Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It's the late C18th and William Holden (Dan) and Glenn Ford (Tod) are buddies making it to Texas. They get into trouble in a town and flee, then rob some outlaws, then escape a sheriff's posse before splitting up and wishing each other luck. They know they will meet again. And they do. However, can they keep their friendship under the new circumstances? And who will get the girl – Claire Trevor (Mike)? First of all Claire Trevor has a ridiculous name - "Michael"! For a girl! Who writes this rubbish? Her role is confusing. She is funny and likable when we meet her in her actions and manners, but her behaviour is appalling. How can she get away with betraying Ford like that? He is clearly the "good guy" while Holden is more of a loose cannon. However, their friendship still holds till the end of the film and their loyalty to one another is to be admired. Even to the point of riding away together, just the two of them, and leaving the "loose" Claire Trevor behind. Do they go for it? Well, maybe…...maybe not…A lot of praise has been given to Edgar Buchanan (Doc) as the town dentist. Funnily enough, he was an actual dentist before he became an actor. However, I'm going against the grain on this. I couldn't stand him. From his look to his accent and voice. I found him wholly unappealing. Not the character he was playing but actually him. His voice is the same as "Droopy" in the "Droopy" cartoons, ie, annoying.The comedy is sometimes silly, the story takes a while to get going, the ending seems rushed and we needed some Indians. However, Holden and Ford are likable as the lead roles and the film is OK if a bit disappointing given the rave reviews I had previously read about it. As for Windy Miller, we all know that he lives in "Camberwick Green" these days. He owns a windmill and spends his days drinking homemade cider and falling asleep. For those who aren't in the know, Google him.

Two close friends find themselves on opposite sides of the law in this 1941 western, which follows the aftermath of the American Civil War into the lucrative business of cattle drives and cattle rustling.Dan Thomas (William Holden) and Tod Ramsey (Glenn Ford) have recently been dismissed from the Confederate army after the recent period of unpleasantness, and are heading for a new life and to make a new fortune in Texas, the state of opportunity in the old west.Tod is looking forward to making an honest living whilst Dan is just looking forward to making any kind of living, not really caring on which which side of the legal and moral fence this living may happen to found.After retrieving a sack full of stolen stagecoach money which Tod plans to return to its rightful owners and Dan plans to pocket for himself, they are captured and nearly lynched by the local sheriff which results in the inevitable chase.It is during this chase that the two friends split to take two different paths, two paths that will ultimately differ morally as well as geographically.Tod Ramsey ends up a trusted and respected law abiding cattle hand in the local town whilst Dan falls in with a crooked Dentist, (Edgar Buchanan) a corrupt rancher (Addison Richards) in charge of a cattle rustling gang, and an equally corrupt 'friend' of the people (George Bancroft) who all set about their merry work, ambushing and rustling the large cattle drives attempting to reach Abilene.With all the cattle drives failing and all the local Cattle barons facing bankruptcy, Tod Ramsey, unaware that his friend is responsible for all the rustling, decides that he will attempt to take a combined herd; the largest herd ever to come out of Texas and defend it all the way to market.For the rustling syndicate this means that Tod will have to be 'taken care off' and quick, but is the seemingly ruthless and ambitious Dan now evil enough to kill his own best friend? Will his loyalty to Tod allow the herd to get through to Abiline, or does he now have an extra plan up his sleeve? Claire Trevor is the love interest for both men, just to give them something else to fight about, although her character I feel is rather dis likable as she seems to flit her affections between the two with each passing breath obviously content to be with whoever is left standing at the end....and the fool takes her. Doh!This was an early Western for both male leads and both were destined for great things. Although Bill Holden's likable but disreputable character is the main focus is this film, it is Glenn Ford who is the treat for me here.He was without doubt one of my favourite actors and certainly my favourite cowboy. No offence to The Duke and Clint, but neither was a patch on Glenn Ford when he put on a gun belt and tightened up his spurs, and its great to see him here just starting out.

Other reviewers have spoken of the pleasures of seeing William Holden and Glenn Ford at age 23, both so young as to be almost unrecognizable; and Claire Trevor, too and Edgar Buchanan as a dentist -- he was one in real life, before he turned to acting.But I think a lot of credit is due to the director, George Marshall. Today, almost the only Marshall movie anyone knows is the justly famous 1939 version of DESTRY RIDES AGAIN. But he was primarily a comedy director, back to the 1920s when he directed Fox Sunshine comedies, to the 1930s, when he worked at Roach on Laurel and Hardy, through the early 1970s. And this movie was directed during his peak period and it shows it. The comedy sequences are wonderfully directed, especially the boxing match.So, while you're enjoying the acting, remember that the funny broad comedy comes from the mind of the director.

The other reviewers are right. I would never have rented this when I saw it at the video store if not that I could not resist the temptation of seeing BOTH William Holden and Glenn Ford at only about 23 years old (you almost can't recognize them at first) rounded out by Claire Trevor, and even then I actually put it back on the shelf before changing my mind. Surely, if it were any good, I thought, I would have heard of it before. No doubt it was an early, typically cheesy B-western whose only merit was that it happened to include together two young actors who would eventually become quite famous. Even John Wayne had a dog or two among his early pictures, I thought - it happens to all kinds of great performers. But ignoring my more conservative judgment, I took a risk.Now I wish I had my own copy - I have to wonder if it's still available anywhere. A quintessential "buddy picture" of the first order, not only is there terrific chemistry between the characters, but it's mostly fast-paced with enough clever plot developments and deviousness to oftentimes seem quite contemporary in 2003! Any film maker looking to do a western revival which would entertain audiences today would do well to remake this picture. One hopes he would stick as close to the original as possible, because there's enough good stuff there already to get him most of the way through. Four stars on a conventional scale would be well-deserved.