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Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Director George Seaton's last film, an inert, tepid western about childhood pals and one-time cattle-ranch partners Dean Martin and Rock Hudson winding up on divergent paths: Martin joins a small gang of outlaws and robs a train near Bisbee while Hudson becomes sheriff of the neighboring community. Formula drama without any hint of suspense or even wayward humor. As soon as the crooked foursome robs the train, they split up over greed (with Dino taking control of the loot); Hudson hears about the robbery and immediately takes off on his horse, only to end up at his office sitting behind a desk. Nothing in Theodore Taylor's screenplay seems fresh or well thought out, and most of the dialogue is downright atrocious ("That hold-up was as slick as spit on a round doorknob!"). Hudson gives a little more energy than enervated Martin, but all in the cast seem to realize this is fatigued material. David Shire's score is a minor asset. *1/2 from ****

This film would have made a fairly good romantic triangle comedy in a more modern setting, but the western aspects of the film jar against the charming comic rivalry between Hudson and Dino for the female lead's attention. The early-'70s feel of the script didn't gel with the time period. Don't get me wrong, the banter and verbal sparring made me chuckle, but it is dialogue I would expect to take place in a Manhattan apartment between three urban sophisticates.Of course, Dean Martin's amiable charm elevates this, as it always does all his films, above what it would have been without him. Hudson struggles valiantly, but his is unable to muster the star power to compete with Martin's effortless performance playing himself again. Martin's sheer charisma forces everyone else to up their game, but at the same time mutes them in the face of his good-humored zest for life. One thinks that seeing a person playing essentially the same character again and again would become monotonous, but Martin never gets stale no matter how many times he mugs and smirks and breaks the fourth wall.The downer ending is a bit of a deal-breaker, as I'd have preferred Hudson or anybody else to have died than who did, but it is still worth checking out for Dino completists.

this is the last.western the dean martin and i believed what is very underrated. Dean martin now in duel acting with Rock Hudson, in other film of brothers in conflict. where dean is the star in this film. Rock Hudson is fine as opposite a dean. Respect to movie is very nice shots of scenario context to history. wonderful ambientation . very much suspense with elements what i don't view in others westerns in resume an western distinct in the style of Dean Martin what deserve more popularity with the public. this is a film lost in time and very difficult to watch for this reason. very little know in 1973 when its realized.

Though it breezes along at an amiable pace, there's really nothing special about this particular western. It has a lot of stuff that ends up being irrelevant, such as with the character of the sheriff's wife, and the multiple flashbacks. Though the technical side is professional, it resembles a made-for-TV movie of the time. Still, there is some interest here. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Hong Kong director John Woo saw this, because there are elements and themes here that can be found in his movies.