Backlash

A western set in Arizona. Jim is looking for his father. The man was killed in a raid a year ago and his body was never found. There were six men at the scene. Five died and one survived; the survivor also took the gold. Jim wants to find that man. He meets a woman on the road. Karyl lost her husband in the same incident and is looking for the same man. The two do not trust each other. They travel the same road and make separate calculations at every stop. From there the film is a story of tracking. A town, a bank record, a deed, a ranch and a name. The picture that emerges is not what was expected. Who betrayed whom in the raid and who really ran; the narrative opens it step by step. The identity of the man Jim is looking for is the turning point, and what he finds changes the reason for his search entirely. What the narrative is interested in is not revenge but inheritance: Jim learns who his father was, and what he learns includes him. Karyl is unusual for the period. She carries her own gun, makes her own decisions, and the narrative does not present her as a prize. There is a range war line as well. Two sides are fighting in the district and Jim falls into the middle of it unwillingly. Richard Widmark plays the part hard. The character is obsessed, coarse, and explains himself to nobody. It was shot in real locations in Arizona. The source is Frank Gruber's novel. Richard Widmark, Donna Reed, William Campbell and John McIntire are in the cast. John Sturges directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes 1950s westerns and genre films with psychological tension. Who it is not for: anyone looking for action; the narrative is mostly talk and tracking, with little gunplay.