Along the Great Divide-1951-Kirk Douglas-is a Western. It also has film noir elements:

A Mix of Western and Film Noir


Along the Great Divide (1951) is a Western. It also has film noir elements:


A whodunit murder mystery, with clues and detective work.


Psychological obsessions and family conflicts.


A dark, tragic atmosphere.

Lively Western with a film noir whodunit plot and support for democracy and rule of law.




Feeling responsible for his father's death, marshal Kirk Douglas seeks redemption. He gets his chance when he saves murder suspect Walter Brennan from a lynch mob. The grateful Brennan accompanies Douglas to another town, where he can get a fair trial. Though found guilty, Brennan is rescued when Douglas nails the real killer. Along the Great Divide was Kirk Douglas' first western (he'd been rejected for the Montgomery Clift role in Red River)--and, need one add, hardly the last.