LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

kfo9494 This could have been an excellent western movie had they not tried to be so cheap in production. Instead of filming on location with vaulting mountains and wide open scenes, we are left with filming on a back lot with very little scenery and projected background landscape. And with such gifted actors in most parts it was puzzling on why they put stiff actor Bill Elliott as the lead man. I know he has played the lead in many B-westerns but with the cast of actors in this film, he stood out like a sore thumb.But passing on Elliott's mannequin performance, the rest of the cast seemed to flow effortless and made the story entertaining to watch. There was a few spots hard to watch but overall this film provided enough interest throughout to keep the viewer on the edge of the seat right to the end of the movie. Was actually expecting very little from this movie but was pleasantly surprised. This is a film that you ask yourself, What could have been?

discount1957 Like many of Republic's B Westerns of this period, this was shot on sound stages with back-projection and process-work standing in for the big blue yonder once so much a part of the western.Nonetheless, like 'Hellfire' (1949), also scripted by the McGowans, this was a fitting end to Elliott's long stay with Republic. The interesting script has Elliott on the trail of the murderer of his brother and joining a wagon train knowing that one of the men is the guilty one. In an attempt to find out which one, he pushes men and cattle beyond their natural endurance. Brennan, cast against type as the quiet and friendly man who is finally gored to death, is the guilty one and Windsor is the saloon keeper who buys an interest in the herd and travels with it.The direction is as eloquent as the screenplay and elliott plays his forceful role to the hilt.Phil Hardy

dougdoepke Too bad budget-cutting Republic pictures spent all their money on the script and cast of this surprising little sleeper. It left them none for badly needed location shots, or failing that, at least to improve on some of the poorly done process shots. Note the number of times the horsemen stand statically in front of a backscreen projection instead of riding across a natural scene These cost-cutters count here, because otherwise this is an unnoticed little gem not usually expected from the likes of Saturday-matinée Republic. The script is excellent with a number of surprises, and holds interest throughout. The main cast (Elliot, Brennan, Windsor), along with supporting players (Morgan, Williams, Ching) are as good as could be expected from the major studios. Only Nacho Galindo's buffoonish comic-relief suggests Republic's usual fare. Actually, this is a noir Western produced at a time when film noir dominated many urban crime dramas. The atmosphere here, especially the stormy opening scene, reminds me of the fine Bob Mitchum Western, Blood on the Moon, which also made good use of brooding night-time sets. Then too, Elliot's revenge-obsessed "bad good-guy" strikingly anticipates Randolph Scott"s running character in Budd Boetticher's cult Westerns of the late 1950's. Anyway, this is a surprisingly good little drama, despite the shortcomings.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This film is a surprise, you would not expect Bill Elliott, who was a B-western hero, to show up in such an artistic western as this one. It is the same type of surprise we had with "The Gunfighter" or "The Ox-Bow Incident" but those films had great actors, they only had the structure of a B-western. Anyhow this film sure deserved more credit than it got. The photography, the actors, (Elliott included) and the story are excellent. As Walter Brennan tries to convince Elliott that vengeance is wrong, that all will be taken care by divine retribution, it makes one think a lot about it, long after the film is over.