So desires Lew Ayres, the man who killed him, having done so accidentally as a law enforcement officer of some sort, unaware that the man he shoots was injured and couldn't raise his arms. It's another example of guilt taking over a man's conscience so he reaches out to the widow (with a child) and does his best to make good while keeping his crime to himself. Teresa Wright is the beautiful young widow, with Jimmy Hunt as the young son, and it's nor long before Ayres is like a surrogate father and eventually waiting for Wright at the alter. But pasts are never allowed to be secret in movies like this, and soon, Ayres is haunted by the past which leads to more death.
This could have been a very good Western like film noir, much like "Pursued" (1947) and "The Furies", made the same year as this, in 1950, but sometimes this formula works and sometimes it doesn't which is the case here. It is the way that the film flows, bringing in so many characters and changing the twists in the story to where the mood begins to feel altered as well. The acting is fine, especially considering the talents of the leads, but Wright somehow gets lost along the way. As a modern western set south of the border, it's definitely intriguing at times, and a few supporting characters do add interesting elements. But it's an artistic misfire that suffers from convoluted plotting,, well intended but ultimately a disappointment.
This could have been a very good Western like film noir, much like "Pursued" (1947) and "The Furies", made the same year as this, in 1950, but sometimes this formula works and sometimes it doesn't which is the case here. It is the way that the film flows, bringing in so many characters and changing the twists in the story to where the mood begins to feel altered as well. The acting is fine, especially considering the talents of the leads, but Wright somehow gets lost along the way. As a modern western set south of the border, it's definitely intriguing at times, and a few supporting characters do add interesting elements. But it's an artistic misfire that suffers from convoluted plotting,, well intended but ultimately a disappointment.