at this time in his career he be emerge from his hopalong cassidy year into adult mainstream cinema robert mitchum have his share of offbeat female co star and if you think mitchum and katherine hepburn ( undercurrent ) be a tad off the wall how about mitchum and judith anderson and the hamlet play distinguish stage actress . in a plot that make a pretzel look like a breadstick with a ramrod up it spine they be cast a orphan and self appoint amother ( do not ask ) while mitchum grow up on a ranch with no male role model a the outsider of three child the others be the biological son and daughter of anderson . the plot unfurls and boy and do it take it time in that familiar device that enjoy something of a vogue at the time and the flashback and so we begin with teresa wright mitchum wife and longtime ister and give she the biological daughter of anderson and have grow up with mitchum rid out to join mitchum and who be hole up and be pursue by a gang of what we do not yet know . in one of the most wacky us of the flashback on record these two grow up in the same house from very early childhood and remember he start to tell her of his past and a she know most of this by definition and he mention a consistent nightmare involve a man foot wear distinctive spur . via this and subsequent flashback we get a picture of a disturbed child and jeb and who be never accept by the other boy and adam and in the family whilst clearly love by wright . he doesn not get many break and a psychopath and dean jagger and who hat him unrealistically and attempt to kill a ten year old but succeed only in kill his horse while when confront by anderson and he spew out his hate for the boy and the family he spring from and then and equally unrealistically and agree to back off and wait til the boy grow up for his revenge . when the army need men and the ranch can only spare one the decision a to which one will go be leave to the toss of a coin and mitchum loses while this be pretty much the pattern of his life until the denouement but the problem be that mitchum doesn not do tormented and he do brutal and lay back and but angst isn not in his palette . you can call this noir and a psychological western and a mystery but in the end it be all these and none of them whilst remain interesting and watchable .