WichitaI spent the whole movie wondering where I knew Joel McCrea from (answer:
Sullivan's Travels). He's such an everyman man, perfectly suited for the role and perfectly, ubiquitously anonymous. My apologies Mr. McCrea. I won't forget you again. I'm afraid I did the same thing with Vera Miles. I had to look up her bio afterwards to remind me that she's Laurie in
The Searchers. Two for two. I thought I was better at this than this! Lloyd Bridges was impossible to miss, nor was Jack Elam. Does that make up for my other misses? Not really, but I'm going to count them as such anyway.
I can see
Canyon Passage in this film, for sure. Some of the shots were rich texturally, such as this one! Look at the detail from the prop department!
This setup is used from different angles and distances for just a few scenes. It's impressive in it's completeness and makes me want to go camping.
The other
Canyon Passage trait is the casual brutal nature of the storytelling. I get lulled into a nice Western story and then everything goes sideways! The body count is vastly lower, but the style still throws me.
Overall I am satisfied with the film. It does everything a good Western should. Good story. Good conflict. Good Legend making.