Eastern lawyer travels West, learns the hard way that living out with the coyotes isn't as simple as he thought it would be. Tough, growly John Ford western with James Stewart appropriately grim and nervous, John Wayne colorfully swaggering as a rancher who vies with him for the hand of good-girl Vera Miles (whose pained expressions of devotion are unintentionally funny). Ford is much more careful with the supporting performances, and he gets just what is needed from Lee Marvin as the gunslinger who challenges Stewart. The action sequences and the comic asides are far more enjoyable than the political rabble-rousing, but Ford does some amazing, show-off things with his camera that keeps the movie from getting too sticky. *** from ****
