Yellow Sky (1948)

A decent late 40s Western – it seems to fit well into the general pattern that many late 40s films are actually quite gritty and bleak in places (before the content softened in the early 50s before returning to generally more adult themes in the mid to late 50)s. The plot concerns a band of bank robbers who end up hiding out in a ghost town with a young woman (Anne Baxter) and her grandfather. Somewhat predictably all the bandits end up mooning over the girl, except for Richard Widmark who (correctly) deduces that the pair have struck gold.

The majority of the film is about the hero of the piece (Gregory Peck) deciding to betray his comrades and protect the pair. It’s all pretty heavily signposted and comes as no great surprise, but it’s well set up and the film manages to keep a sense strong of threat and tension. Recommended.