An unusual and different western

Always considered to be one of John Ford's weakest films (also by himself), I can't quite agree with this assessment. It may not be in the same league as his masterpieces, but it has a lot going for it. Quite a few scenes and themes are directly lifted from The Searchers.

The film has a slow pace with not much action going on. It's all in the dialogue and the main issue of the movie: how will the released Comanche prisoners fit back into white society and how is that society going to react. Who is the civilized and the uncivilized society? The answer seems to be absolutely clear in the beginning of the movie, but gets a lot more murky as the film goes on.
Humor and serious issues juxtapose quite nicely here. The tone of the movie shifts constantly which can sometimes seem a bit schizophrenic.

Stewart and Widmark have great chemistry and play off well each other. Their dialogue is hilarious. Very often bickering, I had the feeling that they were ad-libbing a lot of their lines in their conversations.

Stewart plays the cynical, corrupt, greedy and hard-drinking Marshall who seems to be willing to do everything if the price is right. He also has no time for sentimentality, for example when he tells Marty quite truthfully what has very likely become of her brother.
He does not seem to have too many redeeming qualities, but has grown into a human being by the end of the movie, mostly do to the influence of Elena.

Stewart's character is contrasted nicely with Belle's, his sort of girlfriend. In the beginning the viewer is led to think that Belle is the madam with the heart of gold, but she turns out to be one of the most nasty characters.

In the end it is a film about redemption which at least the main characters find.

Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."