The A. C. Lyles westerns are for nostalgia lovers only, and this one is barely even worth that. For fans of 40's ingenue Linda Darnell, it's a sad exit to her career, dying right after in a fire. For Rory Calhoun, it's pretty standard stuff, with his performance as bounty hunter Santee decent but unremarkable. In fact, it's like he didn't want to be anything but, practically allowing little Mexican boy Manuel Padilla Jr. To walk away with it, singing a couple of songs as badly as Alfalfa of "Our Gang", and yet stealing the audience's heart with his adorable presence.
As a bounty hunter, he practically threw fiancee Terry Moore into the arms of James Best, a sheriff he goes up against, scheming with ruthless Lon Chaney to ruin his town. No matter the circumstances, the audience finds out the hard way that Calhoun wasn't worth waiting for, yet arrogantly telling Moore she should have waited. He goes up against a tough preacher (Scott Brady) who is not against using his fists when the bible fails.
A messy, convoluted story goes into so many directions that after a while, it has run out of space on the map. Darnell, billed right after Calhoun, has hardly any point to being in the film, looking tired and resigned by fate to having been relegated to having to accept this job. The color photography can't hide how cheap this looks overall. Only for the most devoted of western movie fans.
As a bounty hunter, he practically threw fiancee Terry Moore into the arms of James Best, a sheriff he goes up against, scheming with ruthless Lon Chaney to ruin his town. No matter the circumstances, the audience finds out the hard way that Calhoun wasn't worth waiting for, yet arrogantly telling Moore she should have waited. He goes up against a tough preacher (Scott Brady) who is not against using his fists when the bible fails.
A messy, convoluted story goes into so many directions that after a while, it has run out of space on the map. Darnell, billed right after Calhoun, has hardly any point to being in the film, looking tired and resigned by fate to having been relegated to having to accept this job. The color photography can't hide how cheap this looks overall. Only for the most devoted of western movie fans.