La pasión de los fuertes

I'm not a huge fan of westerns, but the info on this from IMDb drew me to watch it when it showed up on American Movie Classics, and I was richly rewarded. This is truly a beautifully done film, and makes one understand John Ford's reputation in this genre. The understated Henry Fonda and the volcanic Victor Mature somehow work well against each other. The script is low-key and naturalistic, allowing the action to stand out. The cinematography is spectacular, both in the wide open panoramas and in the more intimate personal scenes. Interior lighting, in particular, is very skillfully used. Seeing Walter Brennan playing against type, makes one appreciate how much better an actor he was than in the amiable, doddering bumpkin roles he got so typecast in later on.

To use an overworked term, a classic.