Barbara Stanwyck must have been busy, so Hollywood asked Mary Astor to play the hardened "casino" owner trying to protect her daughter from her past mistakes in Desert Fury. Lizbeth Scott is the daughter with bad judgement and a rebellious nature, and she quickly falls for the one man her mother forbids: John Hodiak. John is a gangster and clearly bad news, but Lizbeth insists on ruining herself for him, even when the uniformed, young, handsome Burt Lancaster is in love with her.

The so-called romance between Lizbeth and John is far less interesting than what could be argued as a romance between John and his faithful sidekick, Wendell Corey. Wendell gets an introducing credit in the movie, and he gets an enormously meaty role for his first foray in front of the camera. A villain with many layers, some of which couldn't be discussed because of the Hays Code, he's very protective over his friend and doesn't approve of Lizbeth's moony eyes.

The best part of Desert Fury is Edith Head's costumes. Every single scene, Lizbeth and Mary are dressed in gorgeous dresses that will have you oo-ing and ahh-ing for the entire running length. Lizbeth is very pretty in this film, and dressing her up in such beautiful costumes only makes it more fun to watch her, even when she's exercising bad judgement.

After quitting school, the nineteen year-old quicksilver Paula Haller (Lizabeth Scott) returns to Chuckwalla, Nevada, where her mother Fritzi Haller (Mary Astor) is a powerful owner of the casino Purple Sage. Paula meets the racketeer Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak), who is suspect of murdering his wife and is also returning to the town with his friend Johnny Ryan (Wendell Corey), parked on the bridge nearby Chuckwalla and she greets him.

Paula does not have a good relationship with her mother Fritzi and when she sees how unpleasant Eddie is for her, she begins a relationship with the crook. Sheriff Tom Hanson (Burt Lancaster), who is an old friend of Fritzi and has a crush on Paula, advises her about the character of Eddie Bendix. Johnny, who is very close to Eddie, also tries to break up their relationship. But the resolute Paula does not give up easily until she knows the past of her beloved Eddie.

"Desert Fury" is a disappointing film where the most interesting element is the ambiguous relationship of Johnny Ryan and Eddie Bendix. In the present days, it is very clear that they are more than friends and Johnny is jealous and in love with Eddie. But the subterfuge adopted by Lewis Allen to disclose their bond in 1947 is witty. The colors of this film are also very bright, but in the DVD it is very clear the scenario in studio. Lizabeth Scott, performing a rebel character ahead of time, is impressively beautiful but does not convince as a nineteen year-old girl. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "A Filha da Pecadora" ("The Daughter of the Sinner")