Dreadfully Boring

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

While participating in a posse to hunt down the fugitive Tom Keefer (Walter Brennan), who is accused of murdering a local inhabitant, the young Ben Ragan (Dana Andrews) loses his dog Trouble in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. He returns to the swamp to seek his dog out but he is captured by Tom. Soon he learns that Tom Keeler is innocent and has a daughter, Julie (Anne Baxter), who is raised by the local merchant Marty McCord (Russell Simpson). Ben has an argument with his father Thursday Ragan (Walter Huston) and he moves to a shanty that belongs to Marty. Then he associate to Tom Keeler to hunt animals in the swamp and he shares the profit of selling furs with Julie. Soon they fall in love with each other. One day, Ben witnesses Bud Dorson (Guinn Williams) and his brother Tim Dorson (Ward Bond) stealing Marty's pigs. There is a meeting in the village with Sheriff Jeb McKane (Eugene Palette) to find the thief and Ben's ex-girlfriend Mabel MacKenzie (Virginia Gilmore) is jealous of Ben and accuses Tom Keefer. The sheriff organizes a search party to hunt Tom down, but Ben presses Jesse Wick (John Carradine), who is harassing his stepmother Hannah (Mary Howard), and he finds who the real killers are. He wants Tom to return to the village, but Tom suspects that Ben might intend to betray him. "Swamp Water" is an entertaining and dramatic adventure. The locations and the camera work in the swamp are impressive. The choreography of the fight and the quick sand in the swamp "swallowing" the criminal are very realistic. The direction of Jean Renoir and the cinematography are amazing. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Segredo do Pântano" ("The Secret of the Swamp")

Being an early role for Dana Andrews, he gets 4th billing despite unequivocally being the center of the film. I've looked at some reviews on IMDb and his performance seems to be universally praised. I have to disagree... the character is somewhat dim, but Andrews doesn't play it that way. Perhaps he can't mask the intelligence behind his eyes, or maybe it's the way he seems to keep losing his phony Georgia accent, or maybe I'm just used to him in noir roles, but he never felt right to me. Of the top three actors, both Walter Huston and Anne Baxter are good but underutilized. Linda Darnell was initially slated for the Baxter role, and I think her smouldering sensuality might have given the character some edge -- though I'm not sure if she could have pulled off the earthiness. Surprisingly, it's Walter Brennan who I wanted to see more of. Usually the annoying old coot sidekick, here he displays a range and depth that shows off his abilities. It's a character we don't get to see nearly enough, but one with a complex morality. In the final moments of the film, we're not sure how to feel about his particular brand of justice. As for the story (Andrews is a trapper who discovers accused murderer Brennan hiding out in the swamp), it has a few speedbumps but for the most part it's pretty engaging. One does long for more of those scenes with Andrews and Brennan, and I didn't care quite as much about Andrews in town. The photography is a bit uneven... the swamp scenes are gorgeous and a few other shots stand out, but a lot of it seems flat. Overall, though, I was quite taken with this film.

A swamp that is widely perceived by all the locals as impenetrable offers refuge to a convicted murderer who has been hiding out there for years and has learned its lessons well enough to actually get by quite well. Fear of the swamp and its cottonmouths and alligators is enough to keep any civilized person out, but when a hunter's dog jumps out of his canoe and gets lost in this swamp, its the love he (Dana Andrews) has for his dog that draws him deeper into the swamp and sets up the meeting with fugitive Walter Brennan. It turns out the swamp isn't so bad after all, as Andrews and Brennan team up to collect a valuable set of furs from the animals they've trapped. Back in the town the truth of the murder for which Brennan faces hanging emerges in a very well told story. Jean Renoir was able to bring the town into the swamp or vice versa in this beautifully filmed movie. For sure the best actor awards go to Walter Huston who plays Dana Andrews father, and whose second wife is being courted by another great, John Carradine. The primordial beauty of the swamp makes a nice contrast to the dramatic backwoods small town swamp of this slice of America.

If you want to enjoy "Swamp water" you'd better forget all you know about Renoir's previous movies of the thirties.If it were a minor director,it would not be a problem.But Renoir is probably the greatest French director of the era ,and the French might feel disappointed because this film is completely impersonal.That does not mean it's bad,by a long shot.The real star of the movie is this swamp water,these luxuriant landscapes which the cinematography in black and white perfectly captures.Dudley Nichols' screenplay is ,as always ,absorbing ,and even if some subplots are a bit far-fetched (Miss Hannah and Jesse" I'm only passing by" Wike)the story 's interest is sustained till the end.Walter Brennan is convincing as Keefer ,the outcast.His daughter (Ann Baxter)is also some kind of Cinderella of the community.As Ben (Dana Andrews) is himself an orphan ,it's only natural that they hook up together.It also makes sense that he teams up with Keefer who becomes like a father to him.It 's only after he is knocked about that Thursday (Walter Huston)shows a true foster parent."Swamp water" is actually the story of three human beings who used to live on the fringe of society and become at last part of it.