Excellent western. Kirk Douglas (in his first western) plays a law man
who, along with his two deputies, come upon a man (Walter Brennan) about to get
lynched. Kirk rescues the guy and hears from the lynching party that he's
guilty of murder. Kirk reminds them that it's not up to them to take the
law into their own hands and he's gonna take the accused man into town for a
fair trial. Easier said than done cause the town is a long way off and the
men from the lynching party are hellbent on killing this dude. Added to
the direct threat of getting shot by the men trailing them, Douglas has to deal
with the psychological warfare being dealt out by the accused man (and his
daughter Virginia Mayo) who will do anything to free him including turning
Kirk's own deputies against him.
I don't know what the earliest example of the "transporting-the-prisoner"
sub-genre is, but this does a great job of it. Quick pace, top-notch
acting, well-written script, beautiful desert scenery, good camerawork.
Overall ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE is a solid film. Recommended.
Double-feature with
THE NAKED SPUR.
