This is a troubling and ingenious story set in the New Mexico territories (i.e. before it was a state) at the turn of the 19th century. It is thus a kind of film noir set in the past and out in the wilds of the West. But there are no 'cowboys and Indians'. Robert Mitchum stars as Jeb Rand, a young man whom mysterious people have always been trying to kill. He was saved when he was six by his adoptive 'Ma', Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson), after a massacre at his parents' isolated cabin 'up in the Butte country'. Mitchum has blacked out the recollections of how his mother, father, sister and brother were all killed by a gang of terrifying men, or what the reason for it all was. He was not meant to survive, but his new 'Ma' pulled him from a hiding place, fled with him and raised him as her own son, along with her real son and daughter. The daughter is played by winsome Theresa Wright, but unlike most of her 'good girl' parts, she is permitted a huge acting range in this film and goes through extreme character changes very convincingly indeed. When she is in her murderous 'hate phase', she is very scary. Mitchum also does some acting for a change, unlike most of his roles where he is just himself. These miracles of thespianism must all have been brought about by Raoul Walsh, the director, who coaxed Mitchum and Wright into territory as unfamiliar, perhaps, as New Mexico itself. Theresa Wright was always a most congenial screen presence and, like Bonita Granville, brought a great deal of normality and good character to a screen full of, let's face it, pretty weird people. It is not for nothing that actresses like Theresa Wright were referred to as 'girl next door types', since we all secretly wished we really had such girls next door. The villain in this film is played by Dean Jagger. He plays a well-mannered man, skilled in all the social niceties, who after smiling at you will without any fuss at all pull out a gun and shoot you dead, then go back to filing his fingernails. Jagger was always good at playing such characters, namely sophisticated psychopaths. He would have made a good 'world leader'. I don't know why he reminds me of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, it must just be my imagination. Anyway, this film is really very good because the mystery of why 'they' are after poor, uncomprehending Robert Mitchum, continues all the way through and right up to the very end of the film. We keep wondering who and especially we wonder why. For once, someone's paranoid fears are shown to be justified. That must give comfort of a kind to us all. These days, of course, it is the IRS, but back then it was humans rather than humanoids who were the threat. The film also has a powerful continuing love story, namely the love between Mitchum and his adoptive sister Theresa Wright, whom he wishes to marry. Judith Anderson plays 'Ma' with grim jaw and a determination to forget the past. But the past catches up with everyone, and it has to be faced, even by her. Finally, at the end, we find out what it is all about, but not until we have run out of ideas of our own as to what can possibly have motivated the relentless vendetta.

This brooding Western melodrama introduced Sigmund Freud to the wild frontier. Young Robert Mitchum, looking very much the leading man with his dimpled chin and enigmatic smile, plays a troubled, nightmare-plagued orphan raised from early childhood on the secluded ranch of a stern but loving widow. His sister loves him; his brother hates him; and his foster mother tries in vain to shield him from the dark secrets of his past, and from a one-armed gunman who will stop at nothing to see him dead. What sounds in outline like a pretentious hybrid of mismatched genres is packed with improbable (but entertaining) incident, and was photographed in menacing high-contrast black and white by ace cinematographer James Wong Howe.

Described in my TV film guide as a noir Western, I'm not about to argue. Unlike more typical director Raoul Walsh fare this western is far less about rollicking action than psychological drama and is thus a refreshing change from the norm.That said, Robert Mitchum's about the last person you'd think of being traumatised by childhood nightmares that dog him into adulthood, but elsewhere we get all his usual "ics" - laconic, sardonic, ironic and of course ultimately iconic. The story probably has too many twists and turns for its own good, with Bob's on-off again romance with Teresa Wright, she less convincing in her star-crossed lover role, hard to believe at the best of times. I also couldn't quite swallow badman Cullan's all-powering motive to wipe out every member of Mitchum's family, himself being the last survivor, while the reveal-all conclusion is over and done with too quickly and doesn't really deserve its build up.I've always been a sucker, mind you, for the then in-vogue use of dollar-book Freud stuff as Orson Welles once described it and other noir conventions like the use of flashback sequences and the persistence of fate are present and correct enhanced by a moodily effective Max Steiner score. No one else in the cast has Mitchum's charisma, but the debut turn by Mitchum's brother is well done and an effective counterweight to Bob's work. Best of all though is James Wong Howe's marvellous photography with wonderful deep perspective interiors and some exceptional night work, particularly the scene where Mitchum is drawn into the fatal gun-fight with his "brother".There's much to savour then, even if the weakest element is probably the story itself which is really just a typical noir plot backdated to the turn of the century.

Moody film noir from director Raoul Walsh has young boy left orphaned by a bloodthirsty band of killers, who dog the boy's trail even after he grows up into Robert Mitchum (seems to me that's the point where they might have given up stalking him). Mitchum smolders, as usual, though his character here is just a thumbnail sketch, and the melodrama inherent in this scenario is far beneath him. Judith Anderson fares a bit better playing the boy's elderly but wise guardian (a clichéd part, but invested with a salty kick by the actress). Lackluster film co-starring Teresa Wright and Dean Jagger just doesn't hold much interest, despite good cinematography by James Wong Howe and an atmospheric score by Max Steiner, top talents all around. *1/2 from ****