What first appears to be a stodgy and dodgy Western turns interesting about fifteen minutes in when protag Robert Stack is revealed to be an amoral asshole. He wins a saloon in Denver with the help of the equally-compromised Ruth Roman, and attempts to make a profit from the coming Civil War. No one is immune to the corrupting presence of Stack -- not even pure-of-heart Virginia Mayo. Cynical film posits that, despite the moral issues of the Civil War, what really drives men to battle is not North or South, country or family but simple bloodlust. In fact, it's clear that, for Tourneur and writer Lesser Samuels (working from Robert Hardy Andrews' book), America's religion is not Christianity but violence. Lincoln is mocked for praying instead of starting what is seen as an inevitable war, a box marked "Bibles" is full of guns, and a priest is killed in a crossfire -- all of this presided over by Stack's Owen Pentecost (it's not exactly a subtle movie). Potentially great movie (if handled by, say, Billy Wilder) is hampered by need to rehabilitate Pentecost by the end, but even this is mitigated by the strange, Life is Beautifulesque ending (you'll understand if you see it). Fine script by Samuels, which has to juggle a number of characters and factions and does so without confusion; also, good job by Raymond Burr as a financier of the Union army with the awesome name of Jumbo Means. I'm stealing that, btw.
Where we saw it: tv | We deign to rate it: 78 outta 100