The drifter
A
fiddlefoot, that is a drifter, a man with itchy feet who can settle to nothing,
often appears in Luke Short novels. That figures: the Western hero is often a
fiddlefoot. Loners rarely travel from
one place to another in Westerns, they usually drift there. The notion of the drifter is central to the great
Western myth. In a story serialized in The
Saturday Evening Post in March/April 1946, later published as a standalone
novel by Houghton Mifflin in 1949, Short elevated the word fiddlefoot to the book’s title.
It’s one
of Short’s better efforts (though in fact they were all good). The fiddlefoot
in question is Frank Chess. His long-suffering girlfriend Carrie, the judge’s
daughter, has waited five years for him as he drifted about the West. But now
Frank’s abusive stepfather is dead, possibly murdered, and Saber, the ranch, is
Frank’s. So will he settle down there, marry Carrie and become a rancher?
Well, pigs might fly.
He loves
Carrie all right and wants, in a theoretical way, to settle down with her. The
trouble is that during his driftin’ years he got into some shady business with
the horse trader Rhino Hulst. He wore a 2nd lieutenant’s uniform and impersonated
an Army horse-buyer in a scam Hulst and his henchmen had going. It was
lucrative, too, and worked well, but it has troubled Frank’s conscience and now he
tells Rhino he is quitting. That doesn’t suit Rhino at all and he blackmails
Frank into staying, then signing over half of Saber to him or he will go to the
law and tell Carrie.
Short is
very skillful with his portrait of Carrie. He makes her steadfast, loyal,
pretty – what’s not to like? And yet she is essentially condemnatory, like her
father judgmental. Whereas Tess…
For, as
is traditional in Western stories, there are two women. Often there is a ‘straight’
one, probably the better bet for marriage, and a racier one with zip and charm.
That’s Tess. She is vibrant, beautiful and a bit of a fiddlefoot herself. She
understands Frank. So who will he end up with?
Ah, for
that you will have to read the book. But I can reveal that Short handles it
subtly and one of the women is essentially a tragic figure.
There is
much skullduggery, ridin’ and shootin’. There is a lot
about horse driving and trading; interesting it is, too. Short was knowledgeable
about the working ways of the West but he wears his learning lightly and it’s
enjoyable but not intrusive.
There
are some good minor characters. As usual when I read a Luke Short that wasn’t
filmed (and a good number were) I imagine some of my favorite actors in these
parts. Randolph Scott will have to be Frank, of course. No one else will do for
the lone drifter with guts, and he suited B-Westerns to a (tall) T. I think
Marguerite Chapman for Carrie – not posh exactly but beautiful, ladylike and
just right for the steady judge’s daughter. As for Tess, we could go for a wild
card like Linda Darnell but I prefer Virginia Mayo. I know she would normally
have taken the steady lead part but after her Colorado in Colorado Territory I can see her as the passionate one with a
twinkle in her eye.
Buck
Hannan is the sheriff. He suspects Frank of his stepfather’s murder and is a
friend of Rhino’s, so a danger for Frank, but he is also fundamentally decent.
Ray Teal? Edgar Buchanan?
As for
the bad guy, we are spoiled for choice. Unblinking blond nazi like George
Macready in Coroner Creek? No, we need more of a smiling dissembler who dupes
the townsfolk into thinking he is a good guy. Dan Duryea? Maybe a bit
over-the-top. Robert Ryan would be ideal, if we could get him. Good with the
smile but essentially a thug underneath.
His
henchmen can be Leo Gordon, Jack Elam and Robert J Wilke. Wow, what a crew.
See, I
have it all mapped out.
But it
was not to be and is most unlikely to be now. So you’ll just have to enjoy the
book instead. You won’t be disappointed.
Now I have
to leave you. Gotta drift.
No comments:
Post a Comment