This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot ,thrills , brawls , shoot'em up and is quite entertaining . A great Western with some impressive action and spectacular scenario .It deals with businessman Logan Stuart (Dana Andrews) who falls for Lucy who happens to be the fiancee of his friend , banker/gambler Camsrose (Brian Donlevy) . Then Logan is torn between his love of two very different women (Susan Hayward , Patricia Roc) in 1850's Oregon and his loyalty to his friend who gets into money troubles . There is also a nasty villain called Bragg (Ward Bond) who takes on Logan and a thrilling battle against Indians . Every Exciting Character ! Every dangerous moment ...
Rip-roaring Western set in Oregon territory , Portland , 1856 . Moving Western including colorful exteriors , fist-fight between Dana Andrews and Ward Bond as well as a pulsating and violent Indian raid and tuneful melodies . Adding some unforgettable scenes as the building a house carried out the neighborhood similarly many years later in ¨Witness 1985 by Peter Weir . Dana Andrews delivers a sober acting as a former scout turned store owner . Brian Donlevy gives a fine interpretation as a compulsive gambler friend who goes over the line. Hoagy Carmichael that appears as a top-hatted role aptly named Linnet , chirping some songs that include the memorable Buttermilk sky . Carmichael serves as the wandering ministrel to the action . Support cast is frankly excellent , such as : Fay Holden , Andy Devine , Stanley Ridges ,Onslow Stevens , Rose Hobert , Chief Yowlachie , Ray Teal and Lloyd Bridges .
Sensitive as well as catchy score by maestro Frank Skinner , including four songs sung by Carmichael . Strikingly filmed in color by Edward Cronjager . Being lavishly produced by Walter Wanger and associate producer : Alexander Golitzen , a prestigious production designer .
Based on the homonymous novel by Ernest Haycox , the picture was well directed by Jacques Tourneur who was best known for his horror films .The underrated filmmaker Jacques Tourneur , though the present-day he is better considered , he was a prolific craftsman who directed some masterpieces . Jacques directed all kinds of genres , such as Terror : ¨Curse of demon¨, ¨I Walked with a Zombie¨, ¨Leopard man¨ , ¨Cat people¨, ¨Comedy of terrors¨ ; Film Noir :¨Out the past¨, ¨Berlin express¨, ¨Experiment perilous¨ , ¨Nightfall¨ and Adventure : ¨The giant of Marathon¨ , ¨Tombuctú¨, ¨Martin the gaucho¨ , ¨Anne of the Indians¨ and ¨The flame and the arrow¨.In Western genre he made 5 films : This masterpiece titled ¨Canyon passage¨(1946) , ¨Star in my Crown¨(1950) , ¨Stranger on horseback¨, also with Joel McCrea , ¨Wichita¨(1955) with Joel McCrea as Wyatt Earp formerly to OK Corral duel and ¨Great day in the morning¨ with Robert Stack dealing with facing Union and Confederation . He finally directed episodes of ¨Norhwest passage¨ (1958) titled Frontier Rangers , Fury River and Mission of danger . Rating : 7.5/10 , Well worth watching
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