This is the story of Ben Matthews , a gambling man who followed his Luck...his Love and a killer's trail from the brawling river ports to the golden glitter of Antoines . Ben Matthews gives up the flashy and roguish life of a riverboat gambler, hoping to settle down in Galena with his sweetheart , a luscious entertainer , dancer and singer called Zoe Fontaine (Colleen Miller who sings and dances some wonderful songs) . But Galena's leading citizen is killed on the ¨Montana Queen¨ Riverboat . He flees from the riverboat to clear himself a murder charge . Ben, on arrival, finds a lynch mob after his neck, and flees one again . Ben , then , is wanted : dead or alive , for the murder of Matt Comfort (Minor Watson) . Three years of wandering later, Zoe's letters stop coming , Ben goes back to find her and along the way he meets a rogue gunslinger (Arthur Kennedy) . Both of them join forces against a malicious villain , the Andre Saloon's proprietor called
Andre Boucher (Peter van Eyck) . Lusty, Loving, Brawling days when Ben Matthews ruled the river with Rick, the thief to back his play...and a perfumed plaything named "Zoe" danced for love and a living! Down The Wide Missouri They Rolled...The Gamblers...The Gunfighters...The Gals In Satin And Silks! .They Risked Their Luck On A Turn Of A Card...Their Lives On The Draw Of A Gun!
An enjoyable but simple tale is almost rudimentary though full of clichés, as the monotonous script lines too often settle for crude routine ; however containing some surprising twists and turns . Suspense and tension builds over the time in which the rogue gambler Curtis is mercilessly pursued and the starring awaits to clear his name . It is a passable and agreeable Western , but little seen action film . The shootouts and chases are decently made , as the nasties shoot without remission and take on the sympathetic duo : Curtis and Kennedy . The highlights of the film are the facing off between Curtis and his enemies and the climatic showdown on the ending .Tony Curtis gives an acceptable acting -in his usual style- as Ben Matthews , a swindler who is wrongly accused for killing and he must find the real killer before the lynch mob finds him while attempting the hopeless task of clearing himself . His colleague and helper is nicely performed by Arthur Kennedy as a doublé-shaded and genial ruffian, delivering another of his competently done portrayals . Earl Fenton storyline from magnificent novella by Norman A Fox that gives many opportunities to score off one another .There stands out the great Tony Curtis , including his NY acccent . Curtis was hired by the powerful Universal Picture Studios, where Curtis was offered a seven-year contract. After changing his name to what he saw as an elegant, mysterious moniker--"Tony Curtis" (named after the novel Knight Adverse (1936) by Hervey Allen and a cousin of his named Janush Kertiz)--Curtis began making a name for himself by appearing in small, offbeat roles in small-budget productions. His first notable performance was a two-minute role in Criss cross (1949), with Burt Lancaster, in which he makes Lancaster jealous by dancing with Yvonne De Carlo. This offbeat role resulted in Curtis's being typecast as a heavy for the next few years, such as playing a gang member in City across the river (1949).Curtis continued to build up a show reel by accepting any paying job, acting in a number of bit-part roles for the next few years. It wasn't until late 1949 that he finally got the chance to demonstrate his acting flair, when he was cast in an important role in an action western, Sierra (1950). On the strength of his performance in that movie, Curtis was finally cast in a big-budget movie, Winchester 73 (1950). While he appears in that movie only very briefly, it was a chance for him to act alongside a Hollywood legend, James Stewart . As his career developed, Curtis wanted to act in movies that had social relevance, ones that would challenge audiences, so he began to appear in such movies as Espartacus (1960) and Fugitivos (1958). He was advised against appearing as the subordinate sidekick in Espartacus (1960), playing second fiddle to the equally famous Kirk Douglas. However, Curtis saw no problem with this because the two had recently acted together in dual leading roles in The Vikings (1958) . At the time Tony Curtis played a number of swashbucklers and adventure movies as Purple mask , The prince who was a thief , Son of Ali Baba . Tony Curtis is excellently accompanied by a top-notch support cast , such as : Peter van Eyck , William Demarest , William Gargan , Minor Watson and the usual baddie Robert J Wilke .
It displays an atmospheric and moving score by Herman Stein and Frank Skinner . Colorful cinematography in Universal style by director of photography Irving Glassberg . The motion picture was professionally directed by Rudolph Mate , keeping the flick at a lively pace .Polish-born (Cracovia) and passed away Beverly Hills (1964) Mate was an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund , director Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer . Dreyer was so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on The Passion of Joan of Arc . Mate is considered to be one of the best cameramen of cinema story . Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films, cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947 . Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive ,especially his sci-fi ¨When the worlds collide¨ (1951) , his labour as cameraman was excellent . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres as Adventures : ¨The Black Shield of Falworth¨ , ¨Seven Seas to Calais¨ , Western about themes of card players on riverboat as ¨The Mississipi gambler¨(1963) , ¨The rawhide years¨(1956) , about family conflict as ¨Thre violent people¨and about conflicts between Indians and cavalry as ¨In the siege at Red River¨(1954) and Noir films : ¨Union Station¨ , ¨Second chance¨ . He also directed Epic films as ¨The Barbarians¨ and ¨The 300 Spartans¨ . The films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic ¨DOA¨ (1950). ting : Passable , decente and acceptable , almost notable film 6,5/10 . Well worth watching .
