A man in search of revenge infiltrates a ranch, hidden in an inhospitable region, where its owner, Altar Keane, gives shelter to outlaws fleeing from the law in exchange for a price.
Direction
Lang's final western—pure visual storytelling, every frame composed.
Acting
Dietrich's Altar: aging outlaw queen, no vanity, all magnetism.
Cinematography
Garish studio colors that somehow feel more real than location shooting.
Director
Fritz Lang
Marlene Dietrich
Altar Keane
Arthur Kennedy
Vern Haskell
Mel Ferrer
Frenchy Fairmont
Gloria Henry
Beth Forbes
William Frawley
Baldy Gunder
Lisa Ferraday
Maxine
Jack Elam
Mort Geary
George Reeves
Wilson
Frank Ferguson
Preacher
Francis McDonald
Harbin
John Kellogg
Jeff Factor
Rodd Redwing
Rio
Lane Chandler
Sheriff Hardy (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lang and Dietrich had explosive fights on set; she called him 'a tyrant,' yet both agreed the friction fueled her performance. The original title was 'Chuck-a-Luck'—studio demanded something more salacious.
The fictional 'Chuck-a-Luck' wheel game mirrors the film's structure: random chance, rigged outcomes, everyone eventually loses. Lang's German Expressionist roots bleed through every forced-perspective interior.
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