How many times on a daytime sudser has a stranger arrived in town and turned out to be a major character's child? Ot discovered by accident to be their long lost offspring? That happens here, sort of, in the old west, with outlaw Alan Ladd joining a group of con-artists who set him up to pretend to be the long lost son of wealthy rancher Charles Bickford. He even gets a tattoo that the five year old had when he was kidnapped, and Ladd's pretty clever with Bickford, his wife (Selena Royle) and his daughter (Mona Freeman) in denying what they believe to be true. It gets all the more soapy when Ladd sets out to find their real son!
Handsome, well groomed Ladd looks like someone from another era when this takes place, but that's a minor gripe considering that the film overall is quite good, colorful and dramatic and action packed. Of course Ladd's going to fall in love with the girl who believes that they're siblings, another very soapy element among the saddles and mountain ranges. Bickford is tough but sentimental, and with a devoted wife and daughter it's easy to see why. He's a devoted family man but ruthless with hiz enemies, reminding me of many soap opera patriarchs.
So even though this is an A western, it's not an epic even though it has elements of many big epics of the 50's and 60's. Robert Keith, who had played his share of powerful patriarchs, is a first class villain as the schemer who comes up with the con. The soap opera elements also increase over the fear how Royle would suffer in learning the truth, similar to "Cat on a Hor Tin Roof's" Big Mama with Bickford obviously similar to Big Daddy. Freeman is a sparking outdoorsy heroine, joining Ladd, Bickford and Keith on a cattle drive, yet feminine and alluring. These are elements that makes a good western that even non-western fans can enjoy with lots of drama and intrigue and action.
Handsome, well groomed Ladd looks like someone from another era when this takes place, but that's a minor gripe considering that the film overall is quite good, colorful and dramatic and action packed. Of course Ladd's going to fall in love with the girl who believes that they're siblings, another very soapy element among the saddles and mountain ranges. Bickford is tough but sentimental, and with a devoted wife and daughter it's easy to see why. He's a devoted family man but ruthless with hiz enemies, reminding me of many soap opera patriarchs.
So even though this is an A western, it's not an epic even though it has elements of many big epics of the 50's and 60's. Robert Keith, who had played his share of powerful patriarchs, is a first class villain as the schemer who comes up with the con. The soap opera elements also increase over the fear how Royle would suffer in learning the truth, similar to "Cat on a Hor Tin Roof's" Big Mama with Bickford obviously similar to Big Daddy. Freeman is a sparking outdoorsy heroine, joining Ladd, Bickford and Keith on a cattle drive, yet feminine and alluring. These are elements that makes a good western that even non-western fans can enjoy with lots of drama and intrigue and action.