I'm partial to "Northerns", tales of gold in Alaska at the turn of the century - they always look so good and have such colourful characters. This is based on a much filmed novel which has the benefit of colour photography but lacks star power.
Jeff Chandler is effective as the gold miner fighting for his claim (surely this influenced North to Alaska) but Anne Baxter doesn't look very comfortable as a saloon singer, the part so memorably essayed by Marlene Dietrich (NB in Universal's defence I can't think who else they might have been able to afford who would have been good - Maureen O'Hara no, Yvonne de Carlo maybe); Rory Calhoun is too lightweight to be Chandler's rival - Calhoun never really made it as a leading man, and was more effective as an oily false love interest (Ray Danton plays that here - I got him and Calhoun confused).
Still there's plenty of action and scenes in saloons, including a final brawl, and some decent character actors. The basic story isn't bad - very adaptable to Australian gold fields - even if it does endorse the American "you can't trust the government" mantra.
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