The greatest movie ever!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot ,thrills , brawls , shoot'em up and is quite entertaining . A great Western with some impressive action and spectacular scenario .It deals with businessman Logan Stuart (Dana Andrews) who falls for Lucy who happens to be the fiancee of his friend , banker/gambler Camsrose (Brian Donlevy) . Then Logan is torn between his love of two very different women (Susan Hayward , Patricia Roc) in 1850's Oregon and his loyalty to his friend who gets into money troubles . There is also a nasty villain called Bragg (Ward Bond) who takes on Logan and a thrilling battle against Indians . Every Exciting Character ! Every dangerous moment ... Rip-roaring Western set in Oregon territory , Portland , 1856 . Moving Western including colorful exteriors , fist-fight between Dana Andrews and Ward Bond as well as a pulsating and violent Indian raid and tuneful melodies . Adding some unforgettable scenes as the building a house carried out the neighborhood similarly many years later in ¨Witness 1985 by Peter Weir . Dana Andrews delivers a sober acting as a former scout turned store owner . Brian Donlevy gives a fine interpretation as a compulsive gambler friend who goes over the line. Hoagy Carmichael that appears as a top-hatted role aptly named Linnet , chirping some songs that include the memorable Buttermilk sky . Carmichael serves as the wandering ministrel to the action . Support cast is frankly excellent , such as : Fay Holden , Andy Devine , Stanley Ridges ,Onslow Stevens , Rose Hobert , Chief Yowlachie , Ray Teal and Lloyd Bridges .Sensitive as well as catchy score by maestro Frank Skinner , including four songs sung by Carmichael . Strikingly filmed in color by Edward Cronjager . Being lavishly produced by Walter Wanger and associate producer : Alexander Golitzen , a prestigious production designer . Based on the homonymous novel by Ernest Haycox , the picture was well directed by Jacques Tourneur who was best known for his horror films .The underrated filmmaker Jacques Tourneur , though the present-day he is better considered , he was a prolific craftsman who directed some masterpieces . Jacques directed all kinds of genres , such as Terror : ¨Curse of demon¨, ¨I Walked with a Zombie¨, ¨Leopard man¨ , ¨Cat people¨, ¨Comedy of terrors¨ ; Film Noir :¨Out the past¨, ¨Berlin express¨, ¨Experiment perilous¨ , ¨Nightfall¨ and Adventure : ¨The giant of Marathon¨ , ¨Tombuctú¨, ¨Martin the gaucho¨ , ¨Anne of the Indians¨ and ¨The flame and the arrow¨.In Western genre he made 5 films : This masterpiece titled ¨Canyon passage¨(1946) , ¨Star in my Crown¨(1950) , ¨Stranger on horseback¨, also with Joel McCrea , ¨Wichita¨(1955) with Joel McCrea as Wyatt Earp formerly to OK Corral duel and ¨Great day in the morning¨ with Robert Stack dealing with facing Union and Confederation . He finally directed episodes of ¨Norhwest passage¨ (1958) titled Frontier Rangers , Fury River and Mission of danger . Rating : 7.5/10 , Well worth watching

Essentially, a romantic drama, sited in early Oregon, a few years after gold was discovered in the SW region of the state. Most of the action takes place in or near Oregon's 2 largest towns then :Portland, in the north, and the gold mining boom town of Jacksonville, near the SW corner.Ambitious merchant Logan Stuart(Dana Andrews) is in Portland to pick up some merchandise and currency to take by muleback to far off Jacksonville. Also, he agreed to escort Lucy Overmire(Susan Hayward): fiancé of his friend George Camrose(Brian Donlevy) back to Jacksonville(No clue how she got to Portland, apparently on a pleasure trip). The night before they leave, someone enters Logan's room, apparently with the intent to stab him. But, Logan wrestles him until he escapes out the window(a rather clumsily done incident). Logan isn't positive, but suspects it was Honey Bragg(Ward Bond), who suspects Logan knows he killed two miners, currently blamed on 'Indians'.(Why would Bragg trail Logan all the way to Portland, just to kill him?). The long horse and mule trip through the wilderness is without incident. On their last day, they stop by at the cabin of Ben Dance(Andy Devine) and family, where Logan introduces Lucy to his girlfriend Caroline(Patricia Roc): a native Brit, whose parents were killed by 'Indians", hence was adopted by the Dances. After getting to know George a bit, we wonder what attraction his flawed character holds for either Logan or Lucy. He seems to be from a wealthy family, as does Lucy. Apparently, that is mostly what they have in common. Like many characters played by Donlevy, he seems to want to get through life in style, doing the least amount of productive work. He's also addicted to gambling, vainly hoping to make a living by it. To cover his gambling debts, he steals gold dust he is entrusted with, and leans on Logan to bail him out of the rest of his debts. He also tries to strike up a side romance with the wife of a gambling buddy. Later, he murders a miner whose gold dust he pilfered to pay his debts. He clearly states that he wishes he were back in the cultured East rather than this primitive society. Although Lucy and George plan to marry soon, as do Logan and Caroline, at the same time, it's clear Lucy is gradually realizing that Logan is the right man for her, while Caroline finally realizes that the often absent ambitious Logan isn't really the kind of lifestyle she wants in a husband. Thus, in the finale, the 'right' man and woman finally are free to pursue dreams together. Many of the scenes take place under darkened conditions: at night or in a dark forest, and most of the violent acts are only alluded to: an exception being the rampaging 'Indians', near the end. Another exception is the brutal fight in front of many spectators, between Logan and Bragg. Logan begins by breaking a couple of chairs over Bragg's back, thus largely negating the latter's advantage of a superior body for and experience in fighting. Bragg and George clearly are the main villainous elements in this tale: the one an uncultured friendless bully from the beginning. The other an aristocratic dilettante and sneak, whose villainy mostly related to his gambling addiction, is only gradually established, and who enjoys the undeserved support of his few friends. Both are marked for death by the plot, and both are eventually murdered. The background music is quite good. We also have Hoagie Carmichael as a significant character, who shows up periodically, to strum a new song on his banjo or to comment on the activities of the principals. His 4 original songs aren't really memorable, but fit the situation at hand. He warbles the most popular one: "Ole Buttermilk Sky", while trailing Logan and Lucy as they head for San Francisco to start a new life, after Logan's store was burned out by the locals for helping George escape. Patricia Poc was on loan from her British film company. She was infamous for her fickle intense romantic affairs, often with married men, including Ronald Reagan.Popular supporting actor Ward Bond occasionally played villains, but I can't recall any as blatant as Honey(such a sarcastic name) Bragg. In the John Wayne western "Dakota", he was a sneaky get rich quickly schemer, somewhat reminiscent of George, in this film...Donlevy often played oily villains. My favorite is Sid, in "Union Pacific". Andy Devine, as a homesteader, occasionally fills the scene.The film includes a reasonable balance of joyous and sinister elements. Among the former is a cabin raising by a large group for a newly wed couple, followed by a party... The outdoors scenes were filmed in several locals in forested mountainous Oregon, including the Crater Lake area. Mount Jefferson(I assume) is often seen in the background. I wish more had been included about the plight of the local 'Indians', as a result of the sudden gold rush. These were not the 'infamous' Modocs, who were located more to the SE of the gold fields. Within just a couple of years, their lives were totally wrecked by the swarming gold seekers, who decimated the local game, killed or pushed the 'Indians' off their home sites, which tended to be where the easy placer gold was, and largely destroyed their riverine food staples from mine tailings and hydraulic mining, the latter having silted up the Sacramento River in CA.Presently viewable at YouTube.

This film opens in Portland, Oregon in the 1850s; businessman Logan Stewart rides into town and withdraws some of his gold from storage; he runs a freight business and wants to expand; ultimately he hopes to bring the stage coach to the growing town. Somebody obviously knows he has gold on him as he is attacked in his room during the night; the assailant gets away but Logan has an idea who it could be; Honey Bragg; a man Logan suspects murdered a couple of miners a few days before. The next morning he leaves town with Lucy, the fiancée of his friend George. They are heading to Jacksonville where George runs the gold store... in effect the town bank. For some time after this nothing much happens; we see the townsfolk coming together to build a house for a couple of newly wed farmers; there is a tense but peaceful meeting with the local Indians and we learn that George likes to gamble rather more than he should. The action kicks off later when a man is murdered shortly after returning to town; George is the chief suspect as it is believed that he had been helping himself to peoples gold. Logan points out that the evidence is circumstantial and their 'trial' isn't legal but it is clear that they intend to hang George at nightfall; when he sees a chance Logan helps his friend escape. Bragg meanwhile has killed again; this time an Indian woman... the rest of the tribe are now on the warpath and many people will die before peace returns to Jacksonville.Given its age I had expected this film to be in black and white but it was in glorious Technicolor... just what the glorious Oregon setting required! The opening half of the film may have been fairly action free but it did a fine job of introducing us to the characters and giving us a glimpse in to the lives of people living far away from 'civilisation'... they may have been in the United States but if something needed doing they had to do it themselves; that included defending themselves when things got dangerous. By the time the action started I had grown to care about the characters. The action when it came was more shocking than I'd expected; among those we see killed are women and children we have been introduced to earlier on. The characters aren't all what one would expect in a western of this era; this is especially true of George who puts his gambling addiction ahead of his fiancée and is almost certainly guilty of the murder he was accused of. The acting was solid with Dana Andrews doing a good job as Logan and Brian Donlevy being equally good as his friend George. Director Jacques Tourneur did a fine job; perhaps it is because he was French rather than American that this feels so different from other westerns of that era I've seen. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of the genre.

There was one reason I decided to watch this film…Dana Andrews. He was a wonderful actor despite being a relatively unknown actor today. His easy-going manner and natural way of acting make him one of my favorites. As it was a western (not even close to my favorite genre), I doubt if I would have watched it otherwise. The film also stars Brian Donlevy and Susan Hayward. Despite Donevy being cast as Andrews' friend, I automatically assumed Donlevy was evil. After all, he often played shifty and larcenous sorts—and rarely anyone heroic. You'll have to watch the film to see if this is again the case. An odd supporting character was played by a mandolin-playing wondering minstrel . Not only was this sort of person odd to see in a western, but it was played by Hoagy Carmichael—a guy you'd usually expect to see playing a piano in a jazz or nightclub. His outfit was a hoot, as he was dressed almost exactly like W.C. Fields in "My Little Chickadee" (or, conversely, the TV pitchman, W. C. Fritos). Also, in a very small role is a young Lloyd Bridges before he became a star.The film finds Andrews escorting Hayward to her fiancé, Donlevy, into the wilderness. However, given the chemistry between Andrews and Hayward, it sure seems as if they are destined to become a couple—even when Andrews becomes engaged to another lady.As for the plot, it's not just another western with the typically clichéd plot. No, it's quite different—and rather hard to explain—suffice to say that most of the usual themes you'd expect in such a film are oddly absent. I liked this, as most westerns are simply variations on one about a half dozen different themes. Good acting, a different story and a gorgeous location shoot in Technicolor make this one worth seeing.By the way, Andrews has a fight with huge Ward Bond in the film. In true leading man fashion, he wins—though in real life, Bond would have destroyed Andrews—as Bond was a burly ex-college football star and outweighed Andrews considerably. Also, at least according to this movie, American-Indian women wore bikinis when they went swimming!By the way, Andy Devine's sons in the film were his actual kids in real life!