"Comanche Station" was the seventh and final collaboration between Producer/Director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott.
Again, Scott is a loner searching for something or somebody. As Jefferson Cody he riding to negotiate the freedom of a white woman from the Comanche. The woman turns out to be Nancy Lowe (Nancy Gates) who was taken during a stagecoach holdup. We learn much later that Cody has been searching for his wife who had been similarly taken ten years before.
Cody plans to take the woman back to her husband in Lordsburg. They arrive at Comanche Station, a relay station and find it deserted. Just then three men are fleeing a hostile Comanche war party. They join Cody and manage to drive the Indians away.
Ben Lane (Claude Akins) is the leader and he and Cody immediately recognize each other. It seems they have a past. The other two are simple uneducated drifters, Frank (Skip Homier) and Dobie (Richard Rust). The station agent (Rand Brooks) rides in with an arrow in his chest and warns of the warring Comanche bands all over the area before he dies.
Cody decides that he better move on. Lane decides to go along since there is a $5,000 reward for the return of Mrs. Lowe to her husband. Both Cody and Lane wonder out loud why the husband did not come after his wife himself. Lane tells Cody that he is after the reward and will do anything necessary, including killing Cody, to get it.
Lane sends Frank ahead to scout the Comanche only to find him floating down the stream dead. Cody is attacked by the Comanche while searching for a safe crossing across an open area. In a curious move, Lane rides to his rescue and saves Cody's life. In an earlier moving scene between Frank an Dobie, they discuss their lives and life choices. Frank is satisfied with his life as is, while Dobie longs for something better.
Finally, Lane decides to make his move to kill Cody. Dobie tries to leave not wanting to be a part of the killing but is shot down by Lane. Cody then goes after Lane and......................................
This being the last film in the series, one can look back and see many similarities in the plots of the various films. For example. Scott's characters are all loners for one reason or another searching for something. He and whomever he is "bringing in" always seemed to arrive at a relay station where the main characters hook up. They all ride out in a group to escape either the Indians or a pursuing gang across open country and the same bushed in areas. (I'm sure I spotted that hanging tree from "Ride Lonesome" (1958) in this film. Scott never actually gets to the town he is headed for, I suppose due to budget restrictions.
Nevertheless It was a great series of beautifully photographed little westerns. Randolph Scott decided to "hang 'em up" after this film only to be lured out of retirement for one last film in 1962's "Ride the Hugh Country"
Again, Scott is a loner searching for something or somebody. As Jefferson Cody he riding to negotiate the freedom of a white woman from the Comanche. The woman turns out to be Nancy Lowe (Nancy Gates) who was taken during a stagecoach holdup. We learn much later that Cody has been searching for his wife who had been similarly taken ten years before.
Cody plans to take the woman back to her husband in Lordsburg. They arrive at Comanche Station, a relay station and find it deserted. Just then three men are fleeing a hostile Comanche war party. They join Cody and manage to drive the Indians away.
Ben Lane (Claude Akins) is the leader and he and Cody immediately recognize each other. It seems they have a past. The other two are simple uneducated drifters, Frank (Skip Homier) and Dobie (Richard Rust). The station agent (Rand Brooks) rides in with an arrow in his chest and warns of the warring Comanche bands all over the area before he dies.
Cody decides that he better move on. Lane decides to go along since there is a $5,000 reward for the return of Mrs. Lowe to her husband. Both Cody and Lane wonder out loud why the husband did not come after his wife himself. Lane tells Cody that he is after the reward and will do anything necessary, including killing Cody, to get it.
Lane sends Frank ahead to scout the Comanche only to find him floating down the stream dead. Cody is attacked by the Comanche while searching for a safe crossing across an open area. In a curious move, Lane rides to his rescue and saves Cody's life. In an earlier moving scene between Frank an Dobie, they discuss their lives and life choices. Frank is satisfied with his life as is, while Dobie longs for something better.
Finally, Lane decides to make his move to kill Cody. Dobie tries to leave not wanting to be a part of the killing but is shot down by Lane. Cody then goes after Lane and......................................
This being the last film in the series, one can look back and see many similarities in the plots of the various films. For example. Scott's characters are all loners for one reason or another searching for something. He and whomever he is "bringing in" always seemed to arrive at a relay station where the main characters hook up. They all ride out in a group to escape either the Indians or a pursuing gang across open country and the same bushed in areas. (I'm sure I spotted that hanging tree from "Ride Lonesome" (1958) in this film. Scott never actually gets to the town he is headed for, I suppose due to budget restrictions.
Nevertheless It was a great series of beautifully photographed little westerns. Randolph Scott decided to "hang 'em up" after this film only to be lured out of retirement for one last film in 1962's "Ride the Hugh Country"