Jubal

This adaptation of Paul I Wellman's novel Jubal Troop is a fine work with a magnificent, grim performance from Glenn Ford as the eponymous drifter. But look closer and you'll recognise plot themes and motivations - yup, it's Othello out west, with Ernest Borgnine's rancher as the Moor and Rod Steiger cast in the Iago role. Loner Ford is loosely Cassio, and the suspense is stretched tightly as you long for Ford and Steiger to settle the score. Jubal works perfectly well if you have no knowledge of Shakespeare, but it certainly adds an extra layer of appreciation if you do. It's a brutal tale, well told by western maestro Delmer Daves and magnificently photographed (by Charles Lawton Jr) in the Grand Teton mountains of Wyoming.