I like Randolph Scott Westerns, but I am the first to admit they all were not gems. While I give this one 4 of 10, this is mostly because I like Scott and his acting--no matter how clichéd and sloppy the movie was.

First let's talk about sloppiness. This film had quite a few stunts that were lame compared to other Scott films. In one scene, Scott's brother is sitting in his wagon and shot three separate times when being cross-examined by the Baddie (Richard Boone). Yet, after Boone finally kills the man, then someone raises a pistol and fires it--at which point the horses THEN take off! Why didn't they run with the first three shots?! Then, when Scott chases down the runaway wagon, you can CLEARLY see the stuntman moving about--crouched down in the buckboard. But then, only a second later when Scott stops the wagon, the guy is splayed out--dead as a doornail!! Later, in the big obligatory confrontation scene between Scott and the Baddie, Scott doesn't even squeeze the trigger and no shot is fired (no flame shooting out the gun, no smoke, no kick--nothing) and then Boone falls dead!! There are also fight scenes where it's obvious that the people are NOT the actors--especially when a dark haired guy is standing in for silver haired Scott!! In addition to this sloppiness, scattered throughout town are obviously fake Saguaro cacti--they're the wrong color AND located in the most impossible places.

Now, as for the clichés, they abound. Once again, there is a rich guy who wants to own the town and hired a buttload (a standard unit of measurement out West) of gunmen. I have personally seen this same plot element in 1123745598 films (give or take a few) and am frankly sick of it--let's see some originality. In addition, there is a tender love scene between Scott and his lady friend just as they seem about to die--complete with lame dialog. In addition, there are several gun fights where the gunmen challenge the good guys. In addition, there is,...well, never mind--it was ALL a giant cliché.

A giant sloppy cliché with reliable old Randolph Scott in the lead. Without Scott, this one would barely merit a 3.