Directed by Anthony Mann

Based on the novel Bend of the Snake by William Gulick; this is fairly typical ?goodies and baddies/shoot ?em up? western stuff that follows the trials and tribulations of a wagon train of new settlers led by Glen McLintock (Jimmy Stewart) to Oregon around 1880. During their early travels from Missouri, McLintock comes across an attempted lynching, and saves the life of the shady Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy). Reaching Portland after a journey that included a run-in with a small band of Shoshone Indians the party decides to take a steamer up north to new territory for the taking, leaving Cole behind. Having not received expected supplies, McLintock and Jeremy Baile, the head of the settlers return to Portland to find that the once peaceful town has become lawless due to the discovery of gold. McLintock takes the law into his own hands and decides to take the supplies back to the pioneers? settlement, much to the chagrin of Tom Hendricks, the Oregon equivalent of Shylock. Cole and Trey Wilson (Rock Hudson) who have been working at Hendricks?s saloon help get McLintock out of immediate trouble.

The mood changes dramatically - and the reason for the film finally emerges - as Cole, Wilson, and the hired hands rebel against McLintock and Baile, and commandeer the settlers? supplies to sell to the local mining camp for a very healthy profit. They leave McLintock battered and beaten and take Bale and his daughter as pseudo hostages. The last 20 or so minutes of the film involve McLintock?s one-man battle against the ?baddies?, and a climactic hand-to-hand showdown between McLintock and Cole.

I?ve got to say that the plotline is a trifle messy and confusing at times - apart from the ever-reliable McLintock and Baile; the other cast members perform more back flips in allegiances than a Liberal cabinet; and Jimmy?s character of McLintock hides a dark secret that is neither fully developed, logically explained, nor fully resolved.

The cast is reasonably good with the standouts being Stewart, Kennedy and Hudson; though the film will not necessarily be remembered for any particular performance. The dialogue is reasonably convincing in a muddy storyline, but the stereotyping of the ?token? African-American performers is appalling.

For a top-notch gunslinger, Cole has a lot to learn about finding his holster (trivial, yet interesting little blunders about 4 and 67 minutes into the film).

Footnote: it seems to be an increasing trend for movies to lose their end credits on DVD packages, and this one is no different. This is most easily determined by noting the length of the feature as compared to its theatrical duration. For those viewers like myself who like (or need) to identify particular characters or performers, this is both disappointing and annoying.

THE EXTRAS

There are none, apart from chapter and language menus.

CONCLUSION

The colour is magnificent, and the cast is generally good; but the storyline is a little confusing and the film overall is little beyond passable.