This is an excellent movie, but beware seeing it unless it's shown in its proper CinemaScope aspect ratio. One of the best in a series of westerns starring Randolph Scott, directed by Budd Boetticher, and written by Burt Kennedy, this is a taut, actionful, and humorous motion picture. The stories are all pretty much the same in these movies: Scott is seeking revenge for the murder of his wife, or some such variation. He meets up with a very likable villain who runs around with a couple of young guns, and eventually they shoot it out. The villains were usually played by future stars and their rapport with the Scott character is always entertaining.
Boetticher is one of the great directors of westerns, employing a spare style that stresses the beautiful emptiness of the landscape, making it into an arena for the shifting alliances among his characters. And Kennedy is one of the great writers of western dialogue. I wasn't around in the 1870s, but hey, it FEELS and SOUNDS real! See this movie, even if you think you hate westerns and think they're all the same!
They're not. And this is one of the best.
Boetticher is one of the great directors of westerns, employing a spare style that stresses the beautiful emptiness of the landscape, making it into an arena for the shifting alliances among his characters. And Kennedy is one of the great writers of western dialogue. I wasn't around in the 1870s, but hey, it FEELS and SOUNDS real! See this movie, even if you think you hate westerns and think they're all the same!
They're not. And this is one of the best.