Along the Great Divide (1951)

Along the Great Divide (1951). 1h 28m | Approved

“The heavy-handed script of ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE puts every possible obstacle in the way of a saintly sheriff (KIRK DOUGLAS) intent on bringing a suspected murderer to justice and away from the men who want to lynch him for killing a rancheru0026#39;s son.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot gets off to a good start with a lynching interrupted by good guy Douglas, who saves the neck of WALTER BRENNAN from the hangmanu0026#39;s noose. But the plot gets a bit too thick by the time we encounter Brennanu0026#39;s fiery daughter (VIRGINIA MAYO) and the bad men who want to stop Douglas and his party from reaching a town where a jury can decide Brennanu0026#39;s fate.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite the gorgeous outoor scenery filmed in crisp Bu0026amp;W, thereu0026#39;s a low-budget look to the night scenes filmed on indoor stage bound sets. Director Raoul Walsh keeps things moving, but the plot is so full of tiresome obstacles and shifting loyalties that the thirsty desert scenes seem to drag as the film nears its conclusion once the party has reached civilization.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJOHN AGAR is decent enough as Douglasu0026#39; ill-fated sidekick but itu0026#39;s JAMES ANDERSON as the no good son (brother of the man Brennan is supposed to have killed), who manages to steal scenes with his shifty manner as the villain of the piece. Too bad his career was cut short by his premature death at 48.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVIRGINIA MAYO is improbably cast and her romance with Douglas is strictly full of clichés as they fight incessantly over his intent on bringing her father to justice. The story is pretty routine and even though the running time is brief, the film runs out of steam before the party reaches its destination in a nearby village so that the finale seems anticlimactic.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt remains an average western despite the good cast.”