It's 1866, the year after the civil war. The Haydens and the Colbys have been a-feuding and a-fussin' for nigh on a long time now. But Pappy Hayden, having fought as a soldier, has seen enough blood for a lifetime, so he packs up with two kids and leaves Kentucky behind, a-headin' for the West, where he manages to set up a cattle ranch.
Meanwhile, Pappy Colby was convicted of murder with, I guess, mitigating circumstances since his helpless victim was a Hayden. He gets fifteen years in the slams. When he gets out, he learns that the Hayden family is now out West, so he and his daughter, Esther Ralston, and one of the Colby goons, Jack La Rue, a-ride out West looking for them. Jack La Rue, by the way, sounds exactly like John Ireland if John Ireland couldn't produce a believable line of dialog.
This business of feuding is kind of interesting from the point of view of cultural evolution. It's a kind of transitional legal stage, somewhere between abject savagery and written rational/legal authority. There's a sense of personal honor mixed in with it. That's where the Hatfields and McCoy's come in.
Appalachia was settled in the early 1700s mostly by immigrants from the borderlands of Scotland and England, where there was very little in the way of rational law. Families settled their own arguments. That's where you get the MacDonalds versus the Campbells. All these traits -- clan feuds, duels, the culture of honor, the thirst for independence from any authority -- were brought from their source region to Appalachia and later the Wild West, where they flourished. And you wind up with Shane out-drawing the bad guys.
Nope. As Grandmaw Spelvin puts it, "No Hayden don't go squealin' to the police." Thank you for your attention. Now, where were we? We're out West and the bad family, the Colbys, are trying to prod the good guys, the Haydens, into a continuance of their Kentucky feud. They do this by rustling cattle, shooting at little girls, killing the family dog. Their plan is complicated by two things. One is that, while the Hayden boys are perfectly willing to fight, Old Pappy Hayden keeps insisting that when the time comes he'll take it to the law.
Another complication, which comes as no surprise whatever, is that one of the Hayden boys, Randolph Scott, and one of the Colby hoydens, Esther Ralston, fall in love at first sight. We can see why Randy is attracted to her. She's kind of good looking, as brawny in her own way as Randy is in his. But she's rough trade as well. "I ain't used to be polited at." It doesn't give much away to say that the ending resolves the feud forever.
The film didn't go through a benediction by the Criterion Collection. The print is spiky and primitive and the sound is muffled. There are problems with the continuity too. For a few minutes I didn't know whether we were in Kentucky or out West. And Ralston catches Randy shaving. He puts down his razor, wipes his chin, reaches for a shirt and when he turns around he's wearing it. And I don't know how Pappy Hayden, who brought only a little boy and a little girl with him, acquired such a large family in so few years. Still --
Meanwhile, Pappy Colby was convicted of murder with, I guess, mitigating circumstances since his helpless victim was a Hayden. He gets fifteen years in the slams. When he gets out, he learns that the Hayden family is now out West, so he and his daughter, Esther Ralston, and one of the Colby goons, Jack La Rue, a-ride out West looking for them. Jack La Rue, by the way, sounds exactly like John Ireland if John Ireland couldn't produce a believable line of dialog.
This business of feuding is kind of interesting from the point of view of cultural evolution. It's a kind of transitional legal stage, somewhere between abject savagery and written rational/legal authority. There's a sense of personal honor mixed in with it. That's where the Hatfields and McCoy's come in.
Appalachia was settled in the early 1700s mostly by immigrants from the borderlands of Scotland and England, where there was very little in the way of rational law. Families settled their own arguments. That's where you get the MacDonalds versus the Campbells. All these traits -- clan feuds, duels, the culture of honor, the thirst for independence from any authority -- were brought from their source region to Appalachia and later the Wild West, where they flourished. And you wind up with Shane out-drawing the bad guys.
Nope. As Grandmaw Spelvin puts it, "No Hayden don't go squealin' to the police." Thank you for your attention. Now, where were we? We're out West and the bad family, the Colbys, are trying to prod the good guys, the Haydens, into a continuance of their Kentucky feud. They do this by rustling cattle, shooting at little girls, killing the family dog. Their plan is complicated by two things. One is that, while the Hayden boys are perfectly willing to fight, Old Pappy Hayden keeps insisting that when the time comes he'll take it to the law.
Another complication, which comes as no surprise whatever, is that one of the Hayden boys, Randolph Scott, and one of the Colby hoydens, Esther Ralston, fall in love at first sight. We can see why Randy is attracted to her. She's kind of good looking, as brawny in her own way as Randy is in his. But she's rough trade as well. "I ain't used to be polited at." It doesn't give much away to say that the ending resolves the feud forever.
The film didn't go through a benediction by the Criterion Collection. The print is spiky and primitive and the sound is muffled. There are problems with the continuity too. For a few minutes I didn't know whether we were in Kentucky or out West. And Ralston catches Randy shaving. He puts down his razor, wipes his chin, reaches for a shirt and when he turns around he's wearing it. And I don't know how Pappy Hayden, who brought only a little boy and a little girl with him, acquired such a large family in so few years. Still --