Variety summed it up perfectly for the first part of the above statement, and the viewer has to put up with a lot of tediousness in repeat of flashbacks of the title character (a bland Anita Ekberg) recovering from being shot (allegedly by dour husband Sterling Hayden) in a surge of gunfire that also killed her parents. She's a European immigrant who doesn't seem terribly in love with her new husband (giving an assumed motive to why she married him), and having a difficult time consumating their wedding night. The slow moving psychological drama with elements of noir doesn't work in the western setting as it had with earlier western noir, "Pursued" and "The Furies".
The film's structure surrounds Hayden's trial for the shooting and hints at the fact that Ekberg was really in love with his brother, Peter Walker. Anthony Steel plays a preacher, also involved in the trial as a witness, and is basically Ekberg's protector. The film deserves credit for its uniqueness as a western, seemingly inspired by the Japanese samurai classic "Rashoman", but I just didn't find any spark with the story and its setting, a very dull and cold barren countryside, but perhaps that's a metaphor for the loveless marriage. At least they didn't try to stretch this out to a longer length. Those going into this expecting an action packed western or a psychological trial drama with an interesting femme fatale will be disappointed.
The film's structure surrounds Hayden's trial for the shooting and hints at the fact that Ekberg was really in love with his brother, Peter Walker. Anthony Steel plays a preacher, also involved in the trial as a witness, and is basically Ekberg's protector. The film deserves credit for its uniqueness as a western, seemingly inspired by the Japanese samurai classic "Rashoman", but I just didn't find any spark with the story and its setting, a very dull and cold barren countryside, but perhaps that's a metaphor for the loveless marriage. At least they didn't try to stretch this out to a longer length. Those going into this expecting an action packed western or a psychological trial drama with an interesting femme fatale will be disappointed.