Had Kubrick done a Western, it might have looked something like this. Gorgeous. The coda is pretty pointless.

If a typical western has more in common with an action movie, this one is more like a suspense. The setting really contributes to the sustained tension throughout, culminating in the final act. I like the way the central problem is resolved slowly, bit-by-bit, rather than with a climactic gunfight. I don't really have any rational reason my score isn't higher, other than perhaps that Robert Ryan's character is a bit too typical for the genre.I just don't get into westerns the way some people do.

Burl Ives dominates and the direction is tense. Awesome setting, awesome movie, with a very awesome dance scene (not like a musical, a lot is captured here) and finale.

This is a helluva Western --why isn't it ever talked about as being among the best of the genre? "Every damn fool has his reasons," makes a good pull-quote, underlining the layered characterizations and the bitter outlook. The desolate location is put to terrific use as well.

A nasty little western, oozing with the possibilities of violence from the first appearance of the outlaw band. Burl Ives is fine as the only outlaw with any integrity, the bad man who will save the good people from a worse fate--if he lives.