Not a very well known Western but it has virtues - CinemaScope photography is expertly used amongst some mountain vistas, there's decent star power with Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward and Richard Widmark, plus Cameron Mitchell as "sidekick turned rapist" and Hugh Marlow, it's set in Mexico near the coast. It's full of interesting bits. The story has elements of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Bernard Herrmann wrote the score.
I should've liked this more. The story is interesting in pitch - woman lures men into desert to find husband and gold. I think the woman was meant to be a femme fetale and logically she should die - she's responsible for Marlowe being crippled and Widmark giving up her life - but she's allowed to live and go off with Cooper. Cooper looks old and emaciated, as if he's dying. Hayward is competent but forced to be too restrained. She needed to be full vixen. Widmark is okay when given the chance - he often isn't given that chance. Mitchell's rapist cowboy is stock. He tries to attack Hayward, Cooper goes "bad boy" then scolds Hayward for leading him on.
A good movie in here struggling to get out though not without interest, especially for fans of the stars.
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