It's one of those overlooked great films that somehow slips under the radar, in this case probably because it's unique as a Western.

At first, Joe Sam(Carl Switzwer), an elderly Indian, is the only one to hear it. After he wakes up the Bridges brothers, Curt(Robwert Mitchum), Harold(Tab Hunter) and Arthur(William Hopper), they also hear what might be a big cat threatening the family's cattle and is maybe even the mythical black panther that Joe Sam has alluded to on occasion over the years. At the very least, Curt and Arthur go out into the snow to see what they can find which gives their mother(Beulah Bondi) plenty of time to harangue Harold on his upcoming engagement to Gwen(Diana Lynn), the paid companion to Grace(Teresa Wright), who like her brothers is also unmarried. First, "Track of the Cat" is something of an odd duck in trying to turn its typical western premise of man versus nature on its head. And I would agree with anybody who says that this movie is meant mostly to be allegorical about the closing of the frontier in favor of settling down into a life of domesticity. But ignoring the hunt in favor of the household squabbles is a mistake, as anything Robert Mitchum does in general, much less in the stark white landscape, is much more interesting than anything going on inside the house where the primary lesson is to always find plenty of places to hide your booze.