Sadly Over-hyped

Memorable, crazy movie

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Good old fashioned Western, the plot however is very similar to the Jimmy Cagney classic "The Roaring 20's" re-fashioned to a Western setting and with a sanitised ending, McCrea as the Cagney character survives and Scott as the Bogart character is killed after changing sides back to the law and Order camp. Worth watching as a good example of Hollywood in its pre message era when a Western was for entertainment. The production values were good with great Technicolour and a strong cast. McCrea was always good in his Westerns having played both comedy and drama in his earlier years and Zachary Scott was a very under-rated actor, good in any movie he was in.

We all know how warner Brothers liked to keep on remaking their films,after all there are 3 versions of The Maltese falcon in only 10 years.So when i was watching this film so many similarities with The Roaring Twenties became apparent.We have gun running instead of booze.We have very similar plot lines eg one of the band goes over to the law and his wife who had rejected Joel Macrea,goes to Macrea who is now on the skids and boozing in a saloon habituated by a past friend Alexis Smith to ask him to save her husband.Well substitute Lynn Lane,Cagney and George and you have some idea of what i mean.The comic sidekick also gets killed two thirds the way through as does MacHugh in Roaring Twenties.Now i admit the ending is changed but i suppose that Warners had to show some originality!

This movie is filled with every cliche you can think of, and absolutely none of them work. The plot is predictable and the characters are not interesting, but boring. The acting is pretty bad, even by Joel McCrea. Even western fans should stay away from this one.

Joel McCrea, Zachary Scott and Douglas Kennedy are friends that get separated during the civil war. McCrea is going to marry Dorothy Malone, but he leaves her to find the outlaw that had destroyed his ranch.(Victor Jory). He ends up meeting Alexis Smith (great as always) who falls in love with him. Colorful and entertaining, directed by Ray Enright who was very good in this type of films.