Picking Rip Darrow over Juan Herrera? Seriously?!?

I'm with you on this one.. I found Rip to be a really odious piece of work.. BUT, I'm guessing that by the standards of the time, for her to hitch up with someone of Hispanic ethnicity would not have been considered acceptable.
Awful i know.. Juan was a much more genuine guy.

few visible scars

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I agree with you as well. Poor guy Juan was 'friendzoned', if I can use that word.

The only reason I can think of for choosing Darrow was that, he actually challenged Vance's attitude. He was someone who could raise his shoulders above her, she might have fell for that attitude of him. She didn't know whether Rip was the right man or not but she liked facing the unknowns.
But yes, Juan was definitely a better man. [Spoilers] And I was terribly angry at Vance when Juan surrendered against T.C.

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I watched Furies on the internet last night for the first time. I don't know what year the film story was set in, but am guessing it was the 1870s.

In response to the OP's question, it may be that the story was trying to lean away from many other movies where the male or female does their thinking with their loins instead of their brains. Being beautiful or handsome is often the basis of many relationships and marriages, but there are exceptions, especially if it concerns running a business. Like the old saying, "you can't judge a book by it's cover."

Consider the laws of the time (1870? and it varied from state to state by year) where women could not own property if she was not married or widowed and with some legal hassles. Consider the lack of law enforcement or frontier justice of that same period. It was set in the New Mexico territory where many of the people living there were of Mexican descent but at the same time racism toward mixed marriages and children being called half breeds existed. Not just from the white side of the aisle either but more likely as is shown in other movies.

I can't say if the Juan character had the business sense that Rip was supposed to have or why some women seem to like the bad boy slap-me-around type guy. But as other posters rayincumbria and pruthvishrathod mentioned the racial issue, It made me think about it.

And the film was made in 1950, at a time when a lot of new and controversial social issues were coming out of Hollywood. A time when film makers were being persecuted for having a voice.
_____

Just try to stay alive and see what the next minute brings.

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Is there anybody with functional eyes and ears who would choose wooden Wendell Corey over hunky Gilbert Roland?

Short answer: no, no there isn't.

Long answer: I agree with another poster who suggested that Vance fell for Rip because he challenged her. I think Juan was too good a soul for the complicated Vance. And since she had some, ahem, "daddy issues," she naturally falls for a man who is very much like her father (i.e., treats her like dirt). So yeah, he's a jerk and he's not that attractive and what the hell was she thinking?! Another short answer: she wasn't thinking.

Also interesting that in the original novel (which comes with the Criterion DVD release of the film), Vance and Juan actually are lovers as well as best friends. To me, the film's interpretation, though it was probably necessitated by the mores of the time, is more intriguing. It isn't often that we see such a close, profound friendship between a man and a woman that isn't or doesn't become sexual. Even though Juan would like to take the relationship to the next level, he cares enough about Vance that he is content to respect her strictly platonic feelings toward him.

But seriously, ain't nobody picking Wendell Corey over Gilbert Roland (no offense to Mr. Corey or any of his fans).

Sweet merciful crap!

It's just tea! *sips* Needs more gin.

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