''Thunder in the Sun'' is a 1959 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Russell Rouse Russell Rouse (November 20, 1913 – October 2, 1987) was an American screenwriter, director, and producer who is noted for the "offbeat creativity and originality" of his screenplays and for film noir movies and television episodes produce ...

and starring

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...

and

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; yi, יראַ גראָססעל; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor, film producer, and singer, best remembered for playing Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was no ...

Plot

The film shows a family of French Basque immigrants pioneering into the Wild West while carrying their ancestral vines. Hard drinking trail driver Lon Bennett is hired to lead them and he falls for the spirited Gabrielle Dauphin.

Reception

The film is infamous among Basques for its misunderstandings of Basque customs, such as the use of the '' xistera'' (a device of the

jai alai Jai alai (: ) is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker ''cesta''. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term ''jai alai'', coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also oft ...

sport) as a weapon or shouting

ululation Ululation (), , is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid back and forth movement of the tongue and the uvula. Around th ...

s as meaningful communication. Other commentators, though, have noted the well-staged action scenes, the absorbing story, and the excellent cinematography.

Cast

as Gabrielle Dauphin *

as Lon Bennett * Jacques Bergerac as Pepe Dauphin *

Blanche Yurka Blanche Yurka (born Blanch Jurka, June 19, 1887 – June 6, 1974) was an American stage and film actress and director. She was an opera singer with minor roles at the Metropolitan Opera and later became a stage actress, making her Broadway deb ...

as Louise Dauphin *

Carl Esmond Carl Esmond (born Karl Simon; June 14, 1902– December 4, 2004) was an Austrian-born American film and stage actor, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Although his age was given as 33 in the passenger list when he arrived in the USA in January 19 ...

as Andre Dauphin *

Fortunio Bonanova Fortunio Bonanova, pseudonym of Josep Lluís Moll, (13 January 1895 – 2 April 1969) was a Spanish baritone singer and a film, theater, and television actor. He occasionally worked as a producer and director. According to Lluis Fàbregas Cuixar ...

as Fernando Christophe *

Bertrand Castelli Bertrand Castelli (December 3, 1929, Salon-de-Provence – August 1, 2008) was a French producer, director, lighting designer, choreographer, painter and writer best known as the executive producer of many productions of the rock musical '' Hair'' ...

as Edmond Duquette *

Albert Carrier Alberto Carrieri (October 16, 1919 – May 23, 2002) was an Italian-American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing "Pedro Quinn" in the 1983 film '' Scarface'', with also being known for playing the role of "Captain Ja ...

as Basque *

Felix Locher Jon Hall (born Charles Felix Locher, February 23, 1915 – December 13, 1979) was an American film actor known for playing a variety of adventurous roles, as in 1937's '' The Hurricane'', and later when contracted to Universal Pictures, in ...

as Danielle *Michele Marly *Albert Villasainte * Veda Ann Borg as Marie

Production

The film was made by Seven Arts Productions and acquired by Paramount for distribution. It was the company's third film, after ''Gunrunners'' and ''

Ten Seconds to Hell ''Ten Seconds To Hell'' (released in the UK as ''The Phoenix'') is a 1959 British and West German film directed by Robert Aldrich, based on Lawrence P. Bachmann's novel ''The Phoenix''. The Hammer Films/UFA joint production stars Jack Palance, ...

''. It was known during filming as ''Between the Thunder and the Sun'' and ''The Gun and the Arrow''. Filming started 21 July 1958 with location work in Mount Whitney.

References

External links