What you have here is a western made late in the period of Westerns. For us of that era, we see the similar. Beery, Anderson, Griffith, Bryant are western mainstays. Especially Anderson. They came from the late 30s. We KNOW they're acting level. They don't even need scripts. In this movie they are bringing the next generation up, like David Carradine who is not his father John, but does ok. These actors and actresses, especially Carolyn, a favorite from the noirs are known characters. Even Glenn still wears his brown corduroy jacket that he wore in Evil Gun on 1958. And he wears on Cades County etc. Its his character. The acting in these artists is always good. Its THEM. What is bad is the late 1960s silent directing coming into the 70s where blood and gore gets more prevalent, like in Gene Hackman. Thats when westerns became awful. This Glenn Ford movie is one of the last of the era. I could see it over and over. Oh and the plot, it is one of seven pulled for a western story, dealing with land rights. It looks to me some commentels are judging by today's movies for comparison. Like even mentioning Eastwood..come on. This story isn't in Eastwood's generation. But if you want to see Clint in Sheep watch the Rawhide episode where he becomes a sheep man.
