This movie travels such well-worn ground that -- despite the best efforts of the actors -- the stereotypes and plot clichés leave you wondering if the script writer or novelist should be sued for plagiarism. Jack Schaefer did this all (and better) in Shane.
We have the same stand off between cattle rancher and homesteader
We have the same relationship between the stranger/gunfighter and the homesteader's boy.
We have the same journey into town and the boy witnessing a set piece between an aggressive cattle hand and the reluctant gunslinger.
We have the same romantic interest between the homesteader's wife and the stranger (only this time the farmer is conveniently out of the picture so the tension built up in Shane is absent).
The second stolen plot is from High Noon: We have the same good guy with the gun facing down the bad guys on his own with a pacifist wife objecting to the confrontation.
We have the same good women who repents of her passive ways just in time to save her man -- having apparently just won the shoot out against superior numbers -- from a sneaky shot in the back.
I could go on . . .
the plot departures from these two great stories, rather than being a relief, are almost universally annoying. Most noteworthy are the miraculous recoveries from bullet wounds by the main characters so that love will prevail.
We have the same stand off between cattle rancher and homesteader
We have the same relationship between the stranger/gunfighter and the homesteader's boy.
We have the same journey into town and the boy witnessing a set piece between an aggressive cattle hand and the reluctant gunslinger.
We have the same romantic interest between the homesteader's wife and the stranger (only this time the farmer is conveniently out of the picture so the tension built up in Shane is absent).
The second stolen plot is from High Noon: We have the same good guy with the gun facing down the bad guys on his own with a pacifist wife objecting to the confrontation.
We have the same good women who repents of her passive ways just in time to save her man -- having apparently just won the shoot out against superior numbers -- from a sneaky shot in the back.
I could go on . . .
the plot departures from these two great stories, rather than being a relief, are almost universally annoying. Most noteworthy are the miraculous recoveries from bullet wounds by the main characters so that love will prevail.