Say what you like about Debbie Reynolds, she gave each of her roles everything she had. Here she throws herself into the part of a widowed mother of two who who moves to Arizona and becomes an unlikely Sheriff.
Also unlikely is Steve Forrest as a leading man for a major, wide-screen motion picture in color in 1961. Forrest actually does a creditable job, but Reynolds buries him. He never stood a chance.
Also among those present is Andy Griffith, peddling the same laid back southerner soft soap he tried on in Mayberry and Ritz cracker commercials. Reynolds is caught between tricky saloon owner Forrest and goody-goody Griffith.
It has a few innovation, such as a brawl, not in a saloon but an ice-cream parlor.
From her first big break in "Singin' in the Rain" until her ultimate decline, Reynolds was wonderful. But this story was too slight (as were her co-stars) to merit the big-screen treatment. It would have served Reynolds better as a huge musical opposite a singing star. Or a Robert Preston type.
Still, it's not a total disaster. It's just not "special" enough (nor funny enough, nor anything enough) to justify the treatment it got. It's basically for people who can't get enough of Reynolds in the upper end of her cute-as-a-button phase.