Len Merrick, a US marshal, and his two deputies rescue an elderly farmer named Timothy Keith from a lynch mob. Keith is something of a disreputable character and freely admits to being a cattle rustler, but the leader of the mob, a local rancher named Ned Roden, indignantly denies that he would seek to take a man's life for a few head of cattle. He believes that Keith is guilty of a much more serious crime, the murder of Roden's son Ed who has been found shot in the back. In view of the seriousness of the allegation against Keith, Merrick agrees to take him to Santa Loma to stand trial, but this does not satisfy Roden who wants to kill Keith with his own hands, not leave the task to the public hangman. The rest of the film tells the story of the journey to Santa Loma and of Keith's trial. Merrick and his deputies are pursued across the desert by Roden and his gang who are determined to administer their own brand of justice and who would have no compunction about killing Merrick in order to do so. Keith himself does not make the task any easier. Although he claims that he is innocent of the murder charge, he clearly does not believe that he can expect a fair trial in Santa Loma because he is continually trying either to escape or to persuade Merrick to set him free. He clearly does not realise that it is only the presence of the three lawmen which protects him from Roden's rough justice. Further complicating factors are the fact that Merrick is forced to take Roden's other son, Dan, as a hostage and the presence on the journey of Keith's beautiful daughter Ann. Merrick and Ann fall in love, but their romance is a difficult one because she believes passionately in her father's innocence whereas Merrick believes him to be guilty. This was Kirk Douglas's first Western. Although he was to make many films in this genre during his long career, few of the ones which I have seen really rank among his greatest, apart from the modern-day "Lonely Are the Brave" and, possibly, "Gunfight at the OK Corral". "Along the Great Divide" does not really qualify as a great film either. The plot is a complex one, and at times too much so for its own good. The whole romantic subplot between Merrick and Ann is one of the complications which could easily have been omitted, but the producers evidently wanted to see a pretty girl in what would otherwise have been an all-male film, and in the early fifties few young actresses were prettier than Virginia Mayo. Walter Brennan seemed to specialise in playing irritating old men, and here he makes Keith the sort of irritating old man that audiences would quite happily have seen hanged, if not for murder or for cattle-rustling then for being a general pain in the ass. This may not be a great film, but Douglas himself certainly gives an excellent performance. The film is a "psychological Western", one of a type which was becoming popular in the early fifties; in the next few years James Stewart was to make some great films of this type with director Anthony Mann such as "The Naked Spur" and "The Man from Laramie". Merrick is not a straightforward hero but a difficult, conflicted individual, torn by guilt following an incident in his past. His relationship with Keith is not eased by the fact that the old man reminds him of his father, with whom he also had a difficult relationship. His determination to save Keith from the lynch mob, even though he believes him to be guilty, is only partly due to a belief that any man, even an accused murderer, deserves the due process of law. It can also be seen as an attempt to confront his feelings of guilt and to make amends for the incident which gave rise to them. Douglas's performance gives the film a greater psychological and moral complexity than it might otherwise have had and lifts the film above the level of some of his more run-of-the-mill Westerns like "The Big Trees" or "The Indian Fighter". 7/10

A rustler about to be lynched for the murder of a rancher's son is saved by a US Marshall intent on taking him to trial. The father determines to exact justice and pursues them across the desert.This western has a great cast with Marshall Len Merrick played by Kirk Douglas, Timothy 'Pop' Keith (the rustler) portrayed by Walter Brennan and Virginia Mayo as his daughter, Ann. Also along for the ride are Ray Teal and John Agar as trusted deputies, and Morris Ankrum as the rancher. It's a fairly stilted affair with average performances but the story still rattles on apace and the scenery is magnificent. All in all, a perfectly watchable diversion.The question is, did Pop really kill the rancher's son. You'll reach your conclusion well before the end of the film but still enjoy watching the predictable story develop.

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 rancher's son.The plot gets off to a good start with a lynching interrupted by good guy Douglas, who saves the neck of WALTER BRENNAN from the hangman's noose. But the plot gets a bit too thick by the time we encounter Brennan'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 Brennan's fate.Despite the gorgeous outoor scenery filmed in crisp B&W, there'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.JOHN AGAR is decent enough as Douglas' ill-fated sidekick but it'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.VIRGINIA 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.It remains an average western despite the good cast.

The Marshall (Kirk Douglas) and his deputies come upon a lynching about to occur so they naturally stop it. However, the powerful rancher about to the hanging vows that the man MUST die or else. Well, despite being there being overwhelming odds against them, they vow to take the accused killer and cattle rustler to town to be tried in a court of law. Along the way, the accused (Walter Brennan) convinces the group to stop by his home overnight--a major hole in the plot, as I can't see any sane lawman willing to take such an unnecessary risk. Naturally, the guy's daughter (Virginia Mayo) tries to help him escape! Despite all this, eventually Douglas is able to get the man to town for the trial--though they barely make it. However, something doesn't feel right about the case. Brennan readily admits to the theft but there's an obvious (way too obvious if you ask me) alternate suspect in the killing.This is a decent western but there are a few plot points that didn't seem to work well. I already mentioned the stopping off at Brennan's house portion but there also was a back story about the death of Douglas' father that seemed forced and unnecessary--as did the budding romance between Douglas and Mayo which seemed more clichéd than anything else. Not a bad movie but not one that I'd heartily recommend--mostly because the real killer is way, way too obvious.