the audience applauded

hyped garbage

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I watched this film...all the way through...but I didn't like it. It seems to me that if there were ever a man and a woman that didn't belong together it was the two main characters in this film, played by Wyman and Heston. Aside from that, and I admit I can't put my finger on it, this film just feels off-target to me. Like when I play pool and every shot is about one inch off the mark. And although I'm a man, it appeared to me that Charlton Heston wouldn't have been a good kisser at all.The basic story line...at least for a while...seems okay. Wyman is traveling by train through Texas and gets laid over in a cow town that is becoming an oil town. She gets the idea to go into a store for ladies fashions and makes a hit of it. Meanwhile she falls in love with a ranch owner who eventually becomes an oil man. But, oil and water don't mix and Wyman and Heston always seem at odds. And frankly, I have to align with Wyman's character here. Heston plays a mild bully. In the end, she -- unfortunately -- bows to his idea of what a wife should be. What a shame.Interestingly, Texas Governor Allan Shivers and fashion designer Edith Head both appear as themselves near the end of the film.There's nothing wrong with the performance of Jane Wyman here. It's the film that's off. But despite Wyman's strength as an actress, I'd have no desire to wade through this again.Charlton Heston apparently disliked his performance here...and I concur. To be frank, I was never impressed with Heston in romantic films. Despite being in several of the great films of the era, (and "Ben-Hur" is in my top 5), I'm not sure Heston's acting ability was very broad.Claire Trevor is here, and I liked her in her role. There just should have been much more of her! The wonderful Thelma Ritter is here...basically playing Thelma Ritter...and she's as fascinating to watch here as in any other film! William Demarest, usually an interesting character actor, doesn't fit here. And Wallace Ford (as her husband) has little to do beyond drinking whiskey.I don't know that I've ever seen a Jane Wyman film that I felt quite this negative about. Not bad though...a single miss in her most productive years.

Sudsy drama is dated in it's attitudes but still an entertaining ride. Jane Wyman plays a youngish woman who after being spurned has got a fire in her belly and won't let anything stand in the way of her achieving her goal. That would include a young and towering Charlton Heston, it would be harder to understand her resistance if Heston's character wasn't such a macho jerk for much of the film. He's the right actor for the role since his clinched jaw delivery matches much of the blow-hard dialog he's given to speak. What makes this more than a standard soaper is the talent of the assembled cast. The film is fortunate to have not just one but two of the best character actress Hollywood ever produced, Thelma Ritter and Claire Trevor. Both play roles they could have performed in their sleep but each give them their customary snap and for the latter part of the film Thelma is dolled up in the height of fashion. For fans of high class melodrama spiked here and there with humor and filled with sumptuous trappings this is a gold mine, although be warned the ending with prove frustrating steeped as it is in a 50's mentality.

Imagine a New York socialite arriving at a desolate Texas oil town in the 1930s with four suitcases plus a few carry-ons. Poor Lucy Gallant stuck out like a sore thumb! One thing going for her was her ability to adapt to the situation in which is thrown into. She proved she had a head for business when she manages to sell her whole wardrobe to the wives of the new oil barons. These women were ripe for getting whatever fashions they could lay their hands on.Lucy's success comes with a disappointment. Even though she loves Casey, the man who would end up being a millionaire, she feels she wants to pursue her career as a business woman. After all, she had started out of nothing to build the store of her dreams. Being a woman in that environment also brings her to the reality of seeing what she had built taken away from her during a sneaky maneuver by the man she trusted to help her run the business. In the end, Lucy realizes that being with Casey is a lot more fulfilling than the business she created.Robert Parrish directed this Paramount release. Jane Wyman was the right choice to play Lucy. She was an intelligent actress who always projected warmth to any role she played. She is the whole reason for watching the film. Charlton Heston plays the awkward Casey Cole with conviction. Others in the cast include the excellent Thelma Ritter, who is a joy to watch in everything she played. Claire Trevor and William Demarest are also seen in pivotal roles.

Have heard of this film for quite some time and finally got the chance to view it on tape (probably from AMC). I think the film captures the boomtown feel very well-instant population with lack of lodging or goods =business opportunities. While the film undoubtedly contains many truthful elements concerning the oil boom in Texas ( and even Governor Shivers playing himself ), it does seem just a bit stagy, although Jane Wyman's performance is actually quite good. I found it very intriguing that for the time period when the film was made, a woman was portrayed as virtually building her own business from the ground up without any real help from the man (or men) in her life. The real reason I had heard about the film previously is the "high fashion comes to Texas" bit, with Edith Head behind the creations. As usual, Edith does not disappoint. The designs, especially during the fashion show sequence, are amazing. It's no wonder that Edith Head was so sought after in Hollywood as a costumer for films (most notably for Alfred Hitchcock). She was a real talent. I am in total agreement that this film needs to be released on DVD, as I don't believe that it has ever even been on VHS at any point.