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Apr 27, 2018Nursebob rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Not much of note in this early oater by director Sam Peckinpah other than it was the swan song for stars Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea, and it marked the screen debut of Mariette Hartley. Pretty much standard Western fare with drunken brawls and gung-ho shoot-outs, although two scenes do stand out—a macabre brothel wedding turns into a swirling bacchanal straight from the mind of Fellini, and a now iconic sequence featuring Joel McCrea, firearm blazing, as he gallops through clouds of gun powder straight at the camera. Sadly, Mariette Hartley’s runaway bride character doesn’t really grow beyond the level of meek chattel despite a couple of attempted rapes and a supposedly headstrong attitude. It’s ultimately a story of transitions, with the Wild West giving way to businessmen and old heroes riding off into their various sunsets. But the real star of the film ends up being George Bassman’s gushing musical score, it’s sad melodies adding a touch of romanticism to Lucien Ballard’s Metrocolor panoramas of mountaintops and pine forests.