I've seen this film several times and have found it interesting, probably because it's not a typical western with a cookie-cutter western town and a good vs. evil conflict where the "good" (e.g., a US marshal, homesteaders) triumphs in the end over the "evil" (often greedy ranchers or railroad men). Reviewers on this site have misunderstood this film's "message" as a plea for non-violence and pacifism. Just because "Young Mr. Lincoln" Henry Fonda is the protagonist in this film doesn't mean the filmmakers are viewing his actions and words in a favorable light. I see the conflicted and cowardly Fonda character ("Blue") as more of an anti-hero in a similar fashion to the morally ambivalent "good" guys in film noir. The bad guy in this film, who twice terrorizes the town, is a truly malevolent force of nature and "Mayor Blue" as his adversary is a deeply flawed individual who is hesitant and non-confrontational. Now I admit that there are some scenes near the end that don't seem to "ring true," but our anti-hero at the end does seem to save the town even if in an indirect and hesitant way. There's no plea for non-resistance in this film; the filmmakers acknowledge in an indirect way that evil must be resisted, but they just happen to show its vanquishment at the hands of a flawed, hesitant and not particularly courageous individual.
I have to say that I loved the location that the film used for its setting of the hard scrabble town in the film's title. It looked like a truly God-forsaken place on the treeless high plains at the economic mercy of a distant mining camp and the camp's volatile payroll schedule. It was natural, therefore, that the town's few settlers were an interesting bunch of drifters and socially alienated individuals. Who else would want to settle there?
I have to say that I loved the location that the film used for its setting of the hard scrabble town in the film's title. It looked like a truly God-forsaken place on the treeless high plains at the economic mercy of a distant mining camp and the camp's volatile payroll schedule. It was natural, therefore, that the town's few settlers were an interesting bunch of drifters and socially alienated individuals. Who else would want to settle there?