There is a lot to recommend this gripping tale of redemption.
I hadn't known of Joel McCrae from anything but "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), so I found his portrayal of outlaw Wes McQueen to be revealing. He is ruggedly handsome, unflappable, a keen observer of human nature, and a person who cares about his fellow man, despite being a train robber condemned to hang at Leavenworth.
Also excellent here is Virginia Mayo as sultry Colorado Carson, a half-Indian drifter born "under a chuck wagon" but not quite given up on finding a life for herself. "We don't serve fancy, but it's hot," she tells Wes as she hands him a steaming plate of food. She sure does like the look of this bad boy! I had only previously seen Ms. Mayo in a far more conventional role, in "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946). This film reveals her talents far more convincingly. She's incredible in the movie's penultimate frames!
This film, set against some striking desert backdrops, features a number of exciting chase scenes. It's thrilling to see Wes, traveling incognito aboard Wells Fargo, outwit and outgun a posse of stagecoach robbers. Later, we're amazed to see how he catches up with a steam locomotive and pulls off a daring heist. Sheer screen magic!
This film has some excellent dialogue. When Colorado first tries to cozy up to Wes, he's blunt: "I got plans," he says. "There's no room in 'em for you. Not for the long pull." (Ladies, do you wish some of the guys in your own past had been this truthful? I sure do.)
Later, when Colorado learns that Wes meant to marry a supposedly nice girl, Julie Ann (Dorothy Malone), she shows off a little of her own psychological chops: "You can bust out of jail, but you can't bust out of who you are," she tells him, to which Wes replies, "You can, if you're set on it." (I'd like to believe that it's so.)
Later, when the usually perspicacious Wes realizes that Julie would turn him in for a $20,000 reward -- up from the mere $500 for his jailbreak -- he drops the matrimony plan and takes Colorado up on her offer.
"You won't be sorry, Wes," she says with great poignance. "I'll make you love me."
One aspect of this film that I found intriguing was the presence of Native Americans in a variety of roles. Particularly interesting were the group chants that would arise at nightfall, leaving one wondering as to their meaning and adding an element of apprehension.
There's redemption in this film, but not of the sort we'd have guessed. Wes and Colorado weren't conventional heroes, but they left their corner of the West a better place. This movie's ending defines bittersweet.
I hadn't known of Joel McCrae from anything but "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), so I found his portrayal of outlaw Wes McQueen to be revealing. He is ruggedly handsome, unflappable, a keen observer of human nature, and a person who cares about his fellow man, despite being a train robber condemned to hang at Leavenworth.
Also excellent here is Virginia Mayo as sultry Colorado Carson, a half-Indian drifter born "under a chuck wagon" but not quite given up on finding a life for herself. "We don't serve fancy, but it's hot," she tells Wes as she hands him a steaming plate of food. She sure does like the look of this bad boy! I had only previously seen Ms. Mayo in a far more conventional role, in "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946). This film reveals her talents far more convincingly. She's incredible in the movie's penultimate frames!
This film, set against some striking desert backdrops, features a number of exciting chase scenes. It's thrilling to see Wes, traveling incognito aboard Wells Fargo, outwit and outgun a posse of stagecoach robbers. Later, we're amazed to see how he catches up with a steam locomotive and pulls off a daring heist. Sheer screen magic!
This film has some excellent dialogue. When Colorado first tries to cozy up to Wes, he's blunt: "I got plans," he says. "There's no room in 'em for you. Not for the long pull." (Ladies, do you wish some of the guys in your own past had been this truthful? I sure do.)
Later, when Colorado learns that Wes meant to marry a supposedly nice girl, Julie Ann (Dorothy Malone), she shows off a little of her own psychological chops: "You can bust out of jail, but you can't bust out of who you are," she tells him, to which Wes replies, "You can, if you're set on it." (I'd like to believe that it's so.)
Later, when the usually perspicacious Wes realizes that Julie would turn him in for a $20,000 reward -- up from the mere $500 for his jailbreak -- he drops the matrimony plan and takes Colorado up on her offer.
"You won't be sorry, Wes," she says with great poignance. "I'll make you love me."
One aspect of this film that I found intriguing was the presence of Native Americans in a variety of roles. Particularly interesting were the group chants that would arise at nightfall, leaving one wondering as to their meaning and adding an element of apprehension.
There's redemption in this film, but not of the sort we'd have guessed. Wes and Colorado weren't conventional heroes, but they left their corner of the West a better place. This movie's ending defines bittersweet.