The Proud Ones (1956)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Robert D. Webb

Writers:

Edmund H. North (screenplay) and
Joseph Petracca (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

May 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

A MAN OF FIERCE PRIDE...and six-guns to match!

Plot:

Marshal Silver is run out of town under suspicion of being a trigger-happy killer after shooting a hired gun of Honest John Barrett...

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Casino | Kansas | Grudge | Marked Deck

Cast

Robert Ryan	...	Marshal Cass Silver
Virginia Mayo	...	Sally
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Thad Anderson
Robert Middleton	...	Honest John Barrett
Walter Brennan	...	Jake
Arthur O'Connell	...	Jim Dexter
Ken Clark	...	Pike
Rodolfo Acosta	...	Chico
George Mathews	...	Dillon
Fay Roope	...	Markham
Edward Platt	...	Dr. Barlow
Whit Bissell	...	Mr. Sam Bolton

Runtime:

94 min | 90 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #17931) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~12.2 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~10.4 seconds.

Quotes:

Honest John Barrett, Owner Palace Saloon: You don't come with the best recommendations - a temper and the son of a dead gunslinger.

Soundtrack:

The Proud Ones

The quintessential thinking western.

The quintessential thinking western. The man wronged (Ryan), the dependable woman in his life (Mayo), the young man searching for the truth(?) (Hunter).

A good western with the normal hallmarks of this genre. Good storyline, actors who can actually act (Jeff Hunter's best acting display since "The Searchers") and importantly in any move or TV programme , great, haunting soundtrack. The whistling of this gives this western depth and feeling. The other actors, including the head villain, all play their parts with a modicum of effort, enhancing this film.

The various shootouts are well handled, with Ryan's worsening disability becoming more obvious, as an example the shootout in the barn. Hunter's young man changes as the movie progresses in now not wanting to kill a semi blind man and also realising that perhaps the sherrif is right but his search for the truth of his father will out.

The final confrontation in the saloon followed by the the haunting soundtrack makes for a memorable western.