Riding Shotgun (1954)

When a stagecoach guard tries to warn a town of an imminent raid by a band of outlaws, the people mistake him for one of the gang

Director:

André De Toth (as Andre de Toth)

Writers:

Thomas W. Blackburn (screenplay) (as Tom Blackburn), Kenneth Perkins (story)

Stars:

Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris, Joan Weldon

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Randolph Scott	...	Larry Delong
Wayne Morris	...	Deputy Sheriff Tub Murphy
Joan Weldon	...	Orissa Flynn
Joe Sawyer	...	Tom Biggert
James Millican	...	Dan Marady
Charles Bronson	...	Pinto (as Charles Buchinsky)
James Bell	...	Doc Winkler
Fritz Feld	...	Fritz
Richard Garrick	...	Walters
Vic Perrin	...	Bar-M Rider with Lynching Rope (as Victor Perrin)
John Baer	...	Deputy Ross Hughes
William Johnstone	...	Col. Flynn

Storyline

After members of his family are killed by the Maraday Gang during a stagecoach robbery, Larry Delong takes a job as stage guard in hopes that he will meet up with the outlaws. After he is captured by the bandits, his shot-up stage is returned to the town by the gang in order to draw the authorities out of town. After being left for dead, Delong escapes to warn the townspeople of an imminent raid by the outlaws. They don't believe his story and, in fact, accuse him of complicity in the stage robbery, tasking the town's remaining deputy with arresting him. A besieged Delong hides out in a local saloon before making his next move.

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Taglines:

He held the town at bay ... to save it !

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1955 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Dieser Mann weiß zuviel

Filming Locations:

Bell Ranch, Santa Susana, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,400,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the shot-up stagecoach arrives in town with a supposedly dead driver slumped in his seat, he visibly sits up enough in order to control and stop the horses.

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Quotes

Fritz: Fifteen years I'm married to her and only one boy! Such luck nobody should have! I'm sorry. I,-I,-I,-I don't know what to do! I get so upset I don't know what language I'm talking!

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Connections

Referenced in The Dangerous (1995)

User Reviews

The Deepwater Dimwits.

Riding Shotgun is directed by Andre De Toth and adapted to screenplay by Thomas W. Blackburn fro the story "Riding Solo" written by Kenneth Perkins. It stars Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris, Joan Weldon, Joe Sawyer, James Millican, Charles Bronson and James Bell. Music is by David Buttolph and Warnercolor cinematography is by Bert Glennon.

Before he would make the Western movies with Budd Boetticher that would define him as a Western movie legend, Randolph Scott worked tirelessly in the genre. He would make 6 films with Ray Enright and 6 with Andre De Toth, all of these are good value for the Western fan. They vary in thematic quality, but production value was always decent and there was always Randy at war with some gruff or poncey bloke, nice location photography and of course some gorgeous ladies as well. That's enough for genre fans who happily take these movies on their required terms.

Anyone else got anything to say?

Riding Shotgun has Scott as Larry Delong, a man who spends his time "riding shotgun" as a stagecoach guard. He has an ulterior motive, though, he's constantly on the look out for a known outlaw, Dan Marady (Millican), and he wants him dead. Sure enough Malady is about the place and Larry falls into a trap and finds things spiralling so out of control, that by the time he manages to get back into town, practically everyone hates him and thinks he's part of Marady's murderous gang.

Hate makes a man careless.

Cue a scenario where Delong, who has been wonderfully providing us with a film noir like narration throughout (love the wry David and Goliath observation), literally has to make a one man stand against the dimwit townsfolk and also Marady and his henchmen who are fronted by twitchy gun Pinto! (Bronson). It clocks in at under 75 minutes, it's brisk, it has Scott kicking ass big time and it looks lovely (unsurprising with Glennon photographing).

Is it flawless? God no! There's some distinctly below average acting around Scott (Morris/Millican), while Fritz Feld as the Cantina owner (erm, called Fritz) where Delong holes up, is annoying in the extreme. While as radiant and perky as Joan Weldon is, she's no actress capable of grabbing a scene and shooting electricity through it. But this type of Scott Oater is comfort food to genre fans who once in a while like to down pistols and relax away from the more serious genre fare. 7/10