Producer: Lamar Trotti. (Thanks to U.S. Department of the Interior and its National Parks Service for permission to film in Death Valley National Monument.) Copyright 21 December 1948 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York release at the Roxy: 1 February 1949. U.S. release: December 1948. U.K. release: 27 June 1949. Australian release: 12 May 1949. 8,819 feet. 98 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Six outlaws plan to rob an old prospector. Setting: an Arizona ghost town.COMMENT: Superbly photographed against some awesome and unusually striking natural locales, this western starts off on a high plane of excitement with lots of hard riding and running inserts, horses galloping thrillingly close to the camera (thanks, "Wild Bill" Wellman) and a spectacular stunt fall. Once the atmospherically derelict town of Yellow Sky is reached, however, the pace starts to flag - despite the appealing presence of Anne Baxter and the efforts of the support players. Peck's delivery is too slow, a fault compounded by the fact that his scenes seem overloaded with dialogue. Some of these scenes merely slow up the plot and require drastic trimming. Fortunately, Peck is a rough man in a fight and shows off to advantage in a rugged rough-and-tumble with Russell in which Wellman used no doubles.The climax restores one's faith in the action western and has some nice twists of plot.Widmark, as usual, is menacing enough as the heavy. Although James Barton is a too-garrulous old prospector, the other characters are tautly written and expertly played. (In fact "MASH" fans will probably be disappointed that Morgan's part is not lengthier and more in the foreground.)Wellman's deliberately-judged direction and MacDonald's stark black-and-white photography illumine this fascinating if small-scale and somewhat derivative western.P.S. Trotti and Burnett were given an award from the Writers Guild of America for the "Best Written American Western of 1949".

It is very easy to label an old film featuring well known, even great actors and made by an able director as a classic when it is far from it and Yellow River is it.The film is routine, confused and contradictory. Maybe if it was made in the 1960s during the era of the counterculture it would had made more sense.The film features a gang of bank robbers led by Gregory Peck who ride into a small town that has only Anne Baxter and her grandfather who have found and hid gold and are forced to share it with the gang but the gang soon turn on each other and Peck wants to do the decent thing with the two people whose lives they have entered. Its clear early on he is attracted to Baxter and sparks might fly.Of course the gang of bad men in a town with one beautiful cowgirl gives you an uneasy feeling especially as one of them has loathsome desires for her and is willing to force himself on Baxter. The others are cyphers but its Richard Widmark who is the only one to rival Peck who stands out as the one who wants the gold all for himself if it came to it and not happy that Peck wants to make sure that Baxter and her grandfather get their share of the gold.How some of the gang switch sides is unconvincing, even Peck's motives are unclear although it might be more to the fact that he is Gregory Peck so he cannot be a complete rotter.The film is a diversion, nice to see actors such as Widmark and Harry Morgan is early roles but it is below par and wrestling with the Hays Code did it no favours.

There's a problem with Stretch as a western hero. I don't mind the leading man being conflicted. Wayne, Scott and Stewart often were. But this guy's morality, up to the final scenes, only extends to being prepared to honor a deal to let his victims keep half their property. And he only decides on that after Granpa, for no good reason, has decided to save him from the apaches. It ends with two of his sidekicks, who in the previous scene were happy to attempt to murder Ann Baxter and her gramps for whatever gold they had, turning over a new leaf and handing back their ill gotten loot. For the other two this about turn makes no sense. And the only motive for Stretch seems to be his infatuation with Baxter

This Gregory Peck western from the 1940s took me by surprise. It could potentially be the epitome of its genre, touching on all the aspects they're known for in a powerful and subtle redemption story. Besides how the story touches on all those key poles for westerns, the highlight is the crisp cinematography. It perfectly captures the dusty desolate landscapes and it's frequently creative for its time, whereas even in one of Wellman's previous films, The Ox- Bow Incident, it was clearly a set. Yellow Sky is notable for inspiring the iconic shot from the James Bond series where the shot is the POV of a gun and Bond shoots. There's also a very interesting use of axial cuts and very quick pans.There's a big focus on this kind of powerful imagery, setting up a lot of foreshadowing in the opening act, including a scene where the group of robbers ponder a painting in a saloon which features an act comparable to their own as they question the point in attempting things which are doomed to fail. It's a quietly tense film with a steady pace throughout that makes its 90 minute runtime feel over 2 hours but in a very good way. Dense without being overwhelming. While the first robbery scene is quick and relaxed, what follows is a slow and horrible getaway which feels unusual for a pre-Leone and Peckinpah western. The second half is devoted to a conflict of desire for money and women with a very fascinating view of the anti-hero. It's one of those rare films where I feel a strong desire to study. Absolutely incredible.9/10