By 1961 the Western Genre had Pretty-Much Shot its Load on the Big and Small Screen.
The Audience and the "Westerns" were in Need of a Well Deserved Rest.
However, Good-Things Die-Hard and While Declining Rapidly the American West Still had some Life and Given the Right Ingredients, for Example...
Sam Peckinpah's Eulogy to the Genre "Ride the High Country" (1962) is Considered a Masterpiece and One of the Best of All Time.
With the Exception of Sergio Leone Injecting some Foreign Blood into a Genre on Life-Support,
the Western was Dead in the Desert.
Director Robert Aldrich Admitted that for Various Reasons this Film Turned-Out to be a Misfire.
Despite the Corralling of Major Talent,
He is Quoted as Saying...
"the Set had a Feeling of Distracted Commitment",
and was Only Impressed with Rock Hudson's Professionalism.
More Soap than Most the Nucleus of the Movie is Romance with a Heavy-Touch of Off-Center Psychology,
that the Waning Production Code Allowed from Time-to-Time around This Time.
The "Western", Conservative by Nature, was Usually Void of Anything Smacking of Sexual Tension or Suspected Perverse Situations.
The Genre was Typically "American', quite Comfortable with Violence of All Kinds,
but Neurotic and Very Uneasy about Anything Sexual.
So this one's Use of the Sexual-Romance as the Driving Force,
Replaced the Driving Cattle as its Attraction was Not Well Received.
Mildly Interesting, but the Film Suffers from Stiff-Looking Wardrobes and Style,
and has a Hollywood-Look that Never Did the Genre any Favors Regarding Authenticity.
Worth a Watch with Low-Expectations
Note...in a bit of ironical trivia it was reported...that the cattle drive filming was interrupted often because the Bulls kept mounting the Cows. It is clear that the Production Code and the Audience were not ready to see in Wide-Screen and Technicolor, that type of "Cattle-Drive".
The Audience and the "Westerns" were in Need of a Well Deserved Rest.
However, Good-Things Die-Hard and While Declining Rapidly the American West Still had some Life and Given the Right Ingredients, for Example...
Sam Peckinpah's Eulogy to the Genre "Ride the High Country" (1962) is Considered a Masterpiece and One of the Best of All Time.
With the Exception of Sergio Leone Injecting some Foreign Blood into a Genre on Life-Support,
the Western was Dead in the Desert.
Director Robert Aldrich Admitted that for Various Reasons this Film Turned-Out to be a Misfire.
Despite the Corralling of Major Talent,
He is Quoted as Saying...
"the Set had a Feeling of Distracted Commitment",
and was Only Impressed with Rock Hudson's Professionalism.
More Soap than Most the Nucleus of the Movie is Romance with a Heavy-Touch of Off-Center Psychology,
that the Waning Production Code Allowed from Time-to-Time around This Time.
The "Western", Conservative by Nature, was Usually Void of Anything Smacking of Sexual Tension or Suspected Perverse Situations.
The Genre was Typically "American', quite Comfortable with Violence of All Kinds,
but Neurotic and Very Uneasy about Anything Sexual.
So this one's Use of the Sexual-Romance as the Driving Force,
Replaced the Driving Cattle as its Attraction was Not Well Received.
Mildly Interesting, but the Film Suffers from Stiff-Looking Wardrobes and Style,
and has a Hollywood-Look that Never Did the Genre any Favors Regarding Authenticity.
Worth a Watch with Low-Expectations
Note...in a bit of ironical trivia it was reported...that the cattle drive filming was interrupted often because the Bulls kept mounting the Cows. It is clear that the Production Code and the Audience were not ready to see in Wide-Screen and Technicolor, that type of "Cattle-Drive".