Cattle Queen of Montana

Despite promising credentials - not just Dwan and Stanwyck, but John Alton on camera - this RKO Western is pretty much a non-starter. The first half is efficient but predictable as Stanwyck and her dad (Ankrum), arriving in Montana after driving a herd up from Texas, are ambushed by a band of renegade Blackfeet secretly in the pay of a would-be cattle baron (Evans) who wants the land on which they plan to build a ranch. Befriended by the Blackfoot chief's college-educated son (Fuller) after her father is killed, Stanwyck stubbornly determines to stay put, though warned off by Evans' hired gunslinger (Reagan, obviously destined to turn good guy). Thereafter, the script starts going in circles, producing plenty of incident (mainly Evans trying to provoke an Indian war, Fuller stoutly fighting for peace) but losing any sense of dramatic progress. Though accused of being an Indian lover, Stanwyck naturally entertains no yearnings for her gallant Blackfoot, but settles for Reagan (working undercover for the army) in what must be one of the most perfunctory love affairs in Western history.