Surrender

Set almost entirely at night, Allan Dwan’s Surrender (1950) makes the most of a relatively generous Republic Pictures budget for an atmospheric western noir centered around an over-the-top femme fatale played by studio stalwart Vera Ralston, who would go on to marry Republic chief Herbert Yates two years later. Ralston plays Violet Barton whose husband Henry Vaan (Francis Lederer) is in prison, freeing her to relocate to a border town with her kindhearted sister Janet (Maria Palmer) and spur romantic competition between gambler Gregg Delaney (John Carroll) and wealthy newspaperman John Hale (William Ching). As so often happens in noir, a man from the past reenters Violet’s life, adding criminal complications and a growing sense of doom. A staple of the western genre, William Brennan plays Sheriff Bill Howard, who is well aware of Violet’s schemes. Some of the dialogue is undeniably stiff, and the serenade by Carroll and Ching while a guitarist strums outside the window seems to come out of nowhere, but James Edward Grant’s story packs in adultery, bigamy, blackmail, and two murders, and Ralston’s relentless ambition makes for a compelling watch.