I love Northerns - tales of the Alaskan gold rush; they always look terrific with mountains and snow in the background, and saloons, boots and muddy streets.
This is one of those James Stewart-Anthony Mann stories with Stewart as a tough guy who heads to Alaska and runs afoul of a corrupt smiling Judge (John McIntire). Borden Chase's script is full of life and incident, although it does kind of feel made up as it goes along - characters keep coming and going, stories stop and start (there's the judge, the women, crossing the mountains, the fate of a small town).
There's a surprisingly strong female presence - Stewart is panted after by shady saloon owner Ruth Roman and spitfire French Canadian Corinne Calvet (neither really up to their parts) plus some blousy women who live in an Alaskan town; McIntire's performance could have been bigger but there are some choice supporting actors including ever reliable Walter Brennan and Jack Elam. Brennan has a great death scene - there's some expert Mann action here.
It's not a classic (the "psychological study" basically consists of Stewart deciding to put his gun on) but it's highly enjoyable.
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