It takes the great Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s to drive Susan Hayward and her new husband along with their baby out of Ireland and having heard all about South Africa from the dashing Tyrone Power who had previously visited her father, they embark there.Of course, Hayward conveniently meets up with Power there and decides to get free territory there. How convenient that Sean, her husband, gets killed and Hayward is left to become impregnated by Power.Power, as the leader of the Free Dutch has no time for Hayward and she then falls for Richard Egan, the heavy in the film. Rita Moreno is as fiery as ever but is given little to say or do here. Her jealousy of competitor Hayward is from the moment she sees her.Power learns of his son and Egan, now as evil as they come, still wants Hayward.The lavish cinematography and endearing story make this one interesting film.

Some rugged pioneer adventurers, headed by TYRONE POWER, SUSAN HAYWARD, JOHN JUSTIN and RICHARD EGAN, end up in South Africa fighting Zulus after fleeing Ireland because of the potato famine. This is one of those big sprawling Technicolor epics designed to lure patrons away from their TV sets in the mid '50s to watch spectacular action unfold against handsome landscapes.Susan Hayward is the feisty Irish heroine who marries John Justin but has her eyes set on following her true love--Tyrone Power--to South Africa. When hubby Justin is killed in a Zulu attack, she sets her mind on winning Tyrone's hand in marriage. She has to cope with Richard Egan, who is also lusting after her. There's a very realistically staged fight with a bull whip between Power and Egan--and you know who wins. But the script has her mistreating both men, enough so to make you wonder what makes her tick. It's an oddly defined role.The story is a sprawling one and Henry King has directed some of it with his usual skill. The supporting cast includes HOPE EMERSON and AGNES MOOREHEAD, so obviously the studio treated this one as a big epic adventure story that would look handsomely rugged on the big screen.Hayward faces all her hardships in Scarlett O'Hara manner. "Then we'll plough and seed. And then we'll come back," she says at one point to Agnes Moorehead after the latest catastrophe. Tyrone Power spends much of his time off camera but you know he's going to be the hero who returns to help her begin a new life. She becomes a wealthy woman after bartering with a native for a hefty diamond, and meets Power again years later at the Governor's Ball. But she and Power have another stormy disagreement and the story goes on and on.It's basically an unrewarding mixture of adventure and romance with poor character motivations and a muddled script that lacks a strong focus. Hayward does some extravagant overacting as the ill-tempered heroine, Egan has the strongest male role and Power is totally wasted.

I was amazed that Katie (Susan Hayward) could be such a bitch - so self-centered, so arrogant, so unappreciative, and so willfully embroiling Paul (Tyrone Power) and Kurt (Richard Egan) in a contest over her affections - and not be justifiably rewarded, even a little, by film's end. She slaps Paul in the face, teases and flirts, then rejects, then accepts Kurt, all while being in love (?) with Paul. I found it most incredible that Paul could lower himself to the point of actually pursuing (let alone ending up with) her after she tells him that she'd married her husband and had a child with him, watched him die (without a twinge of emotion) defending her and the wagon train, and came to South Africa in the first place just so she could be near him, Paul! This woman is unscrupulous to the nth degree, and that she could avoid any degree of lasting hellfire, and could repeatedly twist the two male love interests (Paul and Kurt) around her little finger throughout the film, was wholly unsatisfying. Kurt was somewhat hotheaded, and I'd have expected him to come to the end he does. But Paul seemed more rational, and should have disassociated himself from this woman as soon as he got that slap - but didn't. Life may be unjust, but in the movies we expect to see villainy uncovered and subject to its own reward. Not only was Katie not so repaid, but the male leads looked stupid in the process for not seeing who and what she really was. Thumbs down, all around!

Everyone works hard to make this grand-scaled hokum as enjoyable as possible. As a redheaded Irish spitfire, Susan Hayward finally gets her chance to play Scarlett O'Hara, but packs all her chiffons and crinolines [with matching shoes and stockings] in a covered wagon and sets off to cross the veldt with wise Agnes Moorehead and a cast of thousands [well, hundreds]. She's chasing Tyrone Power across South Africa, although he's something of a stiff, but she also loves hearty Richard Egan. The script stuffs in everything from a fancy dress ball to an emergency amputation. Henry King directs it all with some intensity, especially a harrowing and spectacular Zulu attack, and uses the wide screen well to capture the spaciousness of the land. Should be seen on the big screen at least in letterbox].