A marshal has to transport an accused murderer across the desert to the nearest town to face trial. A steady tension builds up along the trail, with Kirk Douglas as the marshal and Walter Brennan as the accused. Douglas's deputies, played by John Agar and Ray Teal, both add interesting dynamics to the situation, while Virginia Mayo, as Brennan's daughter uses all of her seductive powers on Douglas in order to free her father. Followed by a posse led by a wealthy rancher who wants Brennan hung, Douglas manages to capture the rancher's son played by James Anderson, and uses him as protection to get Brennan to the town. Anderson eventually wins over deputy Teal with a promised bribe, setting up the film's best dramatic element, that of a tired Douglas alone against Brennan, Mayo, Teal, and Anderson. The beautiful desert photography augments a tense storyline that is maintained up to the conclusion, which seemed a letdown in comparison to what was so well portrayed out in the desert.
Review of Along the Great Divide
