The first western by Robson who had already made some extraordinary movies (who says they were Val Lewton's work?) such as "the seventh victim" 'the ghost ship" or "bedlam".And his western is quite good ,if not as mind -boggling as his precedent efforts.
First of all,Gloria Grahame,who was often cast in films noirs ,shines in her part of a dance hall gal who dreams to be a housewife and to educate her young protégé,Robert Sterling's kid brother:my favorite scenes show her teaching him the alphabet and the "true" culture;it's a destruction of the bad gal cliché;and I love when Sterling tells her that he knows a lot of things she can't teach him: the nature ,the animals,the weather,an empirical knowledge for sure ,but one that is more useful than the culture you get from the books,when you are in the wilderness tracked down by outlaws (John Ireland is the ideal bandit,but his part is underwritten and his relationship with the hero is skimmed over);it seems the director was more interested in the Sterling/Grahame relationship:a hero who is (perhaps?We are not told about it) illiterate but who demands a "respectable" woman for his wife :the other one is just good for a kiss,but you cannot marry a chick with a racy past;his kid brother knows better than he does:the young actor is excellent and endearing.
A rare thing in the forties (and in the westerns of the era),the action begins a few seconds before the cast and credits.
First of all,Gloria Grahame,who was often cast in films noirs ,shines in her part of a dance hall gal who dreams to be a housewife and to educate her young protégé,Robert Sterling's kid brother:my favorite scenes show her teaching him the alphabet and the "true" culture;it's a destruction of the bad gal cliché;and I love when Sterling tells her that he knows a lot of things she can't teach him: the nature ,the animals,the weather,an empirical knowledge for sure ,but one that is more useful than the culture you get from the books,when you are in the wilderness tracked down by outlaws (John Ireland is the ideal bandit,but his part is underwritten and his relationship with the hero is skimmed over);it seems the director was more interested in the Sterling/Grahame relationship:a hero who is (perhaps?We are not told about it) illiterate but who demands a "respectable" woman for his wife :the other one is just good for a kiss,but you cannot marry a chick with a racy past;his kid brother knows better than he does:the young actor is excellent and endearing.
A rare thing in the forties (and in the westerns of the era),the action begins a few seconds before the cast and credits.