Photos, Clips, Interviews, and Other Delicious Goodies

William A. Wellman's Short Video Biography from Turner Classic Movies

The Spanish Translated Release Promo Poster for Yellow Sky

20th  Century Fox Publicity Stills for Yellow Sky

A Yellow Sky Punch Cartoon

Monsters and Men

In The Tempest, playwright William Shakespeare explores the theme of an individual's freedom and control over their world. William A. Wellman, director of Yellow Sky, takes this theme and focuses on the characters' desires and struggles to usurp someone else's freedom to gain control. This struggle for power is emphasized through Wellman's use of both the prospects of a goldmine and the affections of the character Mike to entice the dramatic action of bandits. By juxtaposing the relationships between the male characters in the film and Mike, as well as the relationships between the outlaw gang and the gold, Wellman emphasizes the monstrous greed that drives men to mutiny. 

From the beginning of the film, we are introduced to a gang of thieves that lust after the idea of striking rich as they escape from the law after committing a bank robbery. By setting the main action of this film in the lives of ruthless and lawless bandits, Wellman is creating a platform for the true rotting of human greed to manifest itself in these characters. Though Stretch Dawson (Greggory Peck) is the leader in the gang and the pecking order descends from him, the men often question his authority. As the men discuss the ways that they can take control over Grandpa (James Barton)’s gold mine, Stretch commands his gang to give Mike and Grandpa their equal share of the gold. The men are furious and ask Stretch for a vote. When Stretch refuses Dude (Richard Widmark) threatens, “It’s 5 to 1. Nobody wants to see you dead, Stretch, but we want that gold and we want all of it!” Dude is willing to kill his leader for the opportunity to get rich and take control. Dude in particular throughout the film is in constant question of who is the rightful “heir,” so to speak, of the gang and finds himself oppressed by Stretch. To Dude, the idea of ruling the bandits is the only path to his true freedom from Stretch and from the law. The gold is a symbol of who has the control of the gang as well as a symbol of true self-realization in wealth.  

         Wellman parallels this desire for absolute wealth with the desire for absolute pleasure in order to illuminate the jealousy that propels the men to rearrange their pecking order.

         Mike, the film’s only female, is seen as the object of affection and desire for the gang. Stretch develops “purer” intentions for Mike as the film progresses and his affections toward her become a point of contention within the gang. Lengthy, the Caliban-like character of the piece, intends to go as far as to rape and steal her from her grandfather. Wellman delves into this idea of power and in both its greedy and lusty aspects. He suggests that to the men of Yellow Sky, Mike is a symbol of utter and complete control in their world.
         In the some of the final actions of the film, Stretch's mutinous men, Dude and Lengthy, develop their plot to leave Yellow Sky with all of the gold and with Mike as a prize for their villainy. The idea of this complete autonomy is something that fascinates both the characters in Yellow Sky as well as myself. The belief that it is possible to reach the point of absolute power and freedom is something that interests both Wellman and Shakespeare in their works. Although both works suggest that it is possible to obtain complete dominion, they both add the notion that all power comes at a cost: one's very own humanity.