The Sutton family is pretty typical in western films...they are trying to force everyone off their land so they can dominate the west. I say typical because stories with big bad bosses using murder and intimidation to steal everyone's land are a dime a dozen. I honestly think about a third of all western films had this theme....probably more than any other plot.
The story begins with some of the Suttons murdering Trace Jordan's brother. But Trace (Tab Hunter) is not about to put up with this injustice and so he follows the killers and confronts the family patriarch. Not surprisingly, this goes terribly and soon Sutton's men are combing the territory looking to find and kill Trace. Along the way, he takes a Mexican(?) lady with him on his journey to the nearby fort to see if he can obtain justice.
There were a few logical problems with this movie. First, the casting was dumb. While Tab Hunter was a fine actor, him playing a lone action hero in the old west was WAY outside his range and seemed laughable. He was much better in romances and contemporary dramas. Worse yet was casting Natalie Wood as a Mexican....with a noticeably bad accent and spray tan to make her look 'Mexicany'. Neither were right for the movie but both were good actors...just not here. Second, when it's obvious Mr. Sutton won't listen to Trace and is openly hostile and threatens him, Trace tells him he's planning on heading to the fort to see if he can find justice there!!! Think about it...Trace KNOWS that Sutton is a murdering crook and tells him his plans so that the murdering crook can send out his army of goons to kill him! Talk about idiotic...and it's obvious the writers should have re-written this portion of the picture, as it just made no sense. And, finally, third....when late in the film the Mexicans were able to overpower the baddies, the bad guys dropped their guns...and not even once did they pick up these guns to either prevent the baddies from hurting them or to stop them from chasing after Trace!! I hate sloppy writing like this.
Apart from these problems, is it still worth seeing? Not especially. It's not a bad film and has nice production values but considering Hollywood made at least 56,204,285 westerns during this era, why not watch one that is more logical and original? My advice is see one of them and then see Natalie Wood and Tab Hunter in one of their good films.
The story begins with some of the Suttons murdering Trace Jordan's brother. But Trace (Tab Hunter) is not about to put up with this injustice and so he follows the killers and confronts the family patriarch. Not surprisingly, this goes terribly and soon Sutton's men are combing the territory looking to find and kill Trace. Along the way, he takes a Mexican(?) lady with him on his journey to the nearby fort to see if he can obtain justice.
There were a few logical problems with this movie. First, the casting was dumb. While Tab Hunter was a fine actor, him playing a lone action hero in the old west was WAY outside his range and seemed laughable. He was much better in romances and contemporary dramas. Worse yet was casting Natalie Wood as a Mexican....with a noticeably bad accent and spray tan to make her look 'Mexicany'. Neither were right for the movie but both were good actors...just not here. Second, when it's obvious Mr. Sutton won't listen to Trace and is openly hostile and threatens him, Trace tells him he's planning on heading to the fort to see if he can find justice there!!! Think about it...Trace KNOWS that Sutton is a murdering crook and tells him his plans so that the murdering crook can send out his army of goons to kill him! Talk about idiotic...and it's obvious the writers should have re-written this portion of the picture, as it just made no sense. And, finally, third....when late in the film the Mexicans were able to overpower the baddies, the bad guys dropped their guns...and not even once did they pick up these guns to either prevent the baddies from hurting them or to stop them from chasing after Trace!! I hate sloppy writing like this.
Apart from these problems, is it still worth seeing? Not especially. It's not a bad film and has nice production values but considering Hollywood made at least 56,204,285 westerns during this era, why not watch one that is more logical and original? My advice is see one of them and then see Natalie Wood and Tab Hunter in one of their good films.