Cornel Wilde's role in Passion is something that Tyrone Power might have done or Cornel himself might have done at 20th Century Fox when they were both there. Of course had it been done at Fox, Darryl Zanuck would have had a better plotted story than RKO did.
Wilde is a vaquero who has impregnated Yvonne DeCarlo and she's got a surprise for him when he returns from a roundup. She's got a bundle of joy for him and they're not married. But Wilde is going to do right by her.
Sad to say though DeCarlo's family is involved in a range feud with a local Don who sends riders to burn out who he considers squatters. They kill DeCarlo and her grandfather John Qualen.
They don't get DeCarlo's twin sister, also played by DeCarlo. She rides for Wilde and he gets there too late. But like Gregory Peck in The Bravados and Steve McQueen in Nevada Smith, Wilde's a man with a mission.
For reasons I don't understand the local law who is played by Raymond Burr won't arrest Lon Chaney, Jr. after she identifies his voice as one of the riders. It's a pretty lame excuse for Burr not doing his duty. Of course Wilde's duty is clear.
Later on Burr does in fact catch up with Wilde, but allows him to escape and then he tracks Wilde as Wilde tracks the bad guys. Again his reasons are rather lame.
Wilde tracks the last of the bandits to the snow clad Sierra
Mountains and the cinematography here is pretty good. RKO spent a bit more here than they normally do.