Ye who wish to make sense of Americans, heed this film. At one point a character says they haven’t seen so many people in town since Reagan was elected president but that the people were a lot happier on that occasion. This is a rural, deeply conservative town characterized by Main Street neighborliness, a skepticism for institutions, and a love of guns matched only by a penchant for drink. What has brought all those people to town is a rascal who abuses his family and steals from his neighbors, evading prison by threatening potential witnesses. Finally action is taken, which is no spoiler because it is based on a famous case.

The movie makes early mention of historical gunslingers, and at one point a character states a disgust for mobs that gather in white robes. It’s a reminder of a history that is overly romanticized on one hand (cowboy gunfighters, who were generally just ignorant criminals) and kept alive as heritage on the other hand (KKK lynchings). And yet everyone in the movie is a basically decent human. Even the villain has a family that cries for him at the end. Somehow they are driven to these roles, this situation. The movie on its face is not that great, but as a cultural artifact is well worth examining.