La maîtresse de fer

Alan Ladd heads a fine cast in this film biography of Jim Bowie, a life that was marked by thrilling adventure and violence which ended at the Alamo. Bowie's travels take him to New Orleans where fate takes a hand and changes the course of his life and American history. A central figure in the film is a beautiful but vain and selfish Creole girl with whom Bowie is hopelessly smitten. This girl is responsible for the deaths of several men over a period of many years, because of duels, accidental killings or outright murders. Bowie himself is obliged to fight duels for various reasons and his expertise with a knife becomes legendary. His reputation, forged by the iron mistress, follows him like a shadow throughout his life as he tries to put the young woman and his violent past behind him. The film has beautiful color, lavish sets and Max Steiner's brooding music score.