The protagonist of The Furies is typical of Mann's driven, vengeful Western heroes, with one exception: she's a woman. Vance Jeffords (Barbara Stanwyck) is the headstrong heiress and favorite sparring partner of a flamboyant cattle baron (Walter Huston in his final screen appearance), owner of a New Mexico ranch named after the avenging spirits of Greek myth. For a while, willful Vance wears the pants around the ranch, but Mann's West is still a man's world; betrayed first by a reptilian lover (Wendell Corey) and then by her father, the wounded heroine concocts a vengeance of her own. Much has been made of the Freudian implications of the violent love between father and daughter, but as important to the film are the power politics of money (“What's in it for me?” is a recurring refrain) and race (a Mexican family has its own claims on this territory, and Vance's heart). Meanwhile, the land itself is a potent presence, perceived mostly in darkness.