PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT read this review if you plan to see the movie!! Once again Marie Windsor's star shines brightly and makes one wonder why she never got "A" movie leading roles. Her co-star (despite his top billing, still the "co" star), Bill Elliott, is also excellent as a reformed gunslinger who becomes a very effective and persuasive advocate for following the Lord's Path after a preacher takes a bullet headed his way.
Windsor; who it should be noted was sort of a cowgirl who grew up in Utah; plays "Doll Brown", a female outlaw who was mistreated and brutalized early in life. She is obsessed with finding her long lost younger sister and taking revenge on those who wronged her in the past. The movie starts with her gunning down a man who it is implied (but not overtly stated) sexually abused her as a teenager. The film is pretty raw for it's time. The places she searches for her sister are clearly brothels rather than the "dance halls" depicted in most old Westerns.
Elliott takes her under his wing even though she at first resists his friendship and even threatens him. Their discussions and interactions are quite touching and uncommonly deep for a Western. The movie becomes somewhat disjointed and even a bit silly towards the end. But I certainly didn't mind seeing Windsor change from cowboy duds to a skimpy saloon girl outfit with what really looks like an embroidered Mound of Venus in the crotch area! Yippee Yi Yo Kayay!!! Just as the film seems to be lightening up, and Doll appears to be on the verge of changing for the better, Grim Reality returns and she is shot in the back by her victim's brothers while reading the Bible. The film closes with Elliott embracing Doll and continuing her Bible reading. Doll is still conscious at the fade out, but it is strongly suggested---especially since the reading is from the 23rd Psalm---that only her soul is saved. A harp and wings perhaps, but no Little House on the Prairie. Very sad. A truly superior, off beat movie that deserves much more recognition than it's gotten. Just like the star.
Windsor; who it should be noted was sort of a cowgirl who grew up in Utah; plays "Doll Brown", a female outlaw who was mistreated and brutalized early in life. She is obsessed with finding her long lost younger sister and taking revenge on those who wronged her in the past. The movie starts with her gunning down a man who it is implied (but not overtly stated) sexually abused her as a teenager. The film is pretty raw for it's time. The places she searches for her sister are clearly brothels rather than the "dance halls" depicted in most old Westerns.
Elliott takes her under his wing even though she at first resists his friendship and even threatens him. Their discussions and interactions are quite touching and uncommonly deep for a Western. The movie becomes somewhat disjointed and even a bit silly towards the end. But I certainly didn't mind seeing Windsor change from cowboy duds to a skimpy saloon girl outfit with what really looks like an embroidered Mound of Venus in the crotch area! Yippee Yi Yo Kayay!!! Just as the film seems to be lightening up, and Doll appears to be on the verge of changing for the better, Grim Reality returns and she is shot in the back by her victim's brothers while reading the Bible. The film closes with Elliott embracing Doll and continuing her Bible reading. Doll is still conscious at the fade out, but it is strongly suggested---especially since the reading is from the 23rd Psalm---that only her soul is saved. A harp and wings perhaps, but no Little House on the Prairie. Very sad. A truly superior, off beat movie that deserves much more recognition than it's gotten. Just like the star.