After a bad run in the early ‘50s, James Cagney was just off a great 1955 (three hits & a smash cameo: LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME; MISTER ROBERTS; RUN FOR COVER; SEVEN LITTLE FOYS), when he was called in to replace Spencer Tracy on this Robert Wise chamber Western. (Tracy claimed he ankled to avoid a rough location shoot; more likely a disastrous reception on PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE/’52 had him swearing off even aging romantic leads.) Tracy not the only swap out: second lead/surrogate son lost fast-rising Robert Francis (CAINE MUTINY; LONG GRAY LINE), dead in a plane crash, replaced by charisma-challenged Don Dubbins, as the young drifter who saves Cagney from an ambush. No wonder the production feels downsized, missing bonding scenes between Cagney & the kid, learning the ropes of how to break wild horses for sale back East. The setup has Cagney’s self-made horse baron living ‘in sin’ with saloon gal Irene Papas (her Hollywood debut), running his ranch with an iron hand & a ready noose for thieves or cutthroats. Judge, jury and executioner. Toward the end, he viciously breaks three outlaws as if they were horses, only to wind up breaking himself . . . in a good way. A neat story construction that only points up missed opportunities. Still, what’s in here is good enough, cleanly shot by Wise (Robert Surtees, D.P.) and unusually scored by Miklós Rózsa on a rare Western. With strong support from Stephen McNally, James Bell, Jeanette Nolan and, as a rival’s embittered son, a vivid turn from Vic Morrow in only his second pic.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Cagney’s previous Western, Nicholas Ray’s RUN FOR COVER, even better. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/08/run-for-cover-1955.html OR: Watch one of those Robert Francis films (see above) to imagine this film with a big inter-personal dynamic boost.
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