Watching these two films spliced together and believe me despite the opening narrative the Joseph Conrad story The Secret Sharer and Stephen Crane's The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky have really nothing in common at all. James Agee wrote the screenplay for both and he was far better on the Crane story than the Conrad story.
The Secret Sharer is a dull work as new captain James Mason with an unfamiliar crew stands watch himself one night and takes aboard a man swimming for his ship. It was Michael Pate who is mate of another vessel and he's killed a member of that crew. He tells a story so convincing in his justification for the homicide that Mason decides to help him flee.
No real action in this one, it's Mason with his crew and then with Pate doing a lot of talk talk talk. This was not one of the better film versions of a Conrad story by far.
The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky concerns Marshal Robert Preston who has cleaned up the town of Yellow Sky so much so that he's gone to San Antonio to wed Marjorie Steele and bring her home. The only problem is that old time outlaw Minor Watson has gotten all liquored up and is terrorizing the town waiting to kill Marshal Preston. Watson who usually plays dignified establishment type figures is really in an offbeat role as the old time outlaw and he's good.
Marjorie Steele at the time was Mrs. Huntington Hartford and note the fact that Hartford is producer at RKO for this film. He would have had to deal with Howard Hughes who owned the studio then and the negotiations between those two billionaires must have been something. Though she's fine in the part of the bride, the film did not lead to a big movie career for Mrs. Hartford.
If you watch the film, I'd skip the first half lest you be bored and go right to The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky in Face To Face.
