***Sort of a low-key drama version of “Shane,” set in Illinois (Why Sure!)***

After the Civil War, a former Confederate (Alan Ladd) travels the North searching for a doctor who can heal his son's shock-induced muteness (the boy is played by Alan’s real-life son, David). He ends up working on the farm of a woman (Olivia de Havilland) to pay off a debt and has to contend with troublesome sheep ranchers.

The tone and some plot elements are reminiscent of “Shane” (1953), which is unsurprising seeing as how “Shane” is one of the greatest Westerns of all time and producers would like to reproduce its success. The big difference here is that the woman lives alone on her farm and Alan’s character isn’t a former kick-axx gunfighter, although he is a former Confederate soldier and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

The highlight for me is the two stars. Olivia was still beautiful at 41 during shooting, inside and out; while Ladd still had his world-weary charisma at 44. But he looks older and would be dead in 5.5 years at the premature age of 50 from an acute overdose of alcohol and sedatives. It’s a pity his son would be bereft of his father by 15.

As my title blurb says, this is decidedly a drama compared to “Shane” (which, admittedly, contained a lot of realistic drama) although there is a brief brouhaha early on and a shootout later. It’s akin to The Waltons, but without the teenaged kids. Regrettably, there’s a problem with the drama, but I don’t want to say too much. Let’s just say that one character comes across as a stiff dud who doesn’t see the gold standing right before his eyes. Aduh.

Another serious problem is the southern Utah locations, which are a horrible stand-in for Illinois. It’s blatantly obvious to anyone who’s been anywhere near Illinois that the film wasn’t shot within a thousand miles of the state. There are plenty of suitable locations in the Eastern USA & Canada and around the globe that resemble Illinois; so this is unforgiveable.

The movie runs 1 hour, 43 minutes and was shot in Kanab and Cedar City, Utah.

GRADE: C+