everything you have heard about this movie is true.
... View Moreif their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
... View MoreIt's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
... View MoreIt is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
... View MoreI watched this film...all the way through...but I didn't like it. It seems to me that if there were ever a man and a woman that didn't belong together it was the two main characters in this film, played by Wyman and Heston. Aside from that, and I admit I can't put my finger on it, this film just feels off-target to me. Like when I play pool and every shot is about one inch off the mark. And although I'm a man, it appeared to me that Charlton Heston wouldn't have been a good kisser at all.The basic story line...at least for a while...seems okay. Wyman is traveling by train through Texas and gets laid over in a cow town that is becoming an oil town. She gets the idea to go into a store for ladies fashions and makes a hit of it. Meanwhile she falls in love with a ranch owner who eventually becomes an oil man. But, oil and water don't mix and Wyman and Heston always seem at odds. And frankly, I have to align with Wyman's character here. Heston plays a mild bully. In the end, she -- unfortunately -- bows to his idea of what a wife should be. What a shame.Interestingly, Texas Governor Allan Shivers and fashion designer Edith Head both appear as themselves near the end of the film.There's nothing wrong with the performance of Jane Wyman here. It's the film that's off. But despite Wyman's strength as an actress, I'd have no desire to wade through this again.Charlton Heston apparently disliked his performance here...and I concur. To be frank, I was never impressed with Heston in romantic films. Despite being in several of the great films of the era, (and "Ben-Hur" is in my top 5), I'm not sure Heston's acting ability was very broad.Claire Trevor is here, and I liked her in her role. There just should have been much more of her! The wonderful Thelma Ritter is here...basically playing Thelma Ritter...and she's as fascinating to watch here as in any other film! William Demarest, usually an interesting character actor, doesn't fit here. And Wallace Ford (as her husband) has little to do beyond drinking whiskey.I don't know that I've ever seen a Jane Wyman film that I felt quite this negative about. Not bad though...a single miss in her most productive years.
... View MoreLucy Gallant" stars Jane Wyman as a New York woman who, when passing through a muddy Texas boomtown, recognizes a business opportunity when she sees it. Costar Charlton Heston plays a rancher who falls for her. They have trouble agreeing on the terms of a relationship, so she devotes herself to her growing business concern and he plays the love-sick dogie, wishing she would see things his way.The cast is the best part of this film. Thelma Ritter, Claire Trevor and William Demarest play colorful characters, solidly performed. Joel Fluellen is uncredited as Summertime, a black man who partners with Lucy in her early success and becomes a trusted employee; the film could have used more of him.This fish-out-of-water story, like "Giant", chronicles the era when wildcat oil strikes changed the economy, converting cowboys into the nouveau riche. Lucy proves to be an astute businesswoman. She parlays the sudden wealth of fashion-starved women into a local retail triumph.Casey (Heston) is mystified by Lucy's choices, but still finds her attractive. Is it because of or in spite of the fact she's an enthusiastic go-getter? In many other films of the fifties, women sacrifice their dreams for romance; what will Lucy do?
... View MoreLucy Gallant stars Jane Wyman and Charlton Heston have a great rapport in this wonderful movie. I have been trying to buy the VHS for 20 years. Is this web site saying the title is changed to Oil Town in 2005? thats very strange...i keep thinking that Jane Wyman has blocked releasing it. Perhaps it will be released on her passing. What a fun and well written movie!!! I cant wait to see it again...its NEVER on TV or cable... what a waste...check it out everyone, its a winner. Jane plays a jilted bride with her designer clothes for the honeymoon . Her train to New York is stopped in Texas with motor problems and she gets her luggage off, and finds that the women around the station are dying to buy good clothes, and she starts selling them right there, and thus begins a very successful department store very like Neiman Marcus. Charlton Heston falls in love with Jane, and what sparks from this as in Bogie and Bacal! They should have made more movies together, great performances all around. see it.
... View MoreJane Wyman plays a refined and educated Eastern woman who arrives in a Texas Oil town to get married. After the wedding is off, she sells her trousseau to get the money to start a dress shop. After 20 years she runs the biggest department store in Texas and socializes with the Texas rich. Charlton Heston waits patiently in the background for her to realize that she can have love and a career. This is one of the few movies from this decade that allowed the leading lady to be something beyond a stereotypical 50's woman.For many the costumes are the best part of the movie. The fancy department store has fashion shows with great 50's styles styles created by Edith Head and others. I would love for this to come out on DVD. It used to play on TV on Saturday afternoon about 30 years ago and I almost always watched it.
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