The film’s big development lacks the character specifics that would have interjected it with a dramatic force, so the “twist” feels more like a pointless contortion that prolongs things for another 10 minutes or so.

None of the acting is definitely bad, but Randolph Scott, as the Bad Man who turns over a new leaf but afterwards rides away to a romantic death and leaves the woman he loves to a man who is worthier of her, gives the outstanding performance of the film.

This is an enjoyable, albeit old-fashioned western, that should please most genre enthusiasts while providing a look at how the story form developed in its earlier years.

Things pick up in the dark final third; there's a famous -- very Langian -- scene in which Scott, tied up with rope, escapes by holding his bonds over a real fire.