Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan star together in this tale of the growing state of Montana, becoming a landowner, fighting for land, and making one's dreams into reality. It all sounds rather profound, important, or dramatic, doesn't it? Well, I probably make it sound more so than it really is. This is basically Indians vs. White Man, The Law vs. White Man Selling Ammunition to Indians, Indian Brother vs. Indian Brother, and Stanwyck vs. Reagan. The later sounds more interesting, doesn't it? Well, the viewer is led to believe that Reagan is hired as a gunslinger to get rid of Barbara when she won't leave "her" land, after White Man got Indians to raid her family settlement, which killed her father. They don't know Stanwyck. That only made her more determined to stay, and mad. Watch out! The presence of Stanwyck and Reagan elevates this otherwise generic film, which emphasizes the Indians too much in the first half. It does get better in its last 30 to 40 minutes with Stanwyck declaring war. But, there's too much of everyone's against everyone else and trying to keep up with who's on whose side and who's betraying whom, and the actors portraying the Indians slow down the film with their, to be frank, pretty lame acting. By the end of the film, you'll probably like it on the whole, due to the chemistry and flirting between Barbara and Ronnie and their being on the screen more together near the end of the film. But, you'll also wish they were in other better films than this.
Review of Cattle Queen of Montana
