Broken Lance

90% of the movie takes place in a flashback, telling us why Joe (Robert Wagner) in the present is asking a picture of Spencer Tracy on a horse what he should do.

Tracy was a big cattleman, but his three sons from his first marriage feel unappreciated and treated less like sons than hired hands. So when dad gets a little out of control with a copper miner polluting the stream that runs through his land, it's only the youngest son, Joe, that offers to take the blame for the fight to save dad. Then the other sons won't agree to paying what's requested in damages so that Joe can appeal the verdict without the mine company contesting it, so the "6-7 months" in jail becomes 3 years.

So Joe is trying to decide whether to pursue vengeance, blaming them for his father's decline and eventual death. If Joe knew the eldest brother (played by Richard Widmark with his usual sneering disdain) disparaged his mother (the princess of a nearby Comanche tribe), the decision might be easier. I'm not sure if Widmark really cares that she's Comanche, so much as just that his dad remarried anyone, and he thinks Joe was the favorite.

However, Widmark knows Tracy doesn't take anyone speaking ill of her, even after he's hobbled by a stroke. And Widmark figures he has the upper hand, so he can afford to thumb his nose at the old man. His father makes his typical proclamation about what will or will not happen, tries to rise from the chair he's in and Widmark just smirks it off. It has all the impact of a gentle breeze or a child's tantrum.

It's a stark contrast to a conversation Spencer Tracy has with the Governor (E.G. Marshall) shortly before the trial over his actions at the mining camp. The Governor tells Tracy to keep Joe away from his daughter. Because Joe is half-Native American. Tracy doesn't say anything for a few moments, just lowers his head and projects this fury, silently, before he erupts. It's a good bit of acting. I know, big surprise, Spencer Tracy can act. The Governor is apologetic for his weakness, though unwilling to back away from it, which was surprising. He basically argues he is too old to change his views, despite the efforts he assures his old friend he's made.

Anyway, Tracy's good, Widmark pitifully conniving, Wagner seethes a lot.