Veteran director/producer George Stevens"" film is often considered the second film of his "American trilogy," positioned betweenA Place in the Sun (1951)andGiant (1956).A sleepy-eyed, nocturnal old Owl flew to its tree dwelling and yawned as it prepared to sleep.As the camera rose in the tree higher up, a gray squirrel and a smaller chipmunk were just waking up.Provoking a range war, they trample over Joe""s garden during their approach, mockingly laugh at him for holding a rifle [his son""s unloaded shotgun], and immediately threaten and intimidate the homesteader.He then joined his fellow agents and the captain, who parachuted out of a trap door in the belly of the plane moments before it crashed into a snowy Rocky Mountain peak.