The television guide simply described this as a 'western starring John Wayne'; this led me to expect a totally different film; rather than the wide open plains of the west this is set amongst the Ozark mountains where the people are depicted as being superstitious and insular. John Wayne gets top billing as Moonshiner 'Young Matt', a bitter man who is determined that one day he will kill the father that abandoned him and his late mother when he was young; he isn't really the star of the film though. The main protagonists are Daniel Howett, a wealthy outsider who wants to move into the area and buys the property Matt's mother used to live in but is considered cursed and Sammy Lane a young woman he befriends after helping her father. As the film progresses Howett provides honest work to people, much to the chagrin of the moonshiners and even pays to for a blind old woman to have an operation so she can see for the first time. Of course he has a secret that most viewers will guess long before it is revealed and when it is there will be tragic consequences.
This might not have been what I was expecting but I enjoyed it none the less. The opening scenes led me to believe to would be a story about the moonshiners and the revenue men who were after them but that was almost the limit of their involvement. Betty Field did a good job as Sammy; serving to introduce both the viewer and incomer Howett to the people and their ways. Harry Carey was equally good as Howett. John Wayne's role was smaller than I expected but he put in a solid enough performance and we did get to see him in a knock-down brawl. Apart from these the most memorable character is 'Aunt Mollie' a particularly unpleasant woman who metaphorically poisons those around her with her talk of curses. For a relatively early colour film, John Wayne's first, the colour looks fantastic; bringing the glorious scenery alive.
This might not have been what I was expecting but I enjoyed it none the less. The opening scenes led me to believe to would be a story about the moonshiners and the revenue men who were after them but that was almost the limit of their involvement. Betty Field did a good job as Sammy; serving to introduce both the viewer and incomer Howett to the people and their ways. Harry Carey was equally good as Howett. John Wayne's role was smaller than I expected but he put in a solid enough performance and we did get to see him in a knock-down brawl. Apart from these the most memorable character is 'Aunt Mollie' a particularly unpleasant woman who metaphorically poisons those around her with her talk of curses. For a relatively early colour film, John Wayne's first, the colour looks fantastic; bringing the glorious scenery alive.