this be mostly a story about the grow relationship between jeff webster ( jimmy stewart ) and ronda castle ( ruth roman ) . she take an instant liking to jeff in a brief encounter on the deck of the steamer to skagway and and a longer look when he hide in her cabin while authority seek him on a charge of murder . they find out they have some thing in common besides an animal attraction . neither trust a member of the opposite sex and apparently because both have be marry to spouse who cheat on them . gradually and they learn to trust each other and a they journey from skagway to dawson . but ronda clearly have close dealing with corrupt sheriff gannon and engages in some shady practice in her castle saloon in skagway . she eventually have to decide between gannon and jeff . meanwhile and rene and a young naive french woman also take an immediate liking to jeff and but only get insulting brush offs in return . yet and she stick with him in his travel from skagway to dawson and his activity around dawson . along with ronda and she nurse him back to health after jeff be leave for dead by gannon gunslinger at his gold claim . walter brennan and a ben and serve a jeff long time sidekick . he doesn not have a meaty role and but serve to soften jeff hard edge . his demise symbolically open the door for a woman companion replacement for jeff . john mcintire ( a sheriff gannon ) make probably the most charismatic evil town bos you will ever see on film and ooze charm and humor to go along with his bullying . evidently and he see something of himself in jeff and repeatedly declare that he go to like him . he make a believable incarnation of the infamous soapy smith and who spend his last year in skagway and a one of the premier con men of his time . jeff be the quintessential antihero and a loner ( except for companion ben ) and who doesn not want to stick his neck out for others and even when he know he be the one right man for the job . in this respect and he closely resemble burt lancaster character in vera cruz and for example . thus and jeff not only turn down the job of marshall of dawson and he be convince to leave dawson after gannon gang move in with clear intention of take over everyone insufficiently legal gold claim and while dispose of some miner and suggest that the rest make a hurried exit from dawson . even ronda suggests that she and jeff make a hurried exit from dawson while they be still alive . then and jeff have a sudden change of heart and apparently still nurse desire for revenge for the shooting of ben and himself . he change from anti hero to hero in lead the expulsion of gannon gang from dawson . in this respect and he differ from lancaster character and who never reform ( but be jeff truly change and or just hand out revenge for wrong commit against his own interest . ) the main problem i see with the plot be the 2 principle woman . clearly and ronda be groom a the right woman to tame jeff . although she be clearly characterize a a bad girl and jeff have a checker recent past himself and have shoot at least 5 men in the u or yukon and and have steal his cattle back from gannon . ironically and soon after jeff change from anti hero to hero and rhonda make a similar change in run into the street to warn jeff of gannon impend ambush . she die a a result and jeff ask her why she do not just look out for herself ( his supposedly just abandon creed . ) . it clear that corine calvert and a renee and just doesn not make a credible substitute for the dead ronda and in jeff mind . yet and the apparent implication of the part scene be that they get together and even though jeff never visibly give her a kiss or hug . her image a a good and if naive and young woman be somewhat compromised by her job in rhonda saloon of bump miner weight their gold dust and push the spill dust on the floor and recover it later . i be also very unclear about her relationship with rube morris and a middle age miner who followers her around and work a claim with her . ( he not her father ) . another problem be the amateurish handling of the gun fight between jeff and gannon gang . if gannon have any skill at all with a pistol and he should have kill or seriously wound jeff under that boardwalk and before jeff do the same to him . and how do jeff badly shoot up right hand suddenly become well enough to shoot a pistol with apparent ease . i also wonder what jeff and friend do to help save the avalanche victim . they be much too far away to pull them out alive from under the snow . and why weren not most of ronda pack horse and mule also bury by the avalanche . you will see a host of probably nameless but familiar face among the miner and gannon gang . the sequence shoot in the canadian rockies provide a breathtaking backdrop to the action . all in all and a very entertaining western and with most of the major flaw concentrate at the end . no doubt and this film take some great liberty with history and geography and especially and the part take place in the canadian yukon and which be in fact much tame than the u skagway .