Yellow Sky

Henry Morgan in Yellow Sky (dir. William A. Wellman, 1948)



Audacious "impossible shot": rifle-barrel view of Gregory Peck



Anne Baxter and Gregory Peck



Richard Widmark

I'd always heard that Pursued is as close as Hollywood ever came to a true noir western, but Yellow Sky is even closer in many ways. There's the theme of criminal camaraderie that threatens constantly to devolve into betrayal and violence. There's the snappy tough-guy dialogue: "You gotta hit some people with an axe." And there's the rich high-contrast black-and-white photography full of skewed angles and obliquely framed spaces. At one point I swear you even see venetian blind shadows. Highly recommended.