Injured "Vanner" (Lew Ayres) arrives in a barn where he meets a priest. The holy man (Victory Jory) suggests he might be more comfortable in the house and upon arrival, listens to his rather complicated story. He used to work in the oilfields of Mexico when he apprehended a man he believed was implicated in a payroll robbery. The man was duly taken into custody but perished shortly thereafter. Though not responsible, "Vanner" is troubled. His engagement goes the way of the dodo and he quits his job, setting off for the small-holding home of the man's widow. Ostensibly just a homeless factotum, he meets "Ellen" (Teresa Wright) and her young son "Mike" (Jimmy Hunt) just as they have advertised for someone to help get their 300-odd head of cattle to market. Briefly, what now ensues is a sort of reversal of the "Shane" story, with she the distant and aloof character - a scenario that is only worsened when she declares that she knows who he is and forgiveness is far from her mind. Perhaps the solution is for them to work together as maybe just maybe, he got it wrong in the first place? This is actually quite a decent little thriller until the last fifteen minutes, which really don't make a great deal of sense at all and appear designed to maximise the dramatic conclusion rather than have the story add up. The acting and writing are all adequate and John Sturges keeps it moving along well enough - it's just that underwhelming denouement that really does let it down.
2023-11-11
