When I happened to come upon this film on TV, Constance Smith was on the screen. Immediately, I thought of Jean Peters because the resemblance was so great. I even thought she WAS Jean Peters, although the eye color and absence of the turned up tip of the nose gave me reason to doubt my initial impression. Lo and behold, who did I find was also in the film - Jean Peters! I did not see any reference in the film to the resemblance between the two, but I wonder if they were cast together because of this resemblance (admittedly, a subjective impression on my part). Perhaps there was an unstated implication that Jeffrey Hunter was attracted to Jean because of her resemblance to his "fiancee", played by Constance. In any event, a very good, if relatively unknown film, even as a remake of the generally more highly rated film it's derived from (with Walther Brennan in both!).

This is one of those very good technicolor 90 minute or so little gems made in the early 50s that is a mostly forgotten movie and it is sad....a very young Jeffrey Hunter and a very young vivacious Jean Peters star in a tale about a girl (Peters) and her father (Walter Brennan) who have been falsely accused of a murder and had to run from the law and hide in the Georgia swamps for years...waiting and waiting until someone could possibly come to find them and get them a fair trial. Enter Jeffrey Hunter who decides to take a fearful journey into the Okefenoke swamp, a place where neither man nor beast dared venture into to find his lost dog from a hunting trip. The swamp is loaded full of death traps, including plenty of gators, deadly snakes and other assorted beasts.....Hunter finally sets up camp in an area where Peters and Brennan have been hidden for years. A relationship develops between the trio and Hunter believes Brennan's story that he was falsely accused and tries to dig up enough money in fur pelts from various animals to help him fund a defense lawyer. Along the way a wily damsel who supposedly will marry Hunter becomes a jealous, sneaky woman and finds out about Hunter's real motives for continuing to keep venturing into the swamp. A love story ensues as Hunter and Peters fall in love...a very sweet and tender story follows and the real killers who had put Brennan into hiding get their due in a quicksand pit...one brother survives to tell the real truth and in the end of the movie Brennan is acquitted and Peters and Hunter ride off into the sunset. This is one little gem of a movie and should be released to video if Fox had any sense. Hunter and Peters very early in their careers make a handsome couple and the acting is very solid, led by the veteran Walter Brennan, who could handle just about any role. See this film if you can...watch for it on the Fox network on cable.

I saw this movie in original release and have always wanted to see it again. It is beautifully acted by the entire cast, especially Walter Brennan. As usual, he was always an asset to any movie. The setting of the swamp gave the movie adventure,suspense and beauty. This is one classic that should be restored to its original state.

Here is an unusual story about a girl and her father, who take refuge in the Georgia swamps as they try to evade a linching mob. The father (excellently played by Walter Brennan) had been wrongly accused of murder in a small neighboring town. The girl (who turns out to be the beautiful -and quite athletic - Jean Peters)grows up in the swamps, away from civilization, until a man (handsome Jeff Hunter) arrives at their campsite looking for his stray dog. Of course the two young actors eventually fall in love, but even this is believable and interwined into the action and adventure of this highly intersting film. Director Jean Negulesco offers us a well balanced and magnificently edited film that deals with prejudices and lies - which can be abundant in any small town. Very well acted by Peters, Hunter, et all...who award us with quite authentic southern accents, for a change.