This is an impressive 1949 B-side in for Raoul Walsh, his other 1949 effort was White Heat.
Shot in Colorado along with parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
This is Walsh so editing and pace are crucial- kineticism is the word. There is a jail escape in the first five minutes, Joel McCrea (as Wes McQueen- great name) has a poignant moment at the grave of an old sweetheart, and then there is a stagecoach robbery chase- all in the first ten minutes. Danny Boyle is another auteur that usually brings energy through editing and pace. Godard’s Breathless is another film of relevance because he famously cut out the uninteresting parts. Clearly Capra and Hawks used paced in screwball comedies as well.
Colorado Territory is High Sierra (1941- also directed by Walsh of course) set in the west. Virginia Mayo plays the Ida Lupino role (here named Colorado Carson). Dorothy Malone is the third woman in this sort of love triangle. Mayo and Malone play women on both sides of the law and respectability and Wes McQueen must wrestle it out with himself regarding who he wants to be and who he wants to be with. Malone was talented enough she could have played either one of these roles. All three actors equip themselves here. Mayo is stunning. Men are fighting over Mayo in the film and that certainly is believable. Mayo is also in Walsh’s White Heat.
Todos Santos is a great hideout location- a ghost town in the mountains “the back end of nothing”.
The big payroll robbery job (which Walsh pulls off in a strong set piece) looms over the entire running time of the film.
Snappy montages. Walsh keeps this thing moving.
Mayo’s Colorado Caron is a ride or die true woman to the end- and the climatic finale lives up nicely just like High Sierra. This is a very decent little romance. “we’re a couple of fools in a dead village dreaming about something that will probably never happen.”
Henry Hull appeared in both this film and High Sierra. He plays the doctor in High Sierra and Malone’s father here.
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