The strong moralistic overtone and the rather bizarre depiction of an ethnic majority caught my attention foremost when watching this film. The beautiful Technicolor looks incredibly bizarre with those browned faces and ultra-white teeth. The story in itself meandered a bit and only the showdown was of some minor interest.
If the brother hadn't married the story might have been much more interesting. This way, the woman doesn't have to make the choice herself, everything is plainly laid out for her. The half-baked offer to go with Cotten's character into the city is laughable the moment it is said. But the movie is drenched in morality that much more would have had to be changed for this film to work.
On a side note, Peck seems to have chosen his roles (though not always the scripts) with quite some care, not to come of as a rather one-dimensional handsome leading man, but still reserves more than a hint of ambivalence for his characters. Good choice at this time, I guess.
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