Bandito senza colpa

John Drew Barrymore (credited as John Barry Jr.) shows up at Basil Ruysdael's ranch in Big Bend country. He tells an ever-shifting story that evokes suspicion in Ruysdael, the cook, Chill Wills, and his elder daughter, Kristine Miller; only younger daughter Lois Butler believes him. When he tops it off by describing two men who caused a fuss at a party, Wills thinks he's telling ghost stories; he's describing two men he killed in a feud a decade and a half earlier. Evidence continues to pile up against him.

It's written and directed by Alan Le May, and I was struck by his use of using a doorway to frame people that reminded me instantly of John Wayne's exit at the end of THE SEARCHERS. The cinematographer is W. Howard Greene, an expert in Technicolor, although the lighting does not have the dramatic and color-filled skies of that movie.

Le May has written a marvelous story, filled with ambiguity and fine performances. The one exception is Barrymore, who seems rather futile and juvenile in the role. I expect Le May allowed the other performers to set their own interpretations, but Barrymore needed rather more. Still, it's visually arresting, filmed in Presidio County in Texas. Had it been from a more prestigious distributor than Eagle-Lion, it might be better known. With John Archer and Jack Elam.