This fine, moody Western was one of a handful of efforts – heralded, incidentally, by the same director’s THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) – which elevated the form and led the genre into its most popular (and prolific) era.

Superbly shot in crisp black-and-white by Joe MacDonald, the film makes the most of its stark location (Death Valley) and terse plot – following a robbery, a band of outlaws eludes the pursuing posse by crossing the desert and finally hitting the titular ghost town (where the only inhabitants are a grizzled prospector and his tomboyish, gun-toting half-breed niece). The cast is headed by relatively new stars of the era – Gregory Peck (in only his second Western), Anne Baxter (she had just won a Supporting Oscar for THE RAZOR’S EDGE [1946]) and Richard Widmark (this was his first of many genre outings, having only debuted a year previously) – which allowed an agreeably fresh and remarkably mature outlook on familiar themes (a small group of people fighting the elements, and themselves over lust and greed).

Though Widmark is surprisingly off-screen for long periods of time (and, consequently, tends to be overshadowed by his co-stars), this still emerges as perhaps the most satisfying among the Westerns he appeared in. For the record, he would play variations on his role here in both GARDEN OF EVIL (1954) and THE LAW AND JAKE WADE (1958); incidentally, I have two more Westerns of his lined up for this week – the former among them (see below) – as part of my tribute to the recently deceased actor. With YELLOW SKY, Peck followed his roguish turn in DUEL IN THE SUN (1946): the character is eventually revealed to be an upstanding person – an intrinsic part of the star’s on-screen persona, which he could play against effectively but did so only occasionally – forced into a life of crime by circumstances. Naturally, the gang subsequently turns on Peck for not wanting to keep all the gold to themselves – and he holes himself up in Baxter and her grandfather’s house, under siege from his former companions! Baxter, then, has been raised in a tough environment where she can practically overcome any obstacle despite her young age and sex: in fact, even more than the outlaws’ intrusion on the life she knew and the property that was rightfully hers, Baxter fears her personal reaction to them (finding herself especially drawn to Peck, who arouses her dormant feminine instincts!).

The film was adapted by Lamar Trotti (who also produced) from a novel by W.R. Burnett, an author more usually associated with gangster/noir pictures and, in fact, as can also be seen from the colorful character names here – Stretch (Peck), Dude (Widmark), Lengthy (dastardly John Russell), Half-Pint (diminutive Henry Morgan), the youthful Bull-Run, the cheerfully heavy-set Walrus, etc. – the narrative could very easily be tailored to that particular milieu. That said, when it was actually remade – in 1967 under the title THE JACKALS, and atypically featuring horror icon Vincent Price in the role of the prospector (by the way, I’ll be watching this version presently since I came across it as a rental) – it retained the Western ambiance, albeit with a difference (which I’ll discuss in that film’s own review).

At the end of the day, I’d say that YELLOW SKY is pretty much essential fare (beautifully handled by the practiced and versatile Wellman – highlighted by a three-way shoot-out which audaciously takes place in a darkened bar-room, and off-screen to boot!). Even so, the film seems to me to be relatively undervalued within the pantheon of the genre itself: for instance, it doesn’t rate as highly as Peck’s three most prestigious Western titles (the afore-mentioned “super production” DUEL IN THE SUN – elaborate, garish but overpowering, the no less grandiose and star-studded THE BIG COUNTRY [1958], and the intimate but psychologically-dense THE GUNFIGHTER [1950] – of which a second viewing is truly in order!).

It is very easy to label an old film featuring well known, even great actors and made by an able director as a classic when it is far from it and Yellow River is it.

The film is routine, confused and contradictory. Maybe if it was made in the 1960s during the era of the counterculture it would had made more sense.

The film features a gang of bank robbers led by Gregory Peck who ride into a small town that has only Anne Baxter and her grandfather who have found and hid gold and are forced to share it with the gang but the gang soon turn on each other and Peck wants to do the decent thing with the two people whose lives they have entered. Its clear early on he is attracted to Baxter and sparks might fly.

Of course the gang of bad men in a town with one beautiful cowgirl gives you an uneasy feeling especially as one of them has loathsome desires for her and is willing to force himself on Baxter. The others are cyphers but its Richard Widmark who is the only one to rival Peck who stands out as the one who wants the gold all for himself if it came to it and not happy that Peck wants to make sure that Baxter and her grandfather get their share of the gold.

How some of the gang switch sides is unconvincing, even Peck's motives are unclear although it might be more to the fact that he is Gregory Peck so he cannot be a complete rotter.

The film is a diversion, nice to see actors such as Widmark and Harry Morgan is early roles but it is below par and wrestling with the Hays Code did it no favours.

In 1867, in the West, the gang of bank robbers led by James "Stretch" Dawson (Gregory Peck) and formed by Dude (Richard Widmark), Bull Run (Robert Arthur), Lengthy (John Russell), Half Pint (Henry Morgan), Walrus (Charles Kemper) and Jed flee after robbing a bank. However, they are hunted down by the cavalry and Jed is killed. They decide to cross desert and the soldiers stop chasing them. They arrive dehydrated and almost dead at a ghost town called Yellow Sky but a young woman called Constance "Mike" Mae (Anne Baxter) shows the location of a spring. Soon they recover and learn that Mike lives alone with her grandfather Charles Kemper (James Barton) in a house nearby the ghost town. But Dude snoops around at the area and finds prospecting tools near the house. He suspects that Mike and her grandfather could have gold hidden somewhere in the house. The outlaws press Mike and her grandfather and they make a deal with Stretch that promises to take only half the gold. But greed and lust split the gang and Stretch, who has fallen in love with Mike, has to take a decision and choose a side.

"Yellow Sky" is a highly entertaining western, despite the contradictions in the flawed story. Stretch is an outlaw that lives a conflictive situation between the gold and his love for Mike. The Grandpa sees a group of strangers stealing his savings and consequently the future if his beloved granddaughter but he saves the outlaws from the apaches. Walrus and Half Pint choose to stay with Dude and they end with Stretcher again. Dude and Lengthy are coherent characters.The sequence when the cavalry is pursuing the outlaws is impressive. Their crossing through the desert is very realistic and disturbing. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Céu Amarelo" ("Yellow Sky")