Review of The Redhead from Wyoming

I guess I'm used to my Fifties B Westerns in glorious black and white. This one was just a bit too colorful, perhaps offered as a distraction from the idea that it was meant to be an A-list feature. Story wise, it's been said and done before, with open range men about to scrap with settlers over rustled cattle, with a would be politician (William Bishop as Jim Averell) thrown into the mix to stir up trouble. About the most interesting part of the story was the tutorial on how Averell's henchmen changed the Bar-Double-Check brand into the K-Bar-M, an effort that was repeated a second time to make sure we all got it. That, and the almost comical side view of Maureen O'Hara at one point in which her over ambitious figure is profiled to the point of caricature. She's wearing the yellow dress with the white top, but believe me, you won't miss it.

Alex Nicol is second billed here as the laconic sheriff Blaine, developing a romantic interest with O'Hara's character, but he just doesn't look the part. I wonder, could it be because his first name was Stan? What Western writer names his top gun Stan? Better to have left him just plain Blaine. Sorry, couldn't help it.

One interesting take away here is Dennis Weaver in an early role as one of the feisty Jessup Brothers. The other is the frequent, to the point of over use, of the term maverick to describe a steer without a brand on open range. If I didn't know better, I would think this one of John McCain's favorite Westerns.