Rambling Over-Acting and Psychologically Over-Wrought.
That Smothers the Bleak Cinematography and Adult Sensibilities.
Barbara Stanwyck Tries to Anchor Walter Huston's Bellowing and Gyrations.
But Huston Plays the Patriarch so Over-the-Top and Belligerent that You would Think its His Last Movie...It is.
Wendell Corey is Miscast as a Hard-as-Nails Gambler. Gilbert Roland Plays Better and His Scenes with Stanwyck come off the Best.
Alliances Shift and Deep-Rooted Affections and Respect are Unsteady.
Judith Anderson has a Small Part and Makes the Most of it and is Part of the "New" Violence that Mann is Known for.
Familiar Faces Abound and the High Production Value is Everywhere.
But the Story is one of Low-Intrigue and Boils Down to Family Foundations and Strong Payback and Back Again.
Frustratingly Fraught to Freudian Formulas and Essentially a "Woman's Western".
The Movie Does have an Edge to it that Foreshadows the 1950's Maturation of the Genre.
But Overall there is something Flat and Forced about the Whole Thing.
Anthony Mann would Make 2 Other Westerns in 1950. "Devil's Doorway" and "Winchester 73.
Both are Far Superior to this Disappointment.
Still it's Packed with a Production Quality that Can't Be Ignored...And is...
Worth a Watch.
That Smothers the Bleak Cinematography and Adult Sensibilities.
Barbara Stanwyck Tries to Anchor Walter Huston's Bellowing and Gyrations.
But Huston Plays the Patriarch so Over-the-Top and Belligerent that You would Think its His Last Movie...It is.
Wendell Corey is Miscast as a Hard-as-Nails Gambler. Gilbert Roland Plays Better and His Scenes with Stanwyck come off the Best.
Alliances Shift and Deep-Rooted Affections and Respect are Unsteady.
Judith Anderson has a Small Part and Makes the Most of it and is Part of the "New" Violence that Mann is Known for.
Familiar Faces Abound and the High Production Value is Everywhere.
But the Story is one of Low-Intrigue and Boils Down to Family Foundations and Strong Payback and Back Again.
Frustratingly Fraught to Freudian Formulas and Essentially a "Woman's Western".
The Movie Does have an Edge to it that Foreshadows the 1950's Maturation of the Genre.
But Overall there is something Flat and Forced about the Whole Thing.
Anthony Mann would Make 2 Other Westerns in 1950. "Devil's Doorway" and "Winchester 73.
Both are Far Superior to this Disappointment.
Still it's Packed with a Production Quality that Can't Be Ignored...And is...
Worth a Watch.