If you've seen Jimmy Cagney in a few of his famous gangster roles, his appearance in a Western might be enough to make you scratch your head. I had that reaction the first time, when I caught him as a 'good' bad guy in "The Oklahoma Kid", opposite another actor you might peg the same way - Humphrey Bogart. That picture was filmed in 1939 and you had a much younger Cagney riding hell bent for leather and engaging in a wild saloon brawl with his co-star. Even so, he was forty years old at the time, while here, he's in his mid fifties and a bit slower on the draw as his character Matt Dow emphasizes a number of times. Cagney appears a bit more comfortable in his role here than he did as 'The Kid', in fact I did a few double takes as he resembled an older Audie Murphy a few times.
The story has a couple of interesting turns, starting right out of the gate when Matt Dow hooks up with local cowpoke Davey Bishop, and they unwittingly fall into possession of a train payroll when two employees who have been robbed before under similar circumstances figure it would be easier to just give it up. Bishop is portrayed by John Derek, who I've seen in a few Westerns as well, and he too looks like he'd be more comfortable in a different type of film, say as an angst ridden youth or a slick motorcycle gang member. Although I did like him in "Fury at Showdown", another Western with a great brawl, maybe the best I've ever seen, if not the longest.
While Bishop recovers from severe wounds received by the posse that hunted them down for the lost payroll, Cagney's character sparks up a romantic interest with the woman who nurses Bishop back to health. At first I wasn't sure if Helga Swenson (Viveca Lindfors) was using Matt to get to know Bishop better; she appeared a lot closer in age to the younger sidekick. I guess it could have been written either way, but this was Cagney's picture. It was clever the way Cagney's character got old man Swenson (Jean Hersholt) to allow Matt to earn his keep while Davey recovered. The old guy was pretty sharp though, he knew what Matt was doing the entire chess game before the subject of matrimony came up.
The story got interesting with the robbery at the church service, leading to another twist in the story regarding Bishop's character. With greed winning out over his conscience, Bishop turns on his mentor, only to reverse himself in the finale. In a somewhat unusual ending, Matt comes through for the town folk once again, but at a price. You can see it coming, but it could have gone a couple of different ways, with the outcome another twist to your typical bad guy learning from his mistakes scenario.
Here's something interesting about the casting for the picture - in Cagney's very first film, he portrayed a young hood who worked for a mobster played by Grant Withers. In this one, Withers is the outlaw who robbed the church goers. Funny how things go sometimes. The picture also offers a brief appearance by Ernest Borgnine, also as a bad guy taken out by Matt.
The film was directed by Nicholas Ray, which helps explain some of the focus on John Derek's troubled character. For an even better Ray/Derek collaboration, you'll have to check out 1949's "Knock On Any Door", with Humphrey Bogart in the lead role. Derek portrays a young man with a criminal past who reaches the end of the line when he winds up killing a cop. For his part, Nicholas Ray marked the epitome of his directorial achievement with his epic story of teenage angst - "Rebel Without A Cause".
The story has a couple of interesting turns, starting right out of the gate when Matt Dow hooks up with local cowpoke Davey Bishop, and they unwittingly fall into possession of a train payroll when two employees who have been robbed before under similar circumstances figure it would be easier to just give it up. Bishop is portrayed by John Derek, who I've seen in a few Westerns as well, and he too looks like he'd be more comfortable in a different type of film, say as an angst ridden youth or a slick motorcycle gang member. Although I did like him in "Fury at Showdown", another Western with a great brawl, maybe the best I've ever seen, if not the longest.
While Bishop recovers from severe wounds received by the posse that hunted them down for the lost payroll, Cagney's character sparks up a romantic interest with the woman who nurses Bishop back to health. At first I wasn't sure if Helga Swenson (Viveca Lindfors) was using Matt to get to know Bishop better; she appeared a lot closer in age to the younger sidekick. I guess it could have been written either way, but this was Cagney's picture. It was clever the way Cagney's character got old man Swenson (Jean Hersholt) to allow Matt to earn his keep while Davey recovered. The old guy was pretty sharp though, he knew what Matt was doing the entire chess game before the subject of matrimony came up.
The story got interesting with the robbery at the church service, leading to another twist in the story regarding Bishop's character. With greed winning out over his conscience, Bishop turns on his mentor, only to reverse himself in the finale. In a somewhat unusual ending, Matt comes through for the town folk once again, but at a price. You can see it coming, but it could have gone a couple of different ways, with the outcome another twist to your typical bad guy learning from his mistakes scenario.
Here's something interesting about the casting for the picture - in Cagney's very first film, he portrayed a young hood who worked for a mobster played by Grant Withers. In this one, Withers is the outlaw who robbed the church goers. Funny how things go sometimes. The picture also offers a brief appearance by Ernest Borgnine, also as a bad guy taken out by Matt.
The film was directed by Nicholas Ray, which helps explain some of the focus on John Derek's troubled character. For an even better Ray/Derek collaboration, you'll have to check out 1949's "Knock On Any Door", with Humphrey Bogart in the lead role. Derek portrays a young man with a criminal past who reaches the end of the line when he winds up killing a cop. For his part, Nicholas Ray marked the epitome of his directorial achievement with his epic story of teenage angst - "Rebel Without A Cause".