Ride Clear of Diablo (1954)

Railroad surveyer Murphy goes after rustlers who murdered his father and brother. Along the way, he first arrests then teams up with outlaw Duryea who helps Murphy only to see how long the ... See full summary »

Director:

Jesse Hibbs

Writers:

George Zuckerman (screenplay), D.D. Beauchamp (additional dialogue),

Stars:

Audie Murphy, Susan Cabot, Dan Duryea

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Audie Murphy	...	Clay O'Mara
Susan Cabot	...	Laurie Kenyon
Dan Duryea	...	Whitey Kincade
Abbe Lane	...	Kate
Russell Johnson	...	Jed Ringer
Paul Birch	...	Fred Kenyon
William Pullen	...	Tom Meredith
Jack Elam	...	Tim Lowerie
Denver Pyle	...	Reverend Moorehead

Storyline

Railroad surveyer Murphy goes after rustlers who murdered his father and brother. Along the way, he first arrests then teams up with outlaw Duryea who helps Murphy only to see how long the tenderfoot lasts. Outwitting several attempts on his life engineered by the crooked lawyer who set up his family, Murphy and a wounded Duryea face the gang. Duryea, wanted to protect Murphy and redeem himself, goes down shooting.

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Plot Keywords:

outlaw | railroad | fist fight | cowboy | saloon | 

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Taglines:

No one with a badge ever rides back from Diablo!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 1954 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Breckenridge Story

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During the ride from Diablo to Santiago, Clay has Whitey handcuffed. When they are ambushed. When Whitey's horse falls down, the rider puts his right hand down to break his fall, obviously no longer handcuffed.

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Quotes

Clay O'Mara: Any relation to the Lowery Gang?
Whitey Kincaid: No relation. This is them!

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Soundtracks

"Noche de Ronda"
Written by Maria Teresa Lara (uncredited)

User Reviews

Duryea rules

This is a classic style western with Audie Murphy as the good guy seeking out the killers of his father and brother. Fortunately, he's got experience in the field of "troubleshooter", and can handle things better than the killers, the town's most respected men, think. They send him on suicide missions against the likes of wild cards Dan Duryea, the professor Russell Johnson, and Jack Elam, only to be stunned by Audie's survival against these odds.

In making this, you could see that all involved allowed Duryea's overwhelming persona to take control. And that was the key. A great work relies not only on the great persona, but also the others to be willing to work off of him. "Great actors are great reactors" is known well to the acting community. A pity that many of the plebes who post on IMDb will laud the wrong actor.

Anyone can play a sadist. The real actors are the ones who can react to the sadist, and let him come across with power. Anyone can shout "That ain't no country I ever heard of", but the real actor is the one who is willing to stutter "What?" over and over.

However, here, Duryea deserves his praise. He's not your cliché bad guy. He's Duryea, full of fun and laughter, and each film he manages to make the character a little different. Just saying that the others deserve respect, too, for their cooperation.

Full of thrills, the film seems to last only a few minutes. And that's the sign of a good director. You get your bang for the bullet here.

Plus the classic combo of Murphy and Duryea. The only thing more magical than that would be to add in Stewart with an accordion.