Unlike most Westerns that depict a conquering of the wilderness, all of the man-made elements ends in flames and destruction at the end of the film. But the viewer is brought to realize that the building of a town isn't what will establish civilization, it is a new type of entrepreneurial spirit. Logan realizes transforming the environment isn't just a physical adaptation. It's underlying cause is physical will and moral vision.
You see some of the same stylings that Tourneur brought to Val Lewton's films in a darkened hotel room at the beginning of the film and the almost fairy-tale setting. Shades of the searchers as Logan looks into a cabin from the outside early in the film while Caroline looks out from the inside later.
Ward Bond's character, Bragg, reminded me more than a little of Jud in _Oklahoma_. A force of pure malice housed in a hovel deep in primeval forest, inhabiting empty saloons and slinking off when threatened. A mirror image of Dana Andrew's Logan character.
Fantastic songs written and sung by Hoagy Charmichael.
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