FILM REVIEWS

In this mediocre Western, directed by Stuart Heisler, Gary Cooper plays Melody Jones, a mild-mannered cowpoke, who drifts into a small town with his sidekick George Fury.

Innocently precipitating a situation in which, Jones is mistaken for notorious road agent Monte Jarrad, due to physical similarity and some dubious circumstantial evidence. The joke is that Jones can’t even handle a gun.

One thing leads to another and, eventually, Jones finds himself the unwitting and indirect cause of the slaying of the hold-up man.

As a result, he gets the latter’s girl, Cherry (Loretta Young, miscats), who is forced to make a quick decision and drills the gunman right between the eyes just as Jones is about to be killed by the outlaw.

The tale is tired and overly familiar, and unfortunately there’s no strong rapport between Cooper and Loretta Young.

Cast:

Gary Cooper (Melody Jones)
Loretta Young (Cherry de Longpre)
William Demarest (George Fury)
Dan Duryea (Monte Jarrad)
Frank Sully (cherry’s Brother)
Russell Simpson (Pop de Longpre)
Arthur Loft (Sheriff)
Willard Robertson (Luke Packard)
Don Costello (Gledhill)
Ray Teal (Kriendler)
Walter Sande (Ira Waggoner)
Lane Chandler (Boone)
Frank Cordell (Guard on Coach)
Lou Davis, Ed Randolph, Tommy Coates (Passengers on Coach)
Tony Roux (Old Mexican)
Erville Alderson (Bartender)
Paul Sutton (Man at Bar)
Herbert Heywood, Frank Hagney, Ralph Littlefield, Ernie Adams (Townsmen)
Lane Watson (Town Character)
Paul E. Burns (Small Man)
Chris Pin Martin (Store Proprietor)
Jack Baxley (Rancher on Street)
Doug Morrow (Rifleman)
Ralph Dunn (Cotton)
Geoffrey Ingham, John Merton, Tom Herbert (Card Players)
Charles Morton (Fat Card Player)
Lee Phelps (Deputy)
Billy Engle (Wagon Driver)
Bob Kortman, Frank McCarroll, Hank Bell, Chalky Williams (Posse)

Credits

A Cinema Artists Corp. Picture of International Pictures Production.
Released by RKO.
Director: Stuart Heisler.
Producer: Gary Cooper.
Scenarist: Nunnally Johnson.
Camera: Milton Krasner.
Musical Score: Arthur Lange, Hugo Friedhofer, Charles Maxwell.
Editor: Thomas Neff.
Editorial Supervision: Paul Weatherwax.
Production Designer: Wiard B. Ihnen.
Set Decorator: Julia Heron.
Recorders: Fred Lau, Arthur Johns.
Costumer: Walter Plunkett.
Makeup Artist: Gustav Norin.
Assistant Director: Art Black.
From an original story by Alan LeMay.