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Rating:  - Best Western Ever
Gritty, dirty and downright manly. The overgrown adolescents of today need to study this film and learn how to act like a man. No tattoos, ear-rings or other piercings to smother the Y gene. Little music is used; some of the 40s and 50s flicks were embellished with over the top, histrionic scores combating rather than complimenting the plot. The dialogue is short, cutting and to the point. I especially like the "he-girl" comment. Another William Wellman masterpiece; get this film. DVD transfer is superb.
Rating:  - Some standout moments but not great
Gregory Peck was a marvelous actor, one of my alltime favorites. I had seen this movie many years ago and remembered loving it. I waited for years and years for it to come out on DVD and when it did, I bought it that day.
Sadly, it was not as terrific as my aging memory wanted it to be. There are some very good moments in the film but it doesn't really hold together all that well. The black and white photography is lovely in spots. Anne Baxter is ravishing as a six-gun-toting miner's daughter. Richard Widmark gives one of his less-grating performances (that's a compliment).
Overall, it's not one I'll watch over and over.
Rating: - Exciting Western!
William Wellman once more proves why he was one the most extraordinary filmmakers in this genre. From the first shot you will be involved when a bunch of thieves headed by Gregory Peck at last can arrive to a ghost town after having ridden days and days through the arid desert (a resemblance to "Greed"). Once they arrive they will meet a weird woman who lives with her grandfather and so, the dramatis will confront among themselves in search of gold.
Electrifying sequences, with an astonishing final conflict surrounded by stormy winds that accent still more the tension of the moment. Widmark is excellent too in this tour de force Western that must be part of your hard collection in case as I do are a collector of selected westerns.
Rating: - Excellent Western epic
Gregory Peck gives his usual powerful performance playing Stretch, the leader of a band of outlaws roaming the post Civil War west. After robbing a bank the gang is chased across a desolate salt flat. They decide to cross the expanse and low on water they crawl into what appears to be a deserted ghost town.
The town was known as Yellow Sky and soon they come across a rifle toting Anne Baxter playing Mike who lives nearby with her grizzled, old ex-prospector grandfather played marvelously by James Barton. They soon learn that Baxter and her grandfather are in possession of a fortune in gold. The authoritative Peck brokers a deal whereby the gang will take half of the booty leaving the other portion for the old man and his granddaughter. Gold hungry gang member Dude played by Richard Widmark has other ideas and recruits the rest of the crew to double cross both Peck and the old man and Baxter.
The previously disreputable Peck falls hard for Baxter and swears to abide by the deal he arranged. This ultimately leads to a lethal gun battle as western justice is meted out, with good triumphing over evil.
William Wellman directs a talented cast in this classic black and white oater filmed for the most part in the remote, unforgiving yet beautiful confines of Death Valley.
Rating: - "Peck...Baxter...Widmark...Wellman ~ Yellow Sky (1948)"
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment present "YELLOW SKY" (1948) (96 mins B&W), under director William Wellman, producer & screenwriter Lamar Trotti, short novel by W.R. Burnett., musical direction by Alfred Newman . . . . .cast includes Gregory Peck (Stretch), Anne Baxter (Mike), Richard Widmark (Dude), Robert Arthur (Bull Run), John Russell (Lengthy), Harry Morgan (Half Pint), James Barton (Grandpa), Charles Kemper (Walrus), Robert Adler (Jed), Harry Carter (Lieutenant), Victor Kilian (Bartender), Paul Hurst (Drunk),Hank Worden (Rancher), Jay Silverheels (Indian), William Gould (Banker), Norman Leavitt (Bank Teller), Eula Guy (Woman in Bank), Chief Yowlachie (Colorado) . . . . . our story begins with outlaws Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, John Russell, Harry Morgan, Robert Arthur and Charle Kemper robbing a bank, fleeing for their lives only to take refuge across the desert in a ghost town located smackdab in the middle of nowhere...near death they find an old prospector James Barton and his granddaughter Anne Baxter who help them and then must fear them in finding and stealing their gold...the novel by W.R. Burnett is neatly written as the direction from William Wellman keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat...great cast and the black and white shadows and landscape bring out that vintage look in all the right places...the final scene has a classic showdown between Peck and his gang of thieves.
Specal footnote, actor Gregory Peck was not only a wonderful actor but a great human being, of his own movies, "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) is Peck's favourite, his character from "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962), Atticus Finch, was voted the greatest screen hero of all time by the American Film Institute in May 2003, only two weeks before his death (beating out Indiana Jones, who was placed second, and James Bond who came third)...Brock Peters delivered his eulogy on the day of his funeral and burial, June 16, 2003. In To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Peters played Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a white girl that Atticus Finch (Peck's character) defended in court....on his 1962 Oscar-winning role in "To Kill A Mockingbird", "I put everything I had into it, all my feelings and everything I'd learned in 46 years of living, about family life and fathers and children, and my feelings about racial justice and inequality and opportunity."
SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. Gregory Peck (aka: Eldred Gregory Peck)
Date of birth: 4/05/1916 - La Jolla, California, USA
Date of death: 6/12/2003 - Los Angeles, California
2. Anne Baxter
Date of birth : 5/07/1923 - Michigan City, Indiana
Date of death: 12/12/1985 - New York, New York
3. Richard Widmark
Date of birth: 12/26/1914 - Sunrise, Minnesota
Date of death: Still Living
4. William A. Wellman (Director)
Date of birth: 2/29/1896 - Brookline, Massachusetts
Date of death: 12/09/1975 - Los Angeles, California,
Want to thank 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for releasing "Yellow Sky" (1948), the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage era of the '40s & '50s...order your copy now from Amazon or 20th Century Fox Entertainment where there are plenty of copies available, stay tuned once again for top notch wonderful character actors of the cinema brought back so many wonderful memories of the times when film makers cared about you who purchased a ticket and came back for more...just the way we like 'em.
Total Time: 98 mins on DVD ~ 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment #2234089 ~ (5/23/2006)
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