The Nevadan

Randolph Scott made his best westerns with director Budd Boetticher, but there's much to admire in this outing by the underrated Gordon Douglas (Them!, Robin and the 7 Hoods). Scott plays an undercover US Marshal who arranges for prisoner Forrest Tucker to escape so he can lead him to a stash of stolen gold. The trail leads to the settlement of Twin Forks, where avaricious rancher George Macready is waiting to pounce. Posing as a fugitive to gain Tucker's trust, Scott reveals a bristling toughness that contrasts with the square-jawed decency that appeals to Macready's daughter (played by Dorothy Malone in her non-blonde days). Tucker and Macready make slippery adversaries, while Jeff Corey and Frank Faylen offer comic relief as a pair of bickering outlaw brothers. Making evocative use of the landscape (the Cinecolor photography is outstanding), Douglas brings a noirish feel to the skulduggery, whether the muscular action's taking place on the plains, in the frontier town or the mine where Tucker has hidden his loot.