I noticed one reviewer gave this very standard western a 10. Well, I am not sure I saw what they did in the film, though it is, in my opinion, an agreeable film albeit filled with cliches and one incredibly dumb character.The film begins with some baddies deliberately halting a train out west. You learn later that some jerk-face is trying to prevent the trains from encroaching on stagecoach territory...a rather silly premise if you really think about it. Soon after this, some baddies attack the nearby sheriff and his rootin', tootin', butt-kicking daughter, Kit (Anne Baxter), immediately KNOWS that Johnny (Dan Dailey) is responsible...though HOW she came to this determination made no sense at all. And, through much of the film, she mistrusts him though there is no apparent logic to this. Can Johnny help Kit get the train through to the end of the line? Tune in and see...or not.As you noticed in my summary, I hated the character, Kit. She often seemed irrational and goofy...which is a shame as otherwise it's a decent film and Dailey has one of his better performances. A watchable time-passer in color...but otherwise a not particularly special film.

Tongue-in-cheek western that's better than it had any right to be. That's mainly because TCF went to the expense of filming in southwestern Colorado, arguably the state's most scenic part. Plus, the lead actors come through in vivid fashion—a charmingly affable Dan Dailey, a spunkily convincing Anne Baxter, and those two grand old grouches Walter Brennan and Will Wright. And shouldn't overlook Chief Yowlachie as the superbly deadpan Indian manikin. Then too, the story's just wacky enough to separate from the oater pack. Seems a new railroad has to get to Tomahawk to qualify for an exclusive contract. Trouble is this would cause the stage line to go belly-up, so guess who's sabotaging the rail line's effort. And that's along with hostile Indians and 40 miles of missing track. Good thing toughie Baxter's along with her gunslinging skills, along with a pack train of sturdy horses.I love dad Wright's effort at explaining the birds and the bees to his flummoxed daughter Baxter. Too often the actress over-emoted in her parts, but not here. She's near perfect as the thoroughly virginal tomboy, that is, until the winning Dailey teaches her how to "buss". I guess my only reservation is with the Indian attack. It's much too conventional for a movie like this, and should have been finessed in slightly humorous fashion. Looks like it might have been included as a concession to audiences expecting something more traditional. Anyway, catch Marilyn Monroe in the fluffy yellow outfit among the four dancers getting a brief musical number. Overall, the elements come together in generally delightful fashion, making the movie something of a minor sleeper, thanks mainly to TCF's handsome budgeting and an outstanding cast.

The main thrust of the story is that they use mules to drag a locomotive and a tender full of water across the desert. This would be impossible. The loco would weigh in at over 10 tons and the loaded tender at about 8 tons. The wheels would sink into the sand up to the axles and could not be towed. On top of that the front, pilot, wheels of the loco were not steerable nor was the wheels on the tender so they would not be able to pull the things straight, both would tend to veer off even if they could be moved. Still, the overall movie is fun and well worth watching. The musical numbers, and especially Dan Dailey, are very good.

A feel good, moderately entertaining western farce, along the lines of 'Calamity Jane' and 'Anne Get your Gun', but mostly lacking the musical aspects of these better known films of the same early '50s era. Actually, Anne Baxter(Kit) had played a rather similar tomboy with an itchy trigger finger a couple of years earlier , in the conventional western "Yellow Sky". It does feature the versatile and likable Dan Daily, who did star in quite a few lesser known musical comedy romances, perhaps most notably, several with Betty Grable. Dan plays a small time traveling salesman and con artist who journeys to a small town(Epitah) in western Colorado by train, on its maiden trip, with Walter Brennan as the engineer. Anne stars as the cute seemingly naive Calamity Jane-like granddaughter(Kit Dodge) of the town sheriff, who takes an immediate dislike toward Dan's character. Marilyn Monroe, in one of her early bit parts, is one of the show girls in a traveling troop, that happens to land in Epitah about the same time as Dan.One of those rare westerns actually shot, mostly, in the region it is scripted to be in(in the mountainous region near Durango, making use of the Denver and Rio Grande railway). The main plot involves the mostly botched attempts of the local stage line owner to sabotage the coming train line. The other significant aspect of the plot is the initial blatant hostility of Kit toward Dan's character, which gradually changes to an unlikely infatuation. True, Dan seems rootless and superficial, but he has seen much of the world, in contrast to Kit's lack of experience in the world beyond her little corner of Colorado. Included is a very strange parade-like train trip from Epitah to Tomahawk(both bogus town names for CO) with no rails for the first portion of the trip, the train being pulled by a team of horses, and the showgirls following in a stagecoach! Later, a war party of Arapahoes attack, stirred to action by the stage line owner. The Chinese train passenger plays a surprise role in finally scaring off the war party. Also, it's discovered that the chief used to be in a Wild West show with Dan! Thus, the remaining Arapahoes switch sides and help fight the would-be train saboteurs. There follows a stolen train and fight to reclaim the train. Dan is involved in the heroics, but the fleeing stage line owner appropriately is done in by a tomahawk. Dan and Kit have to decide whether they want to make their whirlwind association permanent. Be prepared for a 'surprise' flip flop. Evidently, Kit made good on her threat to give Dan a permanent limp to discourage his resumption of a wanderlust lifestyle!