An archetypal classic Western, since remade countless times, with Alan Ladd superb as the world-weary gunslinger who rides into town and finds himself as the 'good guy' protecting the innocent from powerful malevolent forces. In this case the innocent are squatters determined to fight for their rights against a rancher and his gunmen; in one way this is the evolution of the west from lawlessness to settlement, in another the battle between big and small business. For Shane the options are clear, life as a small steader, his uneasy position in the household of the family he adopts could easily be solved by the death of the husband, his relationship with the wife is nuanced but distinctly articulated, once by her and once, 'I want you...and I know mum wants you', by her annoying, Shane worshipping, brat of a young son. Or he can do the 'right thing', kill the baddies and ride off, familyless, into the sunset?