There's lots of good things about this Western: its in colour; the production values are strong; George Sherman directs with a steady hand; there's impressive horses; the support cast includes reliables like Norman Lloyd and Lloyd Bridges; Willard Parker is ideally cast as a sheriff.
I didn't mind Howard Duff as a hero - Universal tried to turn him into a star around this time, and it didn't quite work, but he can act, he's got a superb voice, and okay presence. I wasn't familiar with Dorothy Hart but she's effective.
Yvonne de Carlo is perfect as Calamity Jane - okay maybe "perfect" is overdoing it, but she's sassy and pretty and looks like she'd be able to shoot people. Not all Western fans enjoy de Carlo in that genre but I do.
The basic idea of this film is solid - Duff's Sam Bass goes from honest bloke to outlaw, and he's loved by sassy tomboy de Carlo (Calamity Jane) but loves good girl Dorothy Hart.
But the execution suffers. There's all this stuff about Duff loving a horse and being upset when his horse is killed and wanting horses - only we never spend that much time with horses. There's no overall villain, not really - I keep expecting Willard Parker to play this role but he doesn't. De Carlo looks like she's going to have a big role in the film, and she should have, but she doesn't. There's all this plot about horses and owing money which confused me. I wasn't sure exactly when Duff turned bad or what he was doing that was bad.
It was alright. It felt like it had been rewritten a few times without a clear overall vision. It's a shame because of the good things in the movie.
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