Review of Along the Great Divide

I happened across this film whilst idly channel flipping. Although the film contains its fair share of Western clichés, it's quite a decent adventure, and Kirk Douglas turns in one of his reliable portrayals of iron-jawed integrity. The film opens with an attempted lynching, foiled by Douglas' US Marshal, and is notable for its cheering emphasis on the rule of law in the wildest of settings (compare the opening sequence of HBO's "Deadwood", pilot episode). This renders the film worthy of mention alongside rather better movies such as the original 3.10 to Yuma, and a number of John Ford Westerns. The tension between the rugged (and armed) self reliance of the frontier, and the development of civil society in (then) uncivil regions adds an interesting element to the familiar ingredients of an arduous journey, gun-play, and a predictable love story. Worth a look.