Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Beautifully-filmed Budd Boetticher outdoor saga, one in a series of westerns the filmmaker produced with star Randolph Scott (usually from a screenplay by writer Burt Kennedy), involves former sheriff-turned-bounty hunter attempting to bring in wanted killer across desolate Arizona terrain, inadvertently coming to the aid of shapely widow whose husband was captured and killed by Indians. Film opens with terrific desert stand-off, but rather quickly lapses into genre clichés with the arrival of two randy gunmen (Pernell Roberts and a debuting James Coburn) paying the lady a hostile visit. Aside from Charles Lawton Jr.'s glorious color cinematography, Randolph Scott's unruffled, low-key charm is really the only thing this routine adventure has going for it. Dialogue scenes are stilted, as is the male camaraderie. ** from ****

The 1950s was a great decade for the western. While the masterpieces may have belonged to John Ford and Fred Zinneman, the two directors that had the best body of work in the genre that decade were Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher. These two made many great westerns with their stars of choice -- Jimmy Stewart for Mann and Randolph Scott for Boetticher. These weren't simple horse operas or mindless actioners. These westerns were smart, tense stories driven by the psychology of their characters instead of the plots, which were often deceptively simple.This film is one of the Boetticher/Scott westerns and it's one of the best. The plot, again, seems simple enough: a bounty hunter (Randolph Scott) is bringing in a killer (James Best) whose ruthless brother (Lee Van Cleef) is expected to try and stop him. Along the way he is joined by two criminals (Pernell Roberts of Bonanza fame and James Coburn in his film debut) and a beautiful blonde (Karen Steele). Roberts and Coburn join Scott in hopes of taking the prisoner themselves in return for an offer of amnesty for his capture. Scott has another reason for bringing Best in besides the bounty.Wonderful cast with a standout performance from Pernell Roberts, an actor better known for his television work. The support from Best, Coburn, and Van Cleef is nice. Karen Steele looks lovely and does fine but her brassiere is most definitely from the 1950s. You'll know what I mean when you see her. Hopefully she didn't put anybody's eye out. Scott doesn't have lots of lines as his character is the silent type. But he was an underrated actor who said a lot with very little. Great direction from Boetticher with his favorite screenwriter Burt Kennedy turning in a good script. Relatively short runtime ensures the movie doesn't overstay its welcome. It didn't feel too short at all. Fans of westerns will definitely want to check this one out.

First off, why did the screenwriter pick the name Santa Cruz as the ultimate destination for Brigade(Randolph Scott) and his odd assortment of strays plus captured outlaw Billy John? Since Bisbee, in the SE corner of present AZ, is mentioned several times, I assume that the reference is to nearby Santa Cruz county AZ, not to the coastal well watered city of Santa Cruz, CA, which looks nothing like the arid rocky landscape, with occasional sand dunes depicted(Alabama Hills and Olancho sand dunes of eastern CA). If so, the Mescalero Apache encountered were out of their usual territorial limits. Should have been Western or Chiricahua Apache: the latter being the most war-like of the Apache groups. It's clear to me that the name Santa Cruz was not a random pick. It translates into English as 'holy cross'. Thus, it somehow relates, in the screenwriter's mind, to the cross-like 'hang tree', which is featured so prominently in the last part of the film. This dead and decaying tree trunk has two partial limbs, thus rather resembling the cross that Christ was crucified on. It also stands alone in a clearing, which is surrounded by trees and shrubs, thus resembling the common depiction of Calvary Hill, where Christ was crucified. Like Christ, who was crucified along with true criminals and where criminals were commonly dispatched, Brigade's wife was an innocent sacrificial victim of outlaw Frank's need for vengeance against Brigade, hanged on this tree where criminals had sometimes been hanged. Incidentally, the screenwriter could have picked the geographically more appropriate name Las Cruses, which is a city very close to the traditional territory of the Mescalero Apaches, translating as 'the crosses'. However, Santa Cruz more clearly denotes the intention of a holy cross.Historically, burning special things often symbolically was thought to neutralize evil or the power of black magic. The burning of witches in Medieval Europe is a prime example. In some cultures, the decease's key belongings are burned, perhaps symbolically transferring them to the afterlife of the deceased. In Brigade's case, the burning of the 'hang tree' in the parting scene clearly is meant to celebrate his long awaited vengeance upon the man who hanged his wife, and to symbolically extinguish his need for further vengeance in facilitating the hanging of Frank's young brother, Billy John.Brigade mentions that the gorgeous blond Carrie Lane(Karen Steele) much reminds him of his deceased wife as a young woman. At age 60, stone-faced Scott is clearly too old to consider this young recent widow as a possible replacement. Thus he maintains an emotional distance from her, treating her like a daughter who needs protection from the persistent Apaches and perhaps his unpredictable companions. In the ending, it's clear that he is willing to go along with Boone's ambition to gain amnesty by being given credit for bringing in outlaw Billy John, and thereby perhaps promote his additional ambition to marry Carrie. Why?? I suspect that Brigade, as a young man, before he became sheriff of Santa Cruz, had his wild outlaw time. He believes Boone's story that this former minor outlaw has prospects of settling down to an honest productive life. Thus, he identifies with him, and foresees a rebirth of himself plus wife in the possible pairing of Boone and Carrie, in a humble analogy to the resurrection of Christ. Formerly, Brigade had criticized Carrie's husband for accepting a job in an isolated way station, easily raided by Apaches, thus endangering his life and that of his unusually desirable wife, whom the Apaches might want to steal. Included is the bizarre incident in which a band of Apaches bring the horse of Carrie's presumably now deceased husband, to trade with her companions for her! Perhaps they hoped she wouldn't recognize the horse, or perhaps they stuck it in her face to suggest that they had killed, or at least captured, her husband, thus rendering her available as a possible legal wife for them. In any case, she and the others later get vengeance against the Apaches when the latter attack the party to steal her, after failing in their ignominious attempt to buy her.Negatives include that the dialogue is often trite, and sounds forced or premeditated. Karen Steele was no great shakes as an animated actress, being the director's mistress around this time. Typical of Scott-starring westerns, there's minimal humor and social events to balance the tense drama. I see strong parallels in the basic plot to that of Scott's last Hollywood feature: the well-regarded "Ride the High Country", costarring Joel McCrea, with a different director. Again, we have a small party traversing a rugged wilderness toward a town. The party includes a young marriageable woman in a precarious position, who needs protection and some guidance(initially mostly by McCrea; near the end, by Scott), and includes, within the party, a pair at cross purposes to that of the leader. A gold shipment takes the place of a bountied prisoner as the contested object within the group. In addition, a raiding party also wants the woman. Thus,, again, we have two quite different prizes within the group that different groups hope to steal. Again, one of the young men within the group with a somewhat tarnished past is characterized near the end as a potential desirable husband for the woman, with the implied consent of Scott, as her unofficial guardian. Again, we have a dramatic in-the-open shootout duel with the little gang of badies at the end.

Ride Lonesome is directed by Budd Boetticher, written by Burt Kennedy and stars Randolph Scott, Karen Steele, Pernell Roberts, James Coburn, James Best & Lee Van Cleef. Charles Lawton Jr is the cinematographer (in CinemaScope for the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California location) and Heinz Roemheld provides the musical score. Film is part of the Ranown Western cycle involving Boetticher, Scott, Kennedy and producer Harry Joe Brown.Bounty hunter Ben Brigade (Scott) captures wanted outlaw Billy John (Best) and tells him he's taking him to Santa Cruz to be hanged. Best boasts that his brother Frank (Cleef) will soon be arriving to ensure that doesn't happen. Brigade isn't the least bit bothered by this statement. The two men stop at a Wells Junction, a remote swing station, where they encounter Boone (Roberts) & Whit (Coburn), two drifters, and Mrs Lane (Steele), the station attendant's wife. With Mr Lane missing and the Mescalero Apache's on the warpath, the group decide to collectively travel to Santa Cruz, but hot on their trail are the Indians and Frank's gang. There's also the small matter of motives within the group, seems Boone & Whit, too, have a special interest in Billy, while Brigade may have something far more ulterior driving him on.As the decades have rolled by, the Boetticher/Scott Westerns have come to be rightly regarded as genre high points. Between 1956 to 1960 they produced 7 pieces of work. The weakest of which were the more jovial Buchanan Rides Alone (1958), and the Kennedy absent WB contract filler, Westbound (1959). The remaining five each follow a familiar theme that sees Scott as a man driven by emotional pain, movies with simmering undertones and pulsing with psychological smarts. Poll a hundred Western fans for their favourite Boetticher/Scott movie and you will find any of the five being mentioned as a favourite: such is the tightness and intelligence of each respective picture.So we are out in the desolated Old West, it's harsh and weather beaten. Our five characters are either troubled by death-prior and pending-or searching for a life that may be a touch too far from their grasp. As their journey unfolds, loyalties will be tested and shifted, uneasy bonds formed, psychological and sexual needs bubble away under the surface. All viewed by the enveloping Alabama Hills: with Mount Whitney the chief patriarch overseeing his charges. Ride Lonseome, is a stunning movie, an elegiac piece, one that's bleak yet not without hope, a collage of tones seamlessly blended together to create one almost magnificent whole. The first Boetticher movie in CinemaScope, the film is directed with great economic skill, the whole width of the screen is creatively used by the director, placing the characters in the landscape like Anthony Mann used to do with Jimmy Stewart. His action construction is smart and it should be noted that there is not one interior shot in the film. Lawton Jr sumptuously shoots in Eastman Color, actually a perfect choice for the rugged terrain and the wide, lonesome inducing open spaces provided by the Scope format. While Kennedy's script is sparing, perfectly so, the dialogue is clipped but very telling. And crucially there's no manipulation in the narrative.Then of course there's the cast. Scott leads off with one of his brave, ageing man of few words portrayals, a character with inner sadness gnawing away at him. With just one glance and a couple of words, Scott actually provides more depth than most other actors in the genre were able to do with more meatier parts. With the lead protagonist established, Boetticher surrounds him with fine support. Coburn was making his film debut and with his tall frame and distinctive voice he leaves a good impression, mostly because he works so well off of Roberts' more outwardly tough turn. Their partnership gives the film a believable friendship at its centre, lovable rogues perhaps? And they also provide some of the lighter moments that Boetticher and Kennedy use to tonally keep us guessing. Steele is just sultry, a blonde fire cracker in the middle of a potential hornets nest. While Best does a nice line in snivelling weasel, his characters trait being that he shoots his victims in the back. As for Cleef? He's barely in it, but after his characters introduction into the story, his presence hangs over proceedings like a dark heavy cloud. He will be back, tho, and rest assured it's worth the wait.Does Ride Lonesome have flaws? Yes. One thing is that at 73 minutes it's too damn short. But moving away from that particular greedy itch of mine, the film does carry some Western clichés. Most notably with the Indian participation in the story. Be it chases, portentous smoke signals or an adobe corral attack-where our group are of course outnumbered-it's stock Cowboy & Indian fare. Not helped by Roemheld's music, which only reinforces the clichés. Thankfully in Boetticher's hands the clichés are overcome by the scenes raising the pulse, and in one particular sequence, providing the basis for a terrific tracking shot. Roemheld does deliver the goods for the finale, tho, and what a finale it is too. Featuring a tree shaped like a cross, the ending has sparked many an interpretation. Some way too deep (French critics) & some just bizarre (internet sleuths), when actually the interpretation is simple; hell they even got Martin Scorsese to explain it on the DVD. The memorable shot involving the tree, as the music pounds away, can induce pounds of goose-flesh on the skin, powerful it is. As endings go in the Boettticher canon? It gives Comanche Station's riderless horse finale a run for the title of being his, and Scott's, best. A near masterpiece from a true auteur. 9/10