Miranda into "Mike" - Ferdinand into "Stretch" -

One of Wellman's most notorious projects in constructing Yellow Sky, his loose adaptation of The Tempest, was to create a female character whose desirable attributes were not in her innocence and virginity, but in her ability to keep up with and often outlive the men who surround her. Wellman was interested in creating a transposition of The Tempest that highlights the attributes of the American Western genre in film. Part of this project was to create a strong and gritty female ingenue that was appealing to this rough western setting. 

         In adapting Miranda into an independent woman, Wellman sets her up to fall in love with a character that is both headstrong and full of action. 

         This adaptation completely swifts the protagonist in the story from the Prospero-esque character to the Ferdinand-esque character. By shifting the protagonist to Ferdinand, Wellman is putting an emphasis in the plot on the relationship between the lovers. Mike and Stretch are the classic "unlikely couple" that discover that their differences make them all too similar, a classic american love story. Wellman rearranges the structure of The Tempest to appeal to western audiences through romantic and action film devices. To assist this transition, he creates a protagonist that both encompasses the exciting rough and rowdy bandit and the strong tender lover.