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Tough, up-right, and by-the-book Marshal Len Merrick (Kirk Douglas) is forced to transport a murder suspect (Walter Brennen) across an unforgiving desert with a lynch mob in pursuit. Whatever tension the film builds is wasted as Merrick repeatedly does foolish things (spending a night in the accused's house, allowing the potential killer's daughter to tag along (after she's pulled a gun on him), taking the pistol but not the cartridges from a potential threat etc.) but the biggest weakness is the blatantly obvious 'real killer', which makes the ending painfully predictable and unrewarding. Raoul Walsh was a great director but this oater, while beautifully filmed, suffers from a cliched script, unbelievable characters, and a lack of attention to detail. I'm not a huge fan of Douglas's clenched-tooth style of toughness but he's OK (as is Walter Brennen) but John Agar (who later would dominate the goofy world of low-budget '50s sci-fi) is out of his depth and Virginia Mayo is completely unconvincing as Brennen's tough ranch-girl daughter (and half of a contrived shoe-horned-in love story). All in all, a weak start to Douglass's extensive career in westerns.

The heavy-handed script of ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE puts every possible obstacle in the way of a saintly sheriff (KIRK DOUGLAS) intent on bringing a suspected murderer to justice and away from the men who want to lynch him for killing a rancher's son.

The plot gets off to a good start with a lynching interrupted by good guy Douglas, who saves the neck of WALTER BRENNAN from the hangman's noose. But the plot gets a bit too thick by the time we encounter Brennan's fiery daughter (VIRGINIA MAYO) and the bad men who want to stop Douglas and his party from reaching a town where a jury can decide Brennan's fate.

Despite the gorgeous outoor scenery filmed in crisp B&W, there's a low-budget look to the night scenes filmed on indoor stage bound sets. Director Raoul Walsh keeps things moving, but the plot is so full of tiresome obstacles and shifting loyalties that the thirsty desert scenes seem to drag as the film nears its conclusion once the party has reached civilization.

JOHN AGAR is decent enough as Douglas' ill-fated sidekick but it's JAMES ANDERSON as the no good son (brother of the man Brennan is supposed to have killed), who manages to steal scenes with his shifty manner as the villain of the piece. Too bad his career was cut short by his premature death at 48.

VIRGINIA MAYO is improbably cast and her romance with Douglas is strictly full of clichés as they fight incessantly over his intent on bringing her father to justice. The story is pretty routine and even though the running time is brief, the film runs out of steam before the party reaches its destination in a nearby village so that the finale seems anticlimactic.

It remains an average western despite the good cast.

Walter Brennen, three time Academy Award winner, and one of the greatest character actors of all time, is combined with Kirk Douglas for 88 minutes of action and drama. This is what a great Western is supposed to be! Gunfire, fistfights, and Walter Brennen almost getting his neck stretched, twice! One of my video guides says: "the pace is slow, but the scenery is grand". Most of the film was shot in the Alabama Hills, just west of Lone Pine, California. Over 300 movies have been filmed at the base of Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. "Joe Kidd", "The Tall T" and hundreds more were made in those rocks that are so famous. Almost as famous as any actor. "Along The Great Divide" is a great ride, and lots of fun.

Colorful western wonderfully photographed in black and white on location in Arizona . Beautifully filmed , though little known Raoul Walsh film . Kirk Douglas' first Western has the usual horse opera cliches supported by magnificent cinematography by cameraman Sidney Hickox and thrilling musical score by David Buttolph. A U. S. sheriff named Len Merrick (Kirk Douglas) and two deputies (John Agar , Ray Teal) rescue a cattle rustler called Tim (Walter Brennan) from a lynch mob led by a local cattle baron , Ed Roden (Morris Ankrum) , convinced that the rustler also killed his son. Then the Marshal and deputies make their way across the desert with Tim and his daughter (Virginia Mayo) . Along the way they hold storm , betrayal and pursuits against a spectacular desert backdrop . A Marshal whose hide no bullet could touch...and the girl who got under his skin!. "Who's the prisoner now, law-man?". An adventure that avalanches from the bullet-proof of the Rockies to the fiery desert floor ! .

His enjoyable film with an unusual detective element to the plot , containing noisy action , crossfire , formidable villainy , go riding , relentless chases , and gorgeous Arizona locations . A paronamic western , being spectacularly screened ; as the plot is plain and simple but little by little results more complicated and surprising , in which a sheriff must bring a falsely accused murderer to trial . This movie has a compelling combination of fine performances , intense drama , crossfire and spectacular outdoors . Director Raoul Walsh aims for psychological realism with a contemporary treatment and about an upright sheriff who has a dark past . A blending of talent actors with great leading players of whom Kirk Douglas holds the best character as the obstinate Marshal who'll stop at nothing to get his purports . Along with the alwys great Walter Brennan as a suspicious killer father , they are the key factors that lift this Warners Western above the ordinary . The hothouse plot drives mercilessly forward with action , shootouts , thrills , attacks and turns . The tale is strong one and the yarn is marvellously located against a background of Arizona and California mountains . Very good main and support cast giving hard-driving acting , standing out Virginia Mayo as the lady in distress and Morris Ankrum as the stubborn pursuer ; in addition notorious secondaries as John Agar , Ray Teal , Hugh Sanders , James Anderson, among others.

Blazing and gorgeous cinematography by Sid Hickox shot on location in Mojave desert , Yuma , Arizona , and Alabama Hills, Sierra Madre Mountains , California. The motion picture was competently directed by Raoul Walsh . Direction in the capable hands of Walsh who ensures that the pace is surprisingly nice and action scenes hit hard . From his starts in the silent cinema he achieved successful films until the 50s and forward , early 60s , when he was less dominant , but is still stayed lots of lusty adventure , stories of comradeship and friendship , and Raoul Walsh usually makes the most of plentiful action scenes . Walsh was an expert director of all kind genres but with penchant for Western such as ¨Colorado territory¨, ¨They died with their boots on¨, ¨Along the great divide¨, ¨Saskatchewan¨, ¨King and four queens¨ , ¨A distant trumpet¨ , ¨The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw¨ ; Adventure as ¨Thief of Bagdad¨, ¨Captain Horatio Hornblower¨, ¨World in his hands¨, ¨Blackbeard the pirate¨ , ¨Sea devils¨ ; Warlike as ¨Objetive Burma¨ , ¨Northern pursuit¨, ¨Marines let's go¨ ; and Noir film as ¨White heat¨, ¨High Sierra¨, ¨They drive by night¨, ¨The roaring twenties¨. And this acceptable ¨Gun Fury¨, rating : 7/10 ; fairly straightforward movie and acceptable Western adventure . This decent Western film will appeal to Raoul Walsh enthusiasts.

Len Merrick, a US marshal, and his two deputies rescue an elderly farmer named Timothy Keith from a lynch mob. Keith is something of a disreputable character and freely admits to being a cattle rustler, but the leader of the mob, a local rancher named Ned Roden, indignantly denies that he would seek to take a man's life for a few head of cattle. He believes that Keith is guilty of a much more serious crime, the murder of Roden's son Ed who has been found shot in the back. In view of the seriousness of the allegation against Keith, Merrick agrees to take him to Santa Loma to stand trial, but this does not satisfy Roden who wants to kill Keith with his own hands, not leave the task to the public hangman.

The rest of the film tells the story of the journey to Santa Loma and of Keith's trial. Merrick and his deputies are pursued across the desert by Roden and his gang who are determined to administer their own brand of justice and who would have no compunction about killing Merrick in order to do so. Keith himself does not make the task any easier. Although he claims that he is innocent of the murder charge, he clearly does not believe that he can expect a fair trial in Santa Loma because he is continually trying either to escape or to persuade Merrick to set him free. He clearly does not realise that it is only the presence of the three lawmen which protects him from Roden's rough justice. Further complicating factors are the fact that Merrick is forced to take Roden's other son, Dan, as a hostage and the presence on the journey of Keith's beautiful daughter Ann. Merrick and Ann fall in love, but their romance is a difficult one because she believes passionately in her father's innocence whereas Merrick believes him to be guilty.

This was Kirk Douglas's first Western. Although he was to make many films in this genre during his long career, few of the ones which I have seen really rank among his greatest, apart from the modern-day "Lonely Are the Brave" and, possibly, "Gunfight at the OK Corral". "Along the Great Divide" does not really qualify as a great film either. The plot is a complex one, and at times too much so for its own good. The whole romantic subplot between Merrick and Ann is one of the complications which could easily have been omitted, but the producers evidently wanted to see a pretty girl in what would otherwise have been an all-male film, and in the early fifties few young actresses were prettier than Virginia Mayo. Walter Brennan seemed to specialise in playing irritating old men, and here he makes Keith the sort of irritating old man that audiences would quite happily have seen hanged, if not for murder or for cattle-rustling then for being a general pain in the ass.

This may not be a great film, but Douglas himself certainly gives an excellent performance. The film is a "psychological Western", one of a type which was becoming popular in the early fifties; in the next few years James Stewart was to make some great films of this type with director Anthony Mann such as "The Naked Spur" and "The Man from Laramie". Merrick is not a straightforward hero but a difficult, conflicted individual, torn by guilt following an incident in his past. His relationship with Keith is not eased by the fact that the old man reminds him of his father, with whom he also had a difficult relationship. His determination to save Keith from the lynch mob, even though he believes him to be guilty, is only partly due to a belief that any man, even an accused murderer, deserves the due process of law. It can also be seen as an attempt to confront his feelings of guilt and to make amends for the incident which gave rise to them. Douglas's performance gives the film a greater psychological and moral complexity than it might otherwise have had and lifts the film above the level of some of his more run-of-the-mill Westerns like "The Big Trees" or "The Indian Fighter". 7/10