Der Tod reitet mit

Two pioneer families set up farms next to each other in this peculiar western.

Each of the families is headed by a mother -- for one, Maureen O'Sullivan, the other Jeanette Nolan; the focus is in Miss O'Sullivan's family. It's an episodic affair, well shot in standard, Los-Angeles-area sites, although the presence of Will Rogers Jr. Seems to imply it's Oklahoma.

Although the movie western was not quite dead on its feet, the many TV oaters made the pickings scarce. Writer-director Hugo Haas responded with the good landscape photography, and sense of sweeping themes -- the coming together of the two families, despite a rocky start. It's a good idea, but the start-and-stop nature of the scipting makes it seem tentative and unsure.