Simply A Masterpiece

Overrated

Best movie ever!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

In another weird coincidence that manages to catch me by surprise with my movie viewing pastime, this is the second film in a row I've watched to feature a character with the name Cherry. Yesterday it was "Road to Singapore" in which actress Judith Barrett portrayed a character with that nickname. Here it was Loretta Young, not exactly a Western movie mainstay, going by the name of Cherry de Longpre.Well I didn't quite know what to make of this picture until some way in as Coop's Melody Jones never broke character as a bumbling cowpoke. His sidekick George (William Demarest) managed to show more gumption most of the time, and after a while I wondered if Cooper might not have made the better sidekick in a different picture. Bottom line is he's no Will Kane here, with an approach diametrically opposed to the portrayal he gives in that classic of the genre, "High Noon".What was constantly distracting for me was the frequent use of rear projection photography for the most mundane of riding scenes whenever Melody, George and/or Cherry took to horseback. I can't imagine why it wouldn't have been easier to simply shoot those scenes in some available countryside instead of a sound stage. It just didn't make sense to me, and because it was so blatantly apparent, whenever a scene like that occurred I had to chuckle.But maybe that was intended to be part of the whole Western movie spoof that seemed to be going on here. Melody kept bumping his head into things and dropped his gun every time he tried to use it; it's surprising he didn't hurt himself. So one had to wonder how Coop would have fared if it ever came to a showdown with the desperado everyone else thought he was in the first place. With the genre already turned upside down, it made perfect sense that the real Monte Jarrad (Dan Duryea) would get taken out by his long time gal pal Cherry. Doesn't that just sink the duck?

Loretta Young makes a rare foray into western territory with her role in Along Came Jones. This is a charming independent production from Gary Cooper's company. Mr. Cooper, of course, is calling all the shots here—especially when poking fun at the cowboy persona he has previously established in other pictures. Meanwhile, Dan Duryea is on hand as the villain (what else), which makes us take some of this a bit more seriously.The casting of the two leads, and Duryea-- plus William Demarest as Coop's exasperated sidekick-- make this a little film worth checking out. It succeeds, where other films fail, because the filmmakers keep it simple. They get by with so little, but it does so much in the way of entertaining the ordinary western fan.

While this film is far from great, I appreciated how at least those who made the film tried to make something different than the usual insipid Western. While I love a well-made Western, I think most Hollywood Westerns of the 30s, 40s and 50s were incredibly formulaic and routine. As a result, I usually avoid them like the plague! So I was very, very happy to stumble upon this film since it is far from typical of the genre.Gary Cooper and his buddy, William Demarest wander into a small town and Cooper is mistaken for a desperado who just robbed the stage coach. Instead of apprehending him, everyone is so afraid and treat him royally! However, Loretta Young quickly comes up and whisks them out of town. She knows that they are not the robbers and gets them out before they accidentally get shot! She knows, by the way, because the REAL robber is her boyfriend! Well, instead of continuing to explain the plot, I'll leave this up to you. Bowever the film is excellent due to very good acting by all the stars. Cooper and Young are wonderful and that's no surprise, and Dan Duryea is a great slimy villain (as usual), but the stand-out performance for me was Demarest. Instead of the usual idiotic supporting character he usually played in the 30s and 40s (especially in Preston Sturgess films), his supporting role was pretty serious and he effectively played a slightly older tough cowboy, so he was effective without being overly comical--I liked that.See this film if you want something different AND has decent production values. While not a great film, it is very entertaining and fun--though not exactly a comedy like the videotape jacket said it was.

The Bob hope/Jane Russell "Paleface" and "Son of Paleface" parodies were obviously based on this film, which made it all the more enjoyable for me. The hapless cowboy mistaken for a killer is not as stupid as the Hope character, of course, who is a "Easterner" dentist. In fact I did not find Melody Jones a "dimwit" at all, just an easy-going cowpoke who gets involved with people out of his element through no fault of his own, and does what he has to do to get himself and his friend out of it. Loretta Young is excellent as the female sharpshooter love interest, and Coop is playing, well, Coop. I recommend watching these three movies consecutively, it makes all of them all the more humorous.