Belle: To me, it always seems like it's the women who keep on living. Men kill or get killed and women bury them. We're professional survivors.
Kirk Douglas plays a gunslinger Brendan O'Malley who runs into an old lover Belle Breckenridge (Dorothy Malone) while being pursued by Texas lawman Dana Stribling (Rock
Hudson), a relentless sheriff who seeks revenge for the loss of his sister and brother-in-law.
Meanwhile Belle has since re-married to alcoholic rancher, John Breckenridge (Joseph Cotten) who hires O'Malley on a grueling cattle drive to Texas. Sheriff Stribling decides to tag along to keep an eye on O'Malley but soon he too falls for O'Malley old love. Things become even more complicated when Belle's daughter Missy (Carol Lynley) begins to fall for O'Malley. Carol Linley does very well as Missy, making a great transition from gawky kid to radiant woman while Douglas is charming but ruthless and looks devilishly attractive dressed in all over black.
It`s a typical western recommended for those macho guys who will enjoy the cattle drive, fist-fights, gunfights, run-ins with the Indians and outlaws, and there is a love story interwoven which us ladies would find fascinating.
November 17, 2011
