the audience applauded

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This is routine stuff for the most part. A knowledgeable, amiable, faithful scout (Craig) leads a wagon train with a steam locomotive thru rugged hostile Indian territory. Of course we also have the wagonmaster (Jagger) who wants to prevent the building of the railway, hence he goes all out to sabotage the trip. There seems to be a lot of stock footage here, and a lot of shooting with backscreens on soundstages which only hampers the story. Craig and Jagger also appeared in the superior VALLEY OF THE SUN this same year. The cast is rounded out by Harry (M*A*S*H) Morgan, Chill Wills, Morris Ankrum, and a bevy of notables from Hollywood's Poverty Row. Worth a watch, but you won't miss anything if you cook up a pizza with one eye and view the flick with the other.