Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

mark.waltz Episodic and often boring, this Western saga of ambition, greed, lust and betrayal lacks in strong character development and passion. Don Murray, on the quick rise after "Bus Stop", seemed to fall off a mountain cliff with this one, playing an ambitious cowboy who longs to make something of himself but seems more like an over ambitious kid with the drive but not the dream. He creates an instant enemy in more mature rancher Richard Egan, gets a loan from alleged town bad girl Lee Remick, betrays her by marrying banker's niece Patricia Owens, and in spite of maturing, still seems to be a boy playing a man's game as he takes interest in local politics. Along the way, his actions bring on a wave of violence in his Montana community, but in 90 minutes, there's nothing but snippets of situations, and many plot related questions go unanswered.I'm sure this looked gorgeous on the big screen, but it's a huge emotionally empty mess when viewed. Perhaps the mistake is in the editing, as there seems to be chunks of important plot missing. That makes the characters rather undeveloped and weakens the overall impact and their performances. I read that Lee Remick considered this her weakest film, ironic considering that she's the most interesting character in the film. Richard Egan, so noble in the same year's "A Summer Place", plays an absolutely despicable character here, but then again, Murray's character isn't all that likable either. In the wake of other epic westerns with much soap opera as part of their plot, this one is perhaps the most banal, and even with a catchy theme song and musical score, is as empty as they come.

jjnxn-1 Average western with advantage of good cast. Don Murray is okay in the lead, he never really had that elusive something to be a great movie star but is a fine actor but a more magnetic actor, Robert Mitchum or Burt Lancaster for example would have raised the film up a notch. The supporting cast is full of familiar faces that all provide excellent work, the real standout is Lee Remick who offers up a delicately shaded performance of a girl whose life has been full of bad breaks and hard luck. It a shame her part is relatively small since she's the most compelling character and actor in the film. The color and cinematography are also noteworthy. Not a bad movie just not great.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This is the story of a cowboy Lat Evans (Don Murray) driven by blind ambition who is not fair to the woman who loves him and helped him (Lee Remick) and his best friend who saved his life (Stuart Whitman). Richard Egan has a good performance as the villain, who is also after Remick but treats her badly. Murray's attitude in relation to Remick and Whitman is so cruel and shocking that even when he tries to redeem himself you are not convinced that he has suffered enough. When the film starts you look at Murray like a standard western hero, and the fact that when the film ends it still tries to make you believe Murray is a good guy who paid for his sins, leaves the spectator with a feeling something is missing. I liked the film, but did not like the ending.

timothy-5 I do agree with the other user's comments. While it was a treat to see the lush cinematography and beautiful landscape, two lovely redhead girls, and a behind-the-scenes look at a bygone era, this is one of those movies that leaves too much up in the air. You wonder whether Callie will be found not guilty at her trial, or whether the fistfight or Lat's seeing Callie will result in a hindrance to his professional or personal life. The film was OK as far as it went, but the filmed seemed to end halfway through.