calvinnme This is taut Western, filled with good phrasing and a good story, with a slight twist at the end. Ben Brigade (Randolph Scott) captures Billy John (James Best) for the bounty on his head. The twist is concerning Billy John's brother Frank (Lee Van Cleef) which I won't give away. Brigade meets up with Sam Boone (Pernell Roberts) and Whit (James Coburn) at a stage line swing station that belongs to Mr. & Mrs Lane. Mr. Lane is absent, killed by Indians, and the story basically is of Brigade taking Billy John to justice and Mrs Lane (Karen Steele) to safety, while a war party is after them and Frank and company are out to free Billy John.It's once again a simple old school Western, this one not being quite as good as "The Tall T". Katherine Steele is just a little too much eye candy that seems a bit out of place for the time period. As is customary for many western heroines of the 50's she's got a hairdo that could only be possible in a hair salon with the equipment they had in the 50's. James Best plays a part he was born for, that of the young smart-aleck killer, Pernell Roberts gives a standout performance, and Coburn plays Robert's thin as a rail sidekick Whit, in probably his first film role. Roberts and Whit play minor outlaws that are caught up in the events.Lee Van Cleef is not as effective as he could have been, but in this, as in other of his pre-Leone speaking roles, he comes off as either a hot head or a two bit outlaw. His speech and his body movements are way way too fast, but that's direction, and it seems that that was the way he was typecast for most of the fifties. Zinnerman saw his look in High Noon and kept him silent and menacing. In this film he does something so despicable that there should have been way way more buildup to to the climax, but that is of course looking at the Western with Leone colored glasses. Now this despicable act that you never actually see really doesn't work since it's thrown out way too far towards the climax. This would work better if the scenario of events was shown leading up to the act via flashbacks, giving the audience some shockers. Too late to make a long story short, the film should have been emphasizing Van Cleef as much as Scott, but that's just not Boetticher's style. To summarize, this is a great cheapie budget Western, and although the outdoor locations alone are a major part of the film, the only structures you see are the stage swing station and corrals and some abandoned ruins. More money was probably spent on stock and wranglers than art design. Again we get cowboy lore on the treatment of horses, and good Western slang. Scott is good as the man looking for revenge, and the irony involving the male characters is excellent. Scott is a good man doing a bad thing; Roberts and Coburn have done some bad things and are looking to go "good"/straight.

headhunter46 The pacing and action in this movie are excellent. Not once did I get the feeling the characters were acting. It drew me in until I almost felt as if I was there with them.It is a great depiction of how harsh and rugged life was in that area during that time frame.I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. All of the people were actors I have appreciated and enjoyed many times. The woman was new to me, but she was reasonably convincing. She did not seem as mature in her acting role as the men, I suspect she is a newcomer, chosen for her looks.Watching this, I found myself wondering why Pernell Roberts didn't end up filling the roles vacated by Randolph Scott's retirement. He seemed poised and confident enough to be a character like Scott. Maybe a bit of research will provide some clues.If you like westerns I am certain you will enjoy this movie.

utgard14 The 1950s was a great decade for the western. While the masterpieces may have belonged to John Ford and Fred Zinneman, the two directors that had the best body of work in the genre that decade were Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher. These two made many great westerns with their stars of choice -- Jimmy Stewart for Mann and Randolph Scott for Boetticher. These weren't simple horse operas or mindless actioners. These westerns were smart, tense stories driven by the psychology of their characters instead of the plots, which were often deceptively simple.This film is one of the Boetticher/Scott westerns and it's one of the best. The plot, again, seems simple enough: a bounty hunter (Randolph Scott) is bringing in a killer (James Best) whose ruthless brother (Lee Van Cleef) is expected to try and stop him. Along the way he is joined by two criminals (Pernell Roberts of Bonanza fame and James Coburn in his film debut) and a beautiful blonde (Karen Steele). Roberts and Coburn join Scott in hopes of taking the prisoner themselves in return for an offer of amnesty for his capture. Scott has another reason for bringing Best in besides the bounty.Wonderful cast with a standout performance from Pernell Roberts, an actor better known for his television work. The support from Best, Coburn, and Van Cleef is nice. Karen Steele looks lovely and does fine but her brassiere is most definitely from the 1950s. You'll know what I mean when you see her. Hopefully she didn't put anybody's eye out. Scott doesn't have lots of lines as his character is the silent type. But he was an underrated actor who said a lot with very little. Great direction from Boetticher with his favorite screenwriter Burt Kennedy turning in a good script. Relatively short runtime ensures the movie doesn't overstay its welcome. It didn't feel too short at all. Fans of westerns will definitely want to check this one out.

weezeralfalfa First off, why did the screenwriter pick the name Santa Cruz as the ultimate destination for Brigade(Randolph Scott) and his odd assortment of strays plus captured outlaw Billy John? Since Bisbee, in the SE corner of present AZ, is mentioned several times, I assume that the reference is to nearby Santa Cruz county AZ, not to the coastal well watered city of Santa Cruz, CA, which looks nothing like the arid rocky landscape, with occasional sand dunes depicted(Alabama Hills and Olancho sand dunes of eastern CA). If so, the Mescalero Apache encountered were out of their usual territorial limits. Should have been Western or Chiricahua Apache: the latter being the most war-like of the Apache groups. It's clear to me that the name Santa Cruz was not a random pick. It translates into English as 'holy cross'. Thus, it somehow relates, in the screenwriter's mind, to the cross-like 'hang tree', which is featured so prominently in the last part of the film. This dead and decaying tree trunk has two partial limbs, thus rather resembling the cross that Christ was crucified on. It also stands alone in a clearing, which is surrounded by trees and shrubs, thus resembling the common depiction of Calvary Hill, where Christ was crucified. Like Christ, who was crucified along with true criminals and where criminals were commonly dispatched, Brigade's wife was an innocent sacrificial victim of outlaw Frank's need for vengeance against Brigade, hanged on this tree where criminals had sometimes been hanged. Incidentally, the screenwriter could have picked the geographically more appropriate name Las Cruses, which is a city very close to the traditional territory of the Mescalero Apaches, translating as 'the crosses'. However, Santa Cruz more clearly denotes the intention of a holy cross.Historically, burning special things often symbolically was thought to neutralize evil or the power of black magic. The burning of witches in Medieval Europe is a prime example. In some cultures, the decease's key belongings are burned, perhaps symbolically transferring them to the afterlife of the deceased. In Brigade's case, the burning of the 'hang tree' in the parting scene clearly is meant to celebrate his long awaited vengeance upon the man who hanged his wife, and to symbolically extinguish his need for further vengeance in facilitating the hanging of Frank's young brother, Billy John.Brigade mentions that the gorgeous blond Carrie Lane(Karen Steele) much reminds him of his deceased wife as a young woman. At age 60, stone-faced Scott is clearly too old to consider this young recent widow as a possible replacement. Thus he maintains an emotional distance from her, treating her like a daughter who needs protection from the persistent Apaches and perhaps his unpredictable companions. In the ending, it's clear that he is willing to go along with Boone's ambition to gain amnesty by being given credit for bringing in outlaw Billy John, and thereby perhaps promote his additional ambition to marry Carrie. Why?? I suspect that Brigade, as a young man, before he became sheriff of Santa Cruz, had his wild outlaw time. He believes Boone's story that this former minor outlaw has prospects of settling down to an honest productive life. Thus, he identifies with him, and foresees a rebirth of himself plus wife in the possible pairing of Boone and Carrie, in a humble analogy to the resurrection of Christ. Formerly, Brigade had criticized Carrie's husband for accepting a job in an isolated way station, easily raided by Apaches, thus endangering his life and that of his unusually desirable wife, whom the Apaches might want to steal. Included is the bizarre incident in which a band of Apaches bring the horse of Carrie's presumably now deceased husband, to trade with her companions for her! Perhaps they hoped she wouldn't recognize the horse, or perhaps they stuck it in her face to suggest that they had killed, or at least captured, her husband, thus rendering her available as a possible legal wife for them. In any case, she and the others later get vengeance against the Apaches when the latter attack the party to steal her, after failing in their ignominious attempt to buy her.Negatives include that the dialogue is often trite, and sounds forced or premeditated. Karen Steele was no great shakes as an animated actress, being the director's mistress around this time. Typical of Scott-starring westerns, there's minimal humor and social events to balance the tense drama. I see strong parallels in the basic plot to that of Scott's last Hollywood feature: the well-regarded "Ride the High Country", costarring Joel McCrea, with a different director. Again, we have a small party traversing a rugged wilderness toward a town. The party includes a young marriageable woman in a precarious position, who needs protection and some guidance(initially mostly by McCrea; near the end, by Scott), and includes, within the party, a pair at cross purposes to that of the leader. A gold shipment takes the place of a bountied prisoner as the contested object within the group. In addition, a raiding party also wants the woman. Thus,, again, we have two quite different prizes within the group that different groups hope to steal. Again, one of the young men within the group with a somewhat tarnished past is characterized near the end as a potential desirable husband for the woman, with the implied consent of Scott, as her unofficial guardian. Again, we have a dramatic in-the-open shootout duel with the little gang of badies at the end.