stevepb
Even though it's not great, Quinn's performance is memorable and he really looks - and plays - the part.I'm also intrigued by a couple of brief scenes in this film - a wide shot of a cavalry fort and the shot of mounted troopers riding out look awfully like they came from "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon". Did John Ford help the producers fill a couple of small gaps?Howard Keel looked much more at home in "Pagan Love Song".Robert Taylor looks like he wore his "Billy the Kid" duds again.It's difficult to find a good, crisp copy of the film, but worth the effort.
alexandre michel liberman (tmwest)
By keeping quiet, speaking only when necessary Robert Taylor as Rio gives one of his best performances. All through the film you try to guess what he is thinking. He was adopted by the mother of Esqueda (Anthony Quinn) and Quinn loves and respects him. The real surprise is Howard Keel, who only used to do musicals, coming out so well as King Cameron, a man who is obstinate about building a cattle empire. Cameron is married to Cordelia (Ava Gardner) and as soon as she arrives in a river boat, and they go to their ranch, trouble starts because it has been burnt by Esqueda. Why did Esqueda do it? Because he knows that if he allows anybody to do well in business in that area, others will come and eventually he, who is a bandit will have to run away or be hanged. Quinn is great as Esqueda, just that makes the film worth seeing. Taylor, who was the second man to Quinn in the gang, eventually leaves him to help Keel, because deep down he knows his brother is becoming a crazy monster and unconsciously he is in love with Ava. But when she kisses him, he slaps her because he knows it is wrong. He is a torn man, with all those feelings and not knowing exactly what to do about it. Excellent film, not to be missed.
mamalv
Robert Taylor thought this movie to be one of his worst! But years later it has come into favor, not only for the unique story line, but because of his performance of the outlaw Rio. He is so unhappy, so silent, so restrained, that when we see him falling in love with Ava Gardner, we almost can not believe it. Anthony Quinn gives a wonderful performance as the head of the gang, he is dirty, drunken, and vicious, the complete opposite of Rio. Esqueda (Quinn) wants to run off all the ranchers, because they bring with them law, and civilization. His time has come, and he knows it. When Howard Keel (Cameron) brings Ava (Dehlia)to his ranch to start a cattle kingdom, she becomes restless and lonely because at every turn, Esqueda burns and ravishes their home. Quinn sees the changes in Rio when he spots him longing, from a distance, after Dehlia. When Taylor is caught after a raid by Keel, he offers him a job, at which point he leaves Quinn, because he wants to be close to Ava. His character is very conflicted by loyalty to Quinn, and his love for Gardner. He knows that they will meet and one will kill the other. He stays anyway, and in the pursuit of horses, saves Keel's life, for which Keel feels vindicated, because he always felt that Rio had some good in him, not knowing that \ he is in love with his wife. He leaves the ranch for a business trip, and when Ava asks Rio to take her to Quinn, so she can plead with him for her new life, he takes her there. When she threatens Quinn, she only stops when he tells her if she kills him she will also be killing Rio, because the gang will take his life. When they return to the ranch, she confronts Rio about the real reason he is there, and in the encounter he asks her why she saved his life. She is so needy, and lonely that she tries to seduce Taylor, and kisses him with such a hunger, that you can feels her needs thru the screen. He rejects her, slapping her, and leaving the home, knowing that he loves her, but that he is no good for her, and that Keel is the right man for her. Esqueda goes on the rampage, and they have a final showdown, where they are both killed. It is quite sad to see Ava, so conflicted, so unsure, seeing Rio dead, and knowing that he did it for her. She asks Keel for forgiveness, and he tells her that he can forgive anything that she can forget. A very interesting portrayal by all. A truly overlooked western, years ahead of its time in the films that would follow. Films that came out of the new Hollywood, method actors, method films. This could really be called a "method western."
