A mixed bag here, with some fine cinematography and lead acting by Henry Fonda, honing up his taciturnity for its zenith in "My Darling Clementine" let down by some poor supporting acting from Gene Tierney (too soft-soap bland), Henry Hull (so over the top you wonder if Bugs Bunny's animators adapted him as the prototype for Yosemite Sam) and Jackie Cooper, (too old and goshdarn winsome for his part as Jesse's adolescent son) and worst of all a stereotyping of negroes which would have put "Gone with the Wind" to shame - we even get the word "darky" jarringly shoved in our faces twice. That the plot veers so drastically from the truth also mars believability not to mention credibility. Maestro Lang seems to me let down by some poor second unit work - there are some poor horse-riding process shots and an awful "dummy death down a cliff" and yet the landscapes are on a par with Ford and Mann and the action scenes have zip. I believe this was Fritz Lang's first Western outing and I think it shows. I prefer his film - noir work where he could more employ his expressionistic genius but this colourful potboiler entertains enough.
Review of The Return of Frank James
