Circa 1900, an Oklahoma gambler-casino dealer called Clint Saunders (Rock Hudson) teams up with a saloon girl named Tacey Cromwell (Anne Baxter). Clint is late and the owner 'Mac' MacBain (William Hopper), threatens to fire him. Then Clint's younger brother Nugget (Barry Curtis) runs away in search of his older brother and shows up at the White Palace gambling parlor. He meets Tacey Cromwell, Clint's girlfriend, and falls asleep in her room. When Clint finally arrives, he excitedly tells Tacey about a new opportunity. He is moving to Ransberg, Colorado, to take advantage of a recent silver strike .Clint heads to a booming Colorado town and Tacey drops everything to follow her boyfriend. Tacey will not only take care of Nugget, but also an orfamed girl, Seely (Natalie Wood). In the new town, Judith Watrous (Julie Adams), the daughter of the senator and local banker Kenneth Watrous (Carl Benton Reid), falls in love with Clint and tries to keep him away from Tacey. Judith is a manipulative woman who will stop at nothing to get Clint to stay with her. Nobody ever paid me for being a Lady!. Men gave her everything but a good name!. That woman Tacey and Clint the gambling man...he was her only weakness...and she was his greatest strength!
A decent movie full of incidents, love conflicts and bordering on the "Soap Opera" genre. Expensive melodrama-as-high-art dissection of the American Dream with dramatic events, love stories and twisted intrigues. Based on a novel titled "Tacey Cromwell" by Conrad Richer, with a script by Robert Blees and Lawrence Roman . A twisted melodrama with enough double-dealing and scandal, including criticism of the upper class, social gossip and the unjust marginalization of a woman -in this case Anne Baxter- for having a dark past. Complemented it in a vibrant and luxurious Technicolor photography by cameraman Maury Gertsman and giving the mixture a good stir. The acting is acceptable, the melodrama is compulsive, as well as the excellent cinematography by Russell Metty, evocative musical score by Frank Skinner, brilliant lighting, and the colorful production design from Carroll Clark and Alexander Golitzen share a bold disregard for realism. Interpretations are pretty good, Rock Hudson as the ambitious and upright man who seek respectability , Anne Baxter as the loving woman who follows her beloved wherever he goes and Julie Adams as the manipulative girl who's as nasty as a cornered rattlesnake. Adding other notorious secondaries also providing decent interpretations, such as: veteran Carl Benton Reid, William Hopper, Betty Garde, Barry Curtis, and a very young Natalie Wood previously his hit in Rebel without a cause .
The motion picture financed by famed Ross Hunter was professionally directed by Jerry Hooper, but nothing special. Hooper was a good artisan who first worked for Paramount as an editor , then he passed to Universal and immediately proved himself on more intimate subjects, especially those dealing with sentimental or comedian elements . During World War II he joined the Army and worked as a combat photographer where he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war, Hopper returned to Hollywood where he graduated to directing. After working prolifically in film during the Fifties, Hopper switched to television where he went on to direct over 600 episodes before effectively retiring in the early 1970s. Jerry directed all kinds of genres , such Western : Madron , Pony Express , The Bull of the West . And Thriller as Naked Alibi , The Atomic City , The Square Jungle . And particularly adventures as Alaska Seas , The Sharkfighters, Secret of the Incas and The Missouri traveler , it was the best of Hooper last movies before he became entrenched un Television. As he filmed a great quantity of episodes of notorious series as Voyage to the Bottom of the sea , The Fugitive , Perry Mason , Shenandoah , Adams Family , Caravans and Gunsmoke. Rating 5.5/10 . Decent and acceptable drama .
