Kind of a dry run for Prisoner of Shark Island. Some truly beautiful camerawork and an odd little sense of humor ("I now pronounce you man and wife. That'll be two dollars."), but ultimately slight.

It won't be confused with the upper echelon of Ford's filmography--it's too suffused with the characteristic stiffness and emotional short cuts of its era--but it holds its own fascinations.Primarily, there's the confident fluidity of Ford's direction, marked by moments of supremely sophisticated visual storytelling, with one character's demise especially lovely in its artful restraint. Hayes brings engaging verve to her role as the supportive, suffering wife.

Nominated for Best Picture, the film is a fairly effective dramatic piece. Ford does a good job in avoiding a completely dour and tragic result, though elements of those final scenes feel a bit tacked on.