Even by the standards of other films from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and especially those of an abbreviated runtime such as this, the plot development is astoundingly direct, and the pacing altogether blistering. Under these circumstances, the narrative feels like it's struggling to hold itself together, like a troubled spaceship threatening to break apart as it reenters a planet's atmosphere. Worse than this is that even by the standards of other films from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, 'Valley of fire' demonstrates values and attitudes that may have been outdated even hundreds of years ago. The plot revolves around the bad guys abducting women to sell them - while the good guys themselves, if there's any distinction to be made, effectively want to buy women. That's right, the MacGuffin of this movie is Women, and female characters have little to no individuality, personality, or agency to speak of. The implication is that men are incapable of behaving civilly if women aren't around, which we also know in reality has no bearing on men's terrible conduct; unsurprisingly, the writer, director, and producer of this were all men: a self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps, stirred together with confirmation bias, a conflated sense of self, and/or wish fulfillment? To this add the fact that three supporting characters, the token Mexican and the token Chinese men, are written with flagrantly racist notions thereof. I think the valley of the title is actually a dumpster, and it's definitely on fire.
If anything, anything at all, had been substituted as the necessary MacGuffin to drive the plot, and if the slightest bit more care were taken in the writing of characters, this could be an acceptable film, or even a great one. Writing aside, it's just as well made as any other picture of Gene Autry's, including gorgeous filming locations, lovely production design and art direction, and costume design. The stunts, effects, cinematography, and direction are terrific. Action scenes are certainly well done, and I'll even say that the broad strokes of the plot are just fine. It's generally the standard western tale of ruffians riding roughshod over a small town, and valiant townsfolk have to clean up the place, but even as countless other titles have been made with that core idea, another one won't hurt anything. The cast are fine, I suppose, and there is some light comedy to be had - why, there's even some that DOESN'T involve animal cruelty or deception or mistreatment of women! And 'Valley of fire' even has one small kernel of wisdom to impart, setting up the town's law enforcement as a bumbling clown deserving of active disrespect! All this is well and good. And it also doesn't mean a thing given the profoundly troubling narrative thrust. To reiterate and accentuate the point, consider the line "We'll send back money to bring out a wagon train with brides for the men." Alternatively, there's a sign posted on a wagon for all the town's men to read, "The brides are coming. You pays your money and you takes your choice." Even the song that Autry sings a little after the 50-minute mark includes pointedly misogynist lyrics - and he's the hero of the movie!
If we ignore the principal plot point that distinguishes this western from its brethren, then it's a solid film. But how can we possibly ignore it? There's no reason why we should, and so in light of all the other westerns we could be watching instead, what meaningful value can this one claim? My recommendation is to just avoid 'Valley of fire' outright - even if you're a diehard fan of Autry, this is belongs on the trash heap of cinematic history.
