cricket crockett . . . of how to Make America Safe Again. RIDING SHOTGUN shows that towns in which everybody is willing and able to take pot shots at everyone else can really reduce their crime rates, even when plagued by felonious gangs. If firearms had been outlawed in the town of "Deepwater" before "Dan Marady's" gang of gun-slinging outlaws showed up, only Dan's outlaws would have had access to firearms after they had tricked the local lawmen into leaving town. Fortunately for the "Bank Club" casino--Dan's armed robbery target--Deepwater is an "open carry" settlement, in which everyone is armed to the teeth. (The good guys even keep "in practice" by shooting at EACH OTHER while waiting for the bad guys to show up! Fortunately, "Laconic Larry" is skilled at shooting guns out of the opposing duelists' hands when other good guys are firing at HIM!) RIDING SHOTGUN proves that Guardian Angels mostly keep good guys from getting shot in the USA, as long as they're allowed to be on a "level playing field" where everyone old enough to walk is packing a firearm. Certainly RIDING SHOTGUN can serve as a timely reminder to show your support Today for your local chapter of BANGS (Broke Americans Need Gun Stamps).

Robert J. Maxwell Considering the budget, and considering other constraints on its quality, this is pretty good -- efficient movie-making at its best.Randolph Scott is a shotgun rider on a stagecoach. The coach is held up and some former enemies capture Scott, hog tie his ass, and leave him to scorch to death in the sun. Tie up Randolph Scott? Hah! He rides into town to warn the good folk of the gang's plans, which is to divert the posse into chasing some loose horses so that the gang can loot and pillage the town. I'm not sure exactly how you pillage a village but I'm morally certain that's what they have in mind.The problem is that no one in town believes Scott's warnings. What's worse, they believe him to be in cahoots with the dozen gang members, led by James Millican, with Charles Bronson in support.Narrow-minded hostility surrounds Scott as he tries to spread the alarm and bring back the posse. No one believes him except his girl, Joan Weldon. The deputy, Wayne Morris, is doubtful of the hysteria but, in any case, is in no position to stand alone against them. The town doctor is neutral and wants to see due process exercised.A couple of observations. This is Scott's only Western that I'm aware of in which he provides a noir-like narration. There's nothing wrong with that in principle but in practice it sounds a bit weird. This was released in 1954, and films noir had dominated American dramatic films for the previous ten years.Fritz Feld was the psychiatrist with a twitch in "Bringing Up Baby." Here, he plays a treacherous but comic saloon proprietor. His joint is a filthy dump and he himself is unshaven, ragged, and weaselly. He's saddled with a Mexican wife and five children -- none of them boys. When he's excited, his Spanish tirade turns into German. That's understandable because he was born in Berlin. He's a welcome presence.Joan Weldon, Scott's supportive girl friend, doesn't have a Hollywood-beautiful face but she seems to radiate intelligence and a little charm. Anybody who was a singer with the San Francisco Opera has my vote. Also, I blush, but must admit it always found her sexy.The movie also does something interesting, probably unwittingly. It demonstrates the destructive potential of rumor. Now, gossip is a necessary means of social control in human society. (Lecturer writes "gossip" on blackboard.) One of the main reasons we don't do bad things is that, if we're found out, our family, friends, and neighbors will not like us so much. But gossip is like water. A certain amount is required for survival but too much of it, out of control, is destructive. We need tap water, not a flood. And we see rumor get subtle autonomy in this movie. The marginalized Scott is holed up in a filthy saloon and every move he makes is interpreted as "bad" and exaggerated by the hostile villagers. If a man tries to shoot Scott, and Scott shoots him in the gun-wielding arm, the story is told that Scott has killed his victim. Everything he does is interpreted by his enemies as deliberately mean. The movie is really a good demonstration of this point. (Imagine if the villagers had the internet.) "Riding Shotgun" doesn't have the poetic quality of some of the Boetticher/Scott/Kennedy Westerns of the same period, but I was easily able to enjoy it for what it was.

Karl Ericsson For no logic reason whatsoever, our hero Randolph is left alive and sloppily tied up, so that freeing himself is like a walk in the park. After this idiotic beginning the film shifts into "stupidity high-gear" as Scott tries to convince a whole town filled with idiots that their town is going to get robbed. John Baer from "We're no Angels", who looks like William Katt's father (maybe he was for all I know), somehow got a role in this mess and makes a mess of that role - a mess in the mess, so to speak. Why am I writing this review? I only have a messy answer on that question. Soon, very soon, this review will contain enough lines for being permitted...just about...now!

Mozjoukine Seeing "Riding Shotgun" again after half a century is a welcome reminder of the peak that the western film of the fifties achieved.Director De Toth, who actually had ranch experience despite his Hungarian origins,obviously took great satisfaction in finding such a variety of effective angles and pieces of western imagery to present what is a well constructed story. When our weathered hero has to shoot out the candle in Fritz Feld's "dirty little cantina" it not only provides a chance for master cameramen Bert Glennon ("Stagecoach") to do an effective light change but it also gives us a couple of reels of the disturbing image of the blackened door-way that no one in the town is game to enter, not sure if Randy is dead or not.The film making is better than most of the bigger pictures could muster.The Warner western street re-dressed. Interesting cast - Joe Sawer in a non comedy role, punching it out with Scott, Charlie Bronson getting started, Millican in his best part - are those Frank Ferguson, Cesare Gravina and Bob Steele in uncredited walk-ons?Pretension free, work like the Scott-De Toth series made going to the movies a rewarding, addictive habit.