What a wasted opportunity...you got Robert Ryan and Barbara Stanwyck in the same movie and *this* is all you could come up with? Strange plot holes...
1. Why would Stanwyck's character risk all she had for a random stranger whom she had a lusty fling with? She is obviously well established in the region as the Gwen Mar...which appears to be a multi-faceted position with excellent financial, social, & political standing in an obvious community that is hostile to both outsiders and women. She has the trust, friendship, and community ties that take decades to cultivate and in her own admission goes back to when her father was in charge...so again I ask...why would she put all this on the line for a guy she just met, who's background, personality, motivation and last name she doesn't even know??? The only way this would make sense to me is if this were either a relative she grew up with and knew extensively or an ex-lover whom...again, she previously loved and trusted. Then there would at least be a rational basis for her belief in his innocence. Otherwise, how does she know he's not a serial killer?
2. The Gwen Mar's Estate (camp or whatever) welcomes everyone...literally anyone just walks up/walk in and out....gets a room and is treated to food and drink. Except apparently a dirty, hungry native child traveling by himself...who is callously turned away for being a "beggar". Really? But random white men who enter without knocking and help themselves to the liquor are welcome guests. And the police office who showed up with an obvious hidden agenda. I found this weird.
3. The dying prince was so concerned about spreading the plague that he sent a boy (whom he obviously had contact with because how else would the kid get the letter the prince wrote) to the king to convey a message. The kid likely brought with him the plague germs he caught from interacting with the prince long enough for him to write/dictate the letter.
4. Why is the letter written in English? Its clearly a private letter written by a dying son to his beloved father...the content of the letter bear that out. So again, I ask...why English? Its believable that he would know English because there's an obvious long established American presence in the community...but it makes no sense that this type of letter would be written in English. Why not have it written in the native language and have Stanwyck's character translate to English...as she had a long history living in the area, it makes perfect sense that she would know both English and whatever native language they spoke. She clearly knows all the native customs, so its not a stretch that she's bilingual.
5. If the prince had plague and was contagious enough to isolate himself... except apparently from the messenger boy and Ryan's character...how does everyone know that he's been murdered? Wouldn't only Ryan and the messenger know? But the word is out far and wide that he was shot dead by Ryan. But if he's dying of plague when he was shot....wouldn't whoever examined the body also see the ravages of disease along with the bullet holes? Its not like the plague is asymptomatic...he'd be sweating/dehydrated from fever, covered in poxmarks and likely emaciated & pale. Also, wouldn't the person who found and examined the body then be exposed to plague?? Yeah, the dude is dead but he's also still contagious.
I'm sure there are some more lapses in logic....but these are the most egregious. Still its nice to see Ryan and Stanwyck.....thou not their best work. Honestly though, no one could save this misfire.
1. Why would Stanwyck's character risk all she had for a random stranger whom she had a lusty fling with? She is obviously well established in the region as the Gwen Mar...which appears to be a multi-faceted position with excellent financial, social, & political standing in an obvious community that is hostile to both outsiders and women. She has the trust, friendship, and community ties that take decades to cultivate and in her own admission goes back to when her father was in charge...so again I ask...why would she put all this on the line for a guy she just met, who's background, personality, motivation and last name she doesn't even know??? The only way this would make sense to me is if this were either a relative she grew up with and knew extensively or an ex-lover whom...again, she previously loved and trusted. Then there would at least be a rational basis for her belief in his innocence. Otherwise, how does she know he's not a serial killer?
2. The Gwen Mar's Estate (camp or whatever) welcomes everyone...literally anyone just walks up/walk in and out....gets a room and is treated to food and drink. Except apparently a dirty, hungry native child traveling by himself...who is callously turned away for being a "beggar". Really? But random white men who enter without knocking and help themselves to the liquor are welcome guests. And the police office who showed up with an obvious hidden agenda. I found this weird.
3. The dying prince was so concerned about spreading the plague that he sent a boy (whom he obviously had contact with because how else would the kid get the letter the prince wrote) to the king to convey a message. The kid likely brought with him the plague germs he caught from interacting with the prince long enough for him to write/dictate the letter.
4. Why is the letter written in English? Its clearly a private letter written by a dying son to his beloved father...the content of the letter bear that out. So again, I ask...why English? Its believable that he would know English because there's an obvious long established American presence in the community...but it makes no sense that this type of letter would be written in English. Why not have it written in the native language and have Stanwyck's character translate to English...as she had a long history living in the area, it makes perfect sense that she would know both English and whatever native language they spoke. She clearly knows all the native customs, so its not a stretch that she's bilingual.
5. If the prince had plague and was contagious enough to isolate himself... except apparently from the messenger boy and Ryan's character...how does everyone know that he's been murdered? Wouldn't only Ryan and the messenger know? But the word is out far and wide that he was shot dead by Ryan. But if he's dying of plague when he was shot....wouldn't whoever examined the body also see the ravages of disease along with the bullet holes? Its not like the plague is asymptomatic...he'd be sweating/dehydrated from fever, covered in poxmarks and likely emaciated & pale. Also, wouldn't the person who found and examined the body then be exposed to plague?? Yeah, the dude is dead but he's also still contagious.
I'm sure there are some more lapses in logic....but these are the most egregious. Still its nice to see Ryan and Stanwyck.....thou not their best work. Honestly though, no one could save this misfire.