"Well, looks like I made a long trip for nuttin'"
That line, declared by at the end by a lawman, sums up the entire film, which belies its lively title.
Despite taking an original novel by Zane Grey (already filmed once before in 1933), a good cast and a stash of Eastmancolor stock all the way to Monterey for the use of veteran local cameraman Jack Draper, the result is tinny, talky and dull, the colour muddy and dull. The final shoot-out against a majestic backdrop of rocks takes an awfully long time a-coming and when it finally does is needlessly drawn out (even having a character run out of bullets at a critical moment to prolong it still further).
In a better film Richard Boone's grinning villain could have been really memorable; but this isn't that film.
Despite taking an original novel by Zane Grey (already filmed once before in 1933), a good cast and a stash of Eastmancolor stock all the way to Monterey for the use of veteran local cameraman Jack Draper, the result is tinny, talky and dull, the colour muddy and dull. The final shoot-out against a majestic backdrop of rocks takes an awfully long time a-coming and when it finally does is needlessly drawn out (even having a character run out of bullets at a critical moment to prolong it still further).
In a better film Richard Boone's grinning villain could have been really memorable; but this isn't that film.
- richardchatten
- 30 nov. 2019