The film had me pretty intrigued with the dynamic between Trooper Hook (Joel McCrea) and the Chiricahua Indian Nanchez (Rudolfo Acosta), but when they squared off in that deadly showdown with the chief's son caught in the middle with a gun at his head, well, that was one of the most powerful confrontations I've ever seen in any movie. Hook admits he would have given the signal to shoot the boy if Nanchez didn't back down, and I thought to myself - what if Nanchez was as hard-headed as Cora Sutliff's husband (John Dehner)? And what about Earl Holliman's character, do you think he would have gone all the way? All intriguing questions if the story went in a different direction.
But since it didn't, I thought the resolution made a huge concession to coming up with a happily ever after ending. With Sutliff and Nachez shooting each other during the chase, the ending was just a little too pat for my consideration. It made sense within the context of the story line, but Hook and Cora Sutliffe (Barbara Stanwyck) were reconciling to a life long commitment without really knowing each other.
I thought the picture had an interesting lineup of supporting players. I never recognized Royal Dano though with all that chin fuzz. He really got my attention when he had that minor blow up with Jeff Bennett (Holliman) over the fare for the stagecoach ride, admonishing Bennett for being 'deafer than a woodpecker in a hailstorm'. The imagery of that line was classic, I'm going to have to remember to put it to good use some day.
Edward Andrews shows up as a fellow stage traveler as well, playing the kind of slimy character he got to do a lot of in movies and various TV series. The creep tried to buy off Nanchez or convince Cora to give up the kid, deserving his fate for playing both sides against the middle. Sheb Wooley also had a brief scene in which he portrayed a vicious racist when Cora showed up with Quito (Terry Lawrence). He didn't last long with the Trooper around.
So over all not too bad a story, but closing out in conventional fashion that audiences of the era probably found favorable. One other side note that I thought made the story a little off beat was not finding out the name of Earl Holliman's character till the end of the movie.
But since it didn't, I thought the resolution made a huge concession to coming up with a happily ever after ending. With Sutliff and Nachez shooting each other during the chase, the ending was just a little too pat for my consideration. It made sense within the context of the story line, but Hook and Cora Sutliffe (Barbara Stanwyck) were reconciling to a life long commitment without really knowing each other.
I thought the picture had an interesting lineup of supporting players. I never recognized Royal Dano though with all that chin fuzz. He really got my attention when he had that minor blow up with Jeff Bennett (Holliman) over the fare for the stagecoach ride, admonishing Bennett for being 'deafer than a woodpecker in a hailstorm'. The imagery of that line was classic, I'm going to have to remember to put it to good use some day.
Edward Andrews shows up as a fellow stage traveler as well, playing the kind of slimy character he got to do a lot of in movies and various TV series. The creep tried to buy off Nanchez or convince Cora to give up the kid, deserving his fate for playing both sides against the middle. Sheb Wooley also had a brief scene in which he portrayed a vicious racist when Cora showed up with Quito (Terry Lawrence). He didn't last long with the Trooper around.
So over all not too bad a story, but closing out in conventional fashion that audiences of the era probably found favorable. One other side note that I thought made the story a little off beat was not finding out the name of Earl Holliman's character till the end of the movie.