Now this doesn't start off very well - we have a really terrible "chuck-a-luck" song that makes you squirm a little. Stick with it though as "Vern" (Arthur Kennedy) sets off to track down the murderer of his gal who was slain in a hold up. Meantime, "Altar" (Marlene Dietrich) gets the boot from her hotel singing job but not before, with the help of "Frenchy" (Mel Ferrer), she wins quite a large sum on it's rigged wheel of chance. The two threads of the story knit together when "Vern" arrives at a remote ranch that's now owned by her and that offers a sort of sanctuary for those fleeing the law - so long as she gets 10%. Dressed for dinner, she wears a brooch that used to belong to the murdered girl so "Vern" determines to find out where she got it - and then avenge her death, upsetting the delicate equilibrium amongst his fellow crooks. Kennedy was never very engaging to watch, but Ferrer is a little more charismatic here as the deadly muscle for Dietrich's hard-as-nails songstress-turned-criminal. On that note, Ken Darby has penned a few unremarkable songs for her which did rather take from the pace of the adventure but do imbue her character with a little of the charm she so effectively uses to make a fortune off the backs of her miscreant companions. The ending is all a bit rushed, but the star manages to hold it together well enough for ninety minutes that I quite enjoyed, though most likely won't remember.
