This is a decent if largely routine western from director George Marshall. Dan (William Holden) and Tod (Glenn Ford) are two aimless friends wandering the American west shortly after the Civil War. They both end up in Texas where they get separated. Dan ends up working with a gang of bandits and cattle rustlers, while Tod finds work at a cattle ranch. They both fall for the same girl, ranch heiress "Mike" King (Claire Trevor). But other developments may see them pointing guns at each other.
There's nothing remarkable about this western, but it's generally agreeable, and the young Holden and Ford are pretty good. Trevor is okay, especially when she shouts lines like, "You blankety-blank hamstrung jerky piece of beef!" The best performance in the movie, to my mind, is from Edgar Buchanan as an amiable dentist. I could have done without a lengthy boxing match done for comic effect. George Bancroft had seen better days over at Paramount, not really a victim of the transition to sound as much as he was his own inflated view of himself. Recommended.
There's nothing remarkable about this western, but it's generally agreeable, and the young Holden and Ford are pretty good. Trevor is okay, especially when she shouts lines like, "You blankety-blank hamstrung jerky piece of beef!" The best performance in the movie, to my mind, is from Edgar Buchanan as an amiable dentist. I could have done without a lengthy boxing match done for comic effect. George Bancroft had seen better days over at Paramount, not really a victim of the transition to sound as much as he was his own inflated view of himself. Recommended.