A superior B-picture dealing with a gunfighter accused of murdering his fiancee's brother . Jim Guthrie (Dana Andrews) is a fugitive who has been run out of town after being nearly lynched for the murder of a man he did not kill. As Guthrie is the Man With The Rope Scar on his neck . All but pulled to pieces by a small town lynch mob including many of his so-called friends . Framed for murder, he escaped for three years but returns to find the real killer. But Jim is back , and he feels himself betrayed . As Jim arrives in town and he meets his old flame Laurie Mastin (Donna Reed) who is married to another ex-friend .Then the would-be-lynchers , fearing that Guthrie will exact some kind of vendetta for their anti-social treatment to him , set out to get him before he gets them.
An interesting and moving Western with a suspenseful premise , as an accused gunslinger back in town and he wants to track down the real murderer , then to find him out ; who is the true killer ? .The picture neatly slots together the dual time frames , containing emotion , thrills , shootouts , fights and an intriguing whodunit . Enjoyable and thrilling screen play from Roy Huggins , Maxwell Shane, Richard Alan and based upon a story by Alex Gottlieb. Main and support cast are frankly good . Dana Andrews gives an acceptable and sober acting as Jim Guthrie who barely escapes lynching by the town mob, becoming a wanted fugitive , bearing the physical and mental scars of his experience, and subsequently determined to clear his name. This one results to be the best character , generating a strong sense of bitterness and pain at the speed with Dana Andrews feels himself double-crossed . Other players are pretty well , such as Donna Reed playing the pregnant girl he left behind who marries another man, and Diane Foster as the girl Andrews takes with him after the real killer has been identified and harshly dealt with . Adding other notorious secondaries as Carolyn Jones , Whit Bissell , Stephen Elliott , Richard Coogan , Francis McDonald , James Westerfield , Richard Webb , Charlotte Fletcher , among others .
It displays an atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr who photographed several Westerns . As well as evocative and adequate musical score by Paul Sawtell . The motion picture was well directed by Alfred L. Welker . This film was made from his last years , as Alfred L. Welker was working from the 30 in the business . He realized a catalogue of routine assignments broken by highlights including : The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 1935 and He walked by night 1949 the prototype serial-killer film noir , and a string of Western oaters . As Alfred Werker directed all kinds of genres : Drama , Film Noir , Adventures , sagebrush Westerns , such as : The Last Posse , Devil's canyon , Repeat Performance , Pirates of Monterrey , Whispering Ghosts , The Mad Martindales , Moon Over Her Shoulder , My Pal Wolf , Rebel in city , At Gunpoint , The Young Don't Cry , Canyon Crossroads and Sealed Cargo , a WWII Thriller that also starred Dana Andrews . Rating . 6.5/10 . Better than average Western . Worthwhile seeing .
