Stevens achieves something remarkable here in its own right, and for what it lays the groundwork for in the future. There's a textured richness here that many old westerns lack. The clothes are worn in, battered. Wildlife roam, enmesh with the action, and give their unrehearsed life to scenes. In gorgeous technicolor, Stevens plays the camera, and especially with darkness, in unexpected ways for the time.
In line with this, darkness touches the film's thematic material as well. No, this…
