While the chemistry between stars Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler is undeniable, they are taking part in a story that really has no point. Impulsively marrying the Native American Chandler whom she meets in Arizona, Russell gets more than she bargained for thanks to his jealous streak and suspicions. While learning to adjust to their cultural differences, Russell signs that he can't adjust to her. He's jealous of every man that she talks to, making violent accusations along the way. Only through the help of some wise Native American women who know how to deal with the temper of Native American men can help her deal with the situation and make him realize that his jealousies are unfounded.That's pretty much all the story line that the film has, and while both stars are gorgeous to look at, physical attractiveness does not necessarily make for a thoroughly engaging drama. It has elements of 1950 soap opera that are easily resolved, and one sequence with Russell discussing the situation with a Native American elder is quite touching.There is an intriguing performance however, by Dan Duryea as the one man whom Chandler is most obsessed with jealousy over. His supporting character actually is more interesting than the two leading characters and that is a fault of the mediocre script. Still, it's gorgeous to look at in that wonderful 1950 Technicolor and it's also interesting to hear Chandler singing the same song over the credits. However, Chandler was better playing the Native American who befriends James Stewart in the Western classic broken hero which made him a star. Russell could attract attention by flipping pancakes, and you know nobody would be watching for scoop.

Foxfire is the bioluminescence created by certain species of fungi present in decaying wood, a phenomenon which plays a minor part in this film. (It does not involve heat or combustion, so the reference in the lyrics of the title song to "the foxfire burning" is not strictly accurate). The story is derived from a work by the historical novelist Anya Seton, although "Foxfire" is one of her more contemporary novels, being set in the 1930s, only some twenty years before it was published in 1951. The film-makers, however, abandoned the period setting and updated it to the 1950s- the film was made in 1955- as well as altering some of the details of Seton's story. The story is essentially a modern-day Western with the action taking place in the Arizona desert. Amanda Lawrence, a wealthy heiress, falls in love with Jonathan Dartland ("Dart"), a mining engineer, and marries him after a whirlwind courtship. (In the novel Amanda's family have lost their fortune in the Wall Street Crash, but this detail is omitted from the film). Amanda's snobbish mother is not at all pleased by this development, and is even less pleased when she learns that Dart is of mixed race, being the son of a white college professor and an Apache princess. There are two main strands to the plot. The first involves Dart's search for a lost gold mine, which he believes still holds a rich vein of gold, and his attempts to interest the directors of his company in his project. The second deals with the strains in the marriage of Dart and Amanda, strains caused partly by his obsession with his work, partly by rumours of an affair between Amanda and his doctor friend Hugh Slater, and partly by cultural differences between the two. Dart's father died when he was a boy and he was raised by his mother according to the traditions of her people, which means that he finds it difficult to express emotion. (It would appear that Apaches- especially men- place a great value on stoicism and on maintaining a stiff upper lip). Not all these issues are well resolved, particularly the Amanda/Hugh subplot. For most of the film it is implied that the rumours of an affair between them are merely idle gossip, especially as Hugh- physically unattractive and a self-pitying drunkard- seems so much less appealing as a lover than the manly and ruggedly handsome Dart. Later developments, however, suggest that there may have been something in the rumours after all. (Possibly the screenwriters were hamstrung by the Production Code, which tended to insist that no woman could be portrayed as an adulteress unless she was also an out-and-out villainess). Overall, however, this was a film I enjoyed. The cast are well chosen; Jeff Chandler is good as the rather stiff, obsessive figure of Dart, and Jane Russell looks stunning, as she normally did. (Mind you, in a couple of scenes even Russell is overshadowed by a young Mara Corday, one of the few actresses in fifties Hollywood with an even more spectacular figure than her own). After his success in "Broken Arrow", Chandler seemed to specialise in playing Native Americans, even though he had no Indian blood. (He was actually a Jewish New Yorker). There is a particularly dignified performance from Celia Lovsky as Dart's mother, who despite her royal blood and distinguished ancestry (her father was a much respected chief) is now reduced to working as a tour guide for the benefit of gawping tourists. Her explanations of the Apache culture in which her son has grown up do much to save Amanda's marriage. "Foxfire" could easily have become little more than a cheap romance. What saves it from that fate is its sensitive treatment of its key theme of cultural differences, a treatment which makes it stand out from many of the standard "women's pictures" of the fifties. 7/10

The best thing about the movie is its glorious color images. What iconography! The hulking presence of the sun-darkened Jeff Chandler, the prismatic vibrancy of Jane Russell's wardrobe, the stunning majesty of her pale bosom, that candy-apple red 1954 Ford convertible, the canary yellow Jeep.The rest of the movie is a snore. Jane Russel, with a snooty Eastern mother, meets and immediately marries the shy, reticent half-Apache Chandler. Since boyhood he has learned never to cry out for help. But Russell is compelled to nurturance. How could she not be, with that equipment? So it devolves into a good-natured soap opera in which a husband hides secret from his wife and she snoops into his affairs, makes a nuisance of herself, and almost runs off with the dipso doctor before the inevitable mine explosion brings them together for good.Nobody really seems to have cared much about the quality of the film, which is just as well. It's probably Jane Russell's most loose-limbed and appealing performance. She was never much of an actress but seems to have been a nice, unpretentious lady. Chandler warbles the title song over the credits. He does not sing in the rest of the movie, nor does he do much of anything else. Celia Lovsky is the most hilarious Indian mother you can imagine.

This is one of 3 best movies Russell ever made: the other being gentleman prefer blonds with Marilyn and His Kind of Woman with Robert Mitchem...she is so beautiful, charming and totally a match of these two co-stars it is a pleasure to see them. Chandler is wonderful, what a shame dying at 42 from a bungled spinal operation(blood poisoning), or they would have surely made more movies together..check it out, a true spark between them...and ditto for she and Robert Mitchem in His Kind of Love 1955..they became lifelong friends until his death, Great interview by Robt Osbourne on Turner with the two of them. Louise ONeill