This is basically nirvana for classic noir fans looking to watch a western. When I first watched it as part of Film Noir of the Week I hated it! But streaming it last night it was a hot cocoa on a cold night. Every cut away featured another actor from film noir. Jane Greer! Raymond Burr! Agnes Moorehead! Regis Toomey! and on and on...

The exteriors shot at Sedona have amazing rock formations that are a marvel even in black and white.

As nice as the exteriors are when Dick Powell enters the local saloon. The tiny exterior on the street doesn't match the HUGE interior. 20 foot tall ceilings. Endless space with a grand staircase upstairs to the second floor. It's insane that a little small town saloon would look like this... especially from the outside. Worth a laugh just to check that out. And Powell is always pouring or ordering drinks everywhere but not finishing them. He orders Champaign when he delivers bad news to Greer. It.makes.no.sense for him to do that. And to call the bartender that wanders over to clean a table 'waiter' kills me. Powell maybe forget he's in a western?

The plot is actually a pretty good story. I'm watching this as part of the Criterion Channel's Western Noir collection. Basically westerns were still being cranked out but in the 40s they became more serious and less for 10-year-old boys -- while all the time keeping all the trappings of silly 30s westerns.

Burl Ives is in it but for my generation he'll always be a singing snowman. He literally plays the same guy here much to my amusement.

One final thought, like the RKO Blood on the Moon that featured a rosey-cheeked cherub Robert Mitchum, this poster is just wayyy tooo happy. This isn't a romantic comedy musical. Ugh RKO poster makers. You've done it again.