6/10
For Love or Money
14 April 2010
In 1871, notorious outlaw Joel McCrea (as Wesley "Wes" McQueen) breaks out of jail with a hacksaw, and heads for the western "Colorado Territory" where he hopes to go straight. Along the way, Mr. McCrea (now calling himself "Chet Rogers") defends a stagecoach from some even nastier outlaws. Thus, he becomes a hero saving fellow passenger Henry Hull (as Fred Winslow) and his shapely dark-haired daughter, Dorothy Malone (as Julie Ann). McCrae and Ms. Malone look romantically inclined, but she is promised to another. Then, McCrea makes the decision to join fellow thieves John Archer (as Reno Blake) and James Mitchell (as Duke Harris) in one last heist…

If you think the last train robbery for McCrea goes without a hitch, you'd be wrong.

First thing McCrea finds problematic is pretty "half-breed" Virginia Mayo (as Colorado Carson), who hangs out with the gang. McCrea orders Ms. Mayo back to El Paso, but she refuses to budge. Mayo hikes up her skirt, whenever possible, to show off her legs - she also wears her blouse pulled down over one shoulder, so it always looks like it's going to slip down and expose her bosom. It never does, but McCrea falls in love. "Colorado Territory" is an great-looking picture, with beautiful black-and-white photography by Sid Hickox. In this westernized version of "High Sierra" (1941), director Raoul Walsh corralling the cast and crew through a rollicking train robbery and aftermath.

****** Colorado Territory (6/11/49) Raoul Walsh ~ Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Dorothy Malone, James Mitchell
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