Complete credited cast: | |||
Rock Hudson | ... | Dana Stribling | |
Kirk Douglas | ... | Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley | |
Dorothy Malone | ... | Belle Breckenridge | |
Joseph Cotten | ... | John Breckenridge | |
Carol Lynley | ... | Melissa 'Missy' Breckenridge | |
Neville Brand | ... | Frank Hobbs | |
Regis Toomey | ... | Milton Wing | |
James Westmoreland | ... | Julesburg Kid (as Rad Fulton) | |
Adam Williams | ... | Calverton | |
Jack Elam | ... | Ed Hobbs | |
![]() |
John Shay | ... | Bowman |
Brendan O'Malley arrives at the Mexican home of old flame Belle Breckenridge to find her married to a drunkard getting ready for a cattle drive to Texas. Hot on O'Malley's heels is lawman Dana Stribling who has a personal reason for getting him back into his jurisdiction. Both men join Breckenridge and his wife on the drive. As they near Texas tensions mount, not least because Stribling is starting to court Belle and O'Malley is increasingly drawn by her daughter Missy. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Terrific western-drama from director Robert Aldrich has sheriff Rock Hudson tracking lawless Kirk Douglas to a rancher's homestead; they soon find themselves agreeing to take part in a grueling cattle-drive, and to work out their differences along the way. Breathtakingly photographed adventure has three-dimensional characters, good writing by Dalton Trumbo and solid acting (particularly by Douglas and fresh-faced Carol Lynley, well-cast as a youngster with a crush on Kirk). The melodrama gets a little thick at times, though odd flickers of humor quickly intercede whenever things start to get too mawkish. *** from ****