Stewart plays 'Grant McLaine', an accordion player hired to deliver payroll for a railroad and gets robbed by a gang lead by 'Whitey Harbin' (a villainous Dan Duryea) and Grant's own brother the 'Utica Kid' (Audie Murphy). Dianne Foster and Elaine Stewart play the brother's old flames but the movie doesn't get too deep and mostly follows what's expected.
Anthony Mann was set to direct but he had a falling out with Stewart so they split. The script by Borden Chase is similar to the Mann/Stewart pairings but lighter in tone. Stewart is playing a broader more typical role and sings two tunes with an accordion. There's also a kid played by Brandon De Wilde that Stewart saves early on from a brutish Robert J. Wilke. The best scenes are when the gang is holed up in a ghost town saloon. There's some sexual tension as Dan Duryea and his group of mugs fight over a single woman. This turns into a power play between Audie Murphy and Duryea over who leads the gang. Dan Duryea is a joy to watch as he acts circles around Murphy and bosses the gang around.
Jack Elam and Jay C. Flippin' show up to do their thing but the real star is the Colorado scenery. The film has a great golden autumn hue and the scenes aboard the train as it travels through the mountainside are breathtaking. But there seems to be a bit more rear projection than usual and a few stage-bound shots. It all ends with a fantastic shootout in a rundown mill, with everybody getting what they properly deserve. While it never reaches the complex qualities of the Mann pictures it's still a lot better than most westerns.
No comments:
Post a Comment