Interesting the wide range (no pun intended) of reviews here. As for me, I think it's a better-than-average Western (a genre that I rarely watch anymore), though clearly not one of the great Westerns. There are parts of the film, particularly early on, where there is a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor that is enjoyable.The story line is that after the Civil War, a rebel (Gary Cooper) is looking for revenge against a group of carpetbaggers who burned his family to death when they destroyed their Georgia plantation. Cooper meets up with Leif Erickson, an Eastern dandy who has somehow been appointed a federal marshal...even though he can't even shoot a gun. Cooper assumes the role of federal marshal, and Erickson becomes his deputy. Erickson is in love with a Mexican woman beautifully played by a lovely Ruth Roman...who of course then falls for Cooper. Nevertheless, Erickson comes to admire Cooper and gets him a pardon while they work together to bring an end to the carpetbaggers, headed by Raymond Massey. Gary Cooper is at the top of his form here playing the sort of anti-hero. Raymond Massey is nicely evil...as he often was in films. Leif Erickson -- never a favorite of mine -- is very good here, subtly playing a spurned lover who remains a mostly good guy.As I mentioned earlier, this is not one of the great Westerns, but it is darned good.

The Bland and Take No Chances Decade of the 1950's Announced itself with Things like this. It was Things like this that Inspired Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher to Reconsider the Western. This Movie is an Elite Effeminate Opposite of the Down and Dirty Wild West with its Dandy Costumes and Villains out of Central "Cliched" Casting from all of those B-Westerns.Just because it has an A-List Production and Gary Cooper in the Lead, don't expect anything Exceptional. In Fact, this is Unexceptional in just about every way. OK, there's the Color, Let's Give it that. But the Script is pure Corn Fritters, with Dialog that can Raise Howls, and Cowpoke Behavior Only Overlooked by the Kiddies.How about the Scene with the Cat? Or Perhaps, the "Exciting", Final Shootout that takes Place, wait for it, in a Living Room. In said Parlor, "Coop" carries on One of those Finale Contrived Conversations as He Belittles the Villain and Counts Down the Number of Bullets."Whadda ya want me to do, count three like in the Movies?"- Canino from "The Big Sleep" (1947).Silly, but Entertaining bit of Nonsense, but if You Like Your Westerns with some True Grit, Look Elsewhere.

Long before J.R. Ewing and some football cheerleaders made this Texas city popular, there was this colorful Warner Brothers western starring one of the greatest action heroes of Hollywood's golden age. Cooper plays a man wanted for arson who disguises himself as a marshal to unleash the real culprit. He convinces the actual marshal (Steve Cochran) to let him take over his identity and in the process, wins the love of Cochran's Mexican sweetheart (Ruth Roman). In going after the bad guys, he comes up against Dallas's most powerful citizen (Raymond Massey in a masterful performance) and taunts the bad guys in an explosive climax.If the idea of Ruth Roman playing a Mexican doesn't make you laugh (it seems that any dark haired beauty could be cast in Hispanic parts in this era) how about platinum blonde cult actress Barbara Payton as the wife of one of the bad guys and a group of actors who are supposed to play Texans but sound nothing like them? Two years before his Oscar Winning role in "High Noon", Cooper played a variation of the same role, and in studying the two films, you really can see the difference as to what makes a film tense ("High Noon's" clock is as much of a character as the human beings in the film, while "Dallas" has little or no tension at all) and what makes it simply routine. If it wasn't for the color photography or the presence of its cast (Cooper, Massey and Reed Hadley as Wild Bill Hickock), this could have drifted into the hundreds of "B" westerns of the time, entertaining in their own right but basically forgettable.

This is one of the most ridiculous westerns that Hollywood ever made. Gary Cooper plays 'Reb Hollister', a former confederate officer wanted by the law. He meets up with a moron named Weatherby, played by Leif Erickson, who is a U.S. Marshal with no knowledge of firearms. Weatherby is on his way to Dallas to see his fiancee, Tonia Robles, played by Ruth Roman. Senor Robles, Tonia's father, has plenty of men, but they can't seem to be able to keep an eye on his cattle, which are regularly rustled by the Marlow brothers. Will Marlow, played by Raymond Massey, has financed the loan on the Robles estate, making things completely absurd. He even has the power to call for mortgage payments before they're due, simply because he feels like it.Since Weatherby is a Boston boy who can't fight, since he only became a Marshal so he could visit his fiancee, Tonia, (Just another instance of more plot nonsense. Are we to assume that you only have to pass a written test to get this job? Wait a minute, this guy couldn't pass the written test either.) he switches identities with Reb Hollister, who of course is an expert gunman. Reb takes the liberty of greeting Weatherby's girl with a passionate kiss, while Weatherby looks on like an idiot. Gary Cooper, Hollywood's number one stud, is in fine form here as Reb. Before the movie's done, not only does he take Weatherby's job, he steals his fiancee also, and Ruth Roman as Tonia, falls for him so hard and so fast that she gives chump Leif Erickson the brush-off before the films little more than half over.There isn't a shred of plot credibility in the whole film, so despite the good cast and lush photography, the film is a dud. And Cooper's character is a complete heel to boot. The film also stars Barbara Payton as Brant Marlow's girl, a beautiful and talented actress who squandered away her chances, unfortunately, by making too many headlines for the wrong reasons. I strongly suggest you pass this one up.