technically burt lancaster's debut, altho it was held back from release for nearly a year. filmed in central arizona's verde valley where things haven't really changed much