Long before Barbara Stanwyck worked with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" star Katharine Ross on "The Colbys", she had her own encounter with Butch and Sundance in this colorful western made by Republic Pictures in the mid 1950's. She's the colorfully named Kit Banion, the proprietress of a Wyoming saloon. In her encounter with Sundance (Scott Brady), she tells him "Somewhere along the way, sometime, I'll meet a better man like the ones I used to know, and when I do, I'll drop you like a poisonous snake!" A rail thin Stanwyck shows what she does best, standing up to sinister men, and being just as ruthless in getting what she wants. Stanwyck rides, shoots and fights with the toughness of the fiercest western hero (heroine). She finds her match in Jeff Younger (Barry Sullivan), telling him "That's a great name to slung around carelessly" upon their first meeting, indicating to Sundance that she has found the better man.
The film makes reference not only to the Younger Brothers ("You might be Younger, but you won't be older if you don't watch out!"), Butch and Sundance but "The Wild Boys" (a violent western made the same year as the Newman/Redford pairing). Pretty Mary Murphy is perhaps younger and more feminine than the still striking Stanwyck (nearing 50!), but she more than holds her own in her scenes with the female master of melodrama. "The only way you leave the wild bunch is feet first", Stanwyck explains as she shows shows Kit's softness in a romantic scene with Sullivan, who is not as he appears to be. This leads to an exciting sequence on a speeding train with bandits aboard, only made better with the color photography of the natural backgrounds including the breathtaking mountain scenery.
The title song, sung by Joni James, is gorgeous, as is the score by Victor Young and the photography by Jack Marta. This is one of those westerns that is probably more impressive on a big screen; Its photography almost screams 3-D. Familiar actors such as Wallace Ford and Jim Davis appear in smaller roles, giving this quite an incredible ensemble. Stanwyck's tough, slightly villainous femme fatale is an amazing characterization, and you can see why she was attracted to parts like this whether out in God's country or in the Asphalt Jungle. No other actress has defined what parts women really had in the old west than the great Barbara, and even in the weakest of these films, she made them so much more memorable.
The film makes reference not only to the Younger Brothers ("You might be Younger, but you won't be older if you don't watch out!"), Butch and Sundance but "The Wild Boys" (a violent western made the same year as the Newman/Redford pairing). Pretty Mary Murphy is perhaps younger and more feminine than the still striking Stanwyck (nearing 50!), but she more than holds her own in her scenes with the female master of melodrama. "The only way you leave the wild bunch is feet first", Stanwyck explains as she shows shows Kit's softness in a romantic scene with Sullivan, who is not as he appears to be. This leads to an exciting sequence on a speeding train with bandits aboard, only made better with the color photography of the natural backgrounds including the breathtaking mountain scenery.
The title song, sung by Joni James, is gorgeous, as is the score by Victor Young and the photography by Jack Marta. This is one of those westerns that is probably more impressive on a big screen; Its photography almost screams 3-D. Familiar actors such as Wallace Ford and Jim Davis appear in smaller roles, giving this quite an incredible ensemble. Stanwyck's tough, slightly villainous femme fatale is an amazing characterization, and you can see why she was attracted to parts like this whether out in God's country or in the Asphalt Jungle. No other actress has defined what parts women really had in the old west than the great Barbara, and even in the weakest of these films, she made them so much more memorable.