...or movies like it. Others try, but Wayne is almost uniformly doing shockingly bad acting here, not believable for a moment.
Weirdly structured, a lot like it was cut down from an epic 9 hour multi-film series. Lots of just jumping around (she loves him SO much 10 seconds into the movie... 14 years later! Etc). They do not believe in the first truth of film, show don't tell. Even when they DO show (e.g. The can shooting competition) they then followup with saying what just happened ("sizin' each other up for later"). Its a waste of time and how stupid do they think we are.
Supposed to have great scenery but it's really indifferently filmed, and too many cutaways to very obvious sets. Ruins the feel of being on this wild frontier.
But most of all, Wayne is as much of a bad guy as I have ever seen in a western. Beyond gruff, he turns all confrontations into cattle theft, horse theft, claim jumping, real-estate fraud, and oh yeah: murder. He escalates things to shooting when they absolutely did not warrant it, murders those who he feels betray him personally (remember this is not military service but just an employment contract). He berates those who solve problems with less-than-murderous violence. He's a supervillain origin story level of bad guy, from day one.
Except, without the origin story. If he was originally neutral or actually good natured, then circumstances make him this villain sure, that's a movie. But no, right from the start, a hilarously self-centered bad guy and people stick with... him for what reason?
Montgomery Clift is fine. He's been better, i just blame poor direction. Walter Brennan does his typical cooke-type character, does as well as he can, but its a stupidly written part, with lots of inconsistency in the character's capabilities, motivations.
Weirdly structured, a lot like it was cut down from an epic 9 hour multi-film series. Lots of just jumping around (she loves him SO much 10 seconds into the movie... 14 years later! Etc). They do not believe in the first truth of film, show don't tell. Even when they DO show (e.g. The can shooting competition) they then followup with saying what just happened ("sizin' each other up for later"). Its a waste of time and how stupid do they think we are.
Supposed to have great scenery but it's really indifferently filmed, and too many cutaways to very obvious sets. Ruins the feel of being on this wild frontier.
But most of all, Wayne is as much of a bad guy as I have ever seen in a western. Beyond gruff, he turns all confrontations into cattle theft, horse theft, claim jumping, real-estate fraud, and oh yeah: murder. He escalates things to shooting when they absolutely did not warrant it, murders those who he feels betray him personally (remember this is not military service but just an employment contract). He berates those who solve problems with less-than-murderous violence. He's a supervillain origin story level of bad guy, from day one.
Except, without the origin story. If he was originally neutral or actually good natured, then circumstances make him this villain sure, that's a movie. But no, right from the start, a hilarously self-centered bad guy and people stick with... him for what reason?
Montgomery Clift is fine. He's been better, i just blame poor direction. Walter Brennan does his typical cooke-type character, does as well as he can, but its a stupidly written part, with lots of inconsistency in the character's capabilities, motivations.