bombersflyup Two Rode Together is an uneventful mess of a western.This film is extremely dull and contains many nonsensical moments. What is the deal with Sgt. Posey? Is he suppose to add comic relief, because he did no such thing. Didn't mind the main two characters, the rest were bad though.

bsmith5552 "Two Rode Together" is considered by many to be one of John Ford's lesser westerns (including Ford himself). It's basically a vehicle for the film's two stars James Stewart and Richard Widmark.The basic plot has army lieutenant Jim Gary tricking town marshal Guthrie (that's right) McCabe (Stewart) into returning with him to his fort where he is cajoled into embarking on a search for white captives of the Commanches in order to return them to their families who are waiting nearby as part of a wagon train. Gary and McCabe then proceed into the camp of Commanche chief Quanah Parker (Henry Brandon). They return with two captives, Elena de la Madriaga (Linda Cristal), the wife of Commanche rebel Stone Calf (Woody Strode) and a teenage warrior Running Wolf (David Kent). Tragic events follow.Ford borrows ideas from many of his previous westerns. The opening scene for example, shows Stewart sitting back in his chair with his feet up on the railing much like Henry Fonda in "My Darling Clementine" (1946). The whole premise of "Two Rode Together" is the search for white captives not unlike the plot of "The Searchers" (1956) even to the extent of casting Henry Brandon in much the same role he played in the earlier film. The Cleggs (Ford Rainey, Harry Carey Jr., Ken Curtis) are similar to the point of using the same surname as characters in "Wagonmaster" (1950). There is even a commanding officer's ball much like that in "Fort Apache" (1948).The film is light on action....hardly a shot is fired. Except for individual clashes there are no major incidents between the cavalry and the Indians. There is but one fistfight, and that is played for laughs.There are however, some memorable moments in this film as there are in every John Ford picture. One involves a lengthy scene on a riverbank between Stewart and Widmark where they trade humorous remarks. The meeting in the Indian camp of the captive mother of the Clegg boys (played by silent star Mae Marsh) is very moving. The plea of John Qualen for the return of his daughter is also very touching.As in most Ford westerns, there is a large cast. The female lead is a miscast Shirley Jones complete with braided pig tails who is seeking her captured brother, the husband/wife team of John McIntire as the crusty Major Frazer and Jeanette Nolan as a slightly mad Mrs. McCandles, Andy Devine, along for comedy relief as Sgt. Posy and Willis Bouchey as Mr. Wringle who tries to buy his son, any son's return. Also in the cast are Ford Regulars Anna Lee and Jack Pennick and look for a very young Ted Knight as Lt. Upton.Not his best western, but any John Ford western is worth a look if only to see what parts he assigned to his so-called stock company.

vincentlynch-moonoi If you're just looking for a DECENT Western, you might try this one; it's at lest better than the average Western of the era. But, that's not saying much.If you're looking for a fine John Ford Western...well, you're going to be disappointed. Ford reportedly didn't want to do this film and thought it was not a top-rate story. And it shows. We all know what Ford was capable of, and here it almost seems as if he intentionally gave the film short shrift. Interestingly, the very next year, John Ford and Jimmy Stewart teamed together to make one of the finest Westerns of all time -- "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence". This film pales in comparison. I don't think I've ever before watched a film and thought, "This would be better in black and white." But I thought that here, simply because it looked just a little too shallow.You think the story is about buying back White captives from the Indians. And it is, but it tells that story superficially. Then you think it's about the captives' lives back in White society. And it is, but it tells that story superficially. And that's this film in a nutshell -- superficial.The casting...well, I was never a fan of Richard Widmark, although in recent years I've begun to reassess his talents. Here, however, I was not particularly impressed.Jimmy Stewart as the small-town less than stellar-minded sheriff is a tad disappointing. Stewart was long one of my favorites, with so many wonderful roles in his career...this is not one of them. Here, he's not the really good guy, nor the really bad guy...something in between...so you don't exactly like or dislike his character. And it seems as if he didn't take the film very seriously. In the film, Widmark and Stewart have a relationship that is poorly scripted -- close friends, enemies ready to kill each other...it just doesn't make sense. Shirley Jones must have been disappointed in her role. But, I feel most sorry for a character actor that was never a favorite of mine -- Andy Devine...he deserved a better part here. It almost seemed that someone felt sorry for him and tossed him in the cast just to be nice.There are a number of character actors here that you'll recognize: John McIntire as an army major, Harry Carey Jr., Ken Curtis as a "hillbilly"...another inane role to his credit, David Kent in a bizarre role as a White captive who has gone Indian, Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. John McIntire, and others.I rarely give a "6", but I will here, not because it's a bad film (although some of the dialog is more primitive than the Indians), but because with all the talent here, it should have been so much better. A definite disappointment.

Spikeopath Two Rode Together is directed by John Ford and adapted to screenplay by Frank Nugent from the novel Comanche Captives written by Will Cook. It stars James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Shirley Jones, Linda Cristal and Andy Devine. Music is scored by George Duning and Eastman Color cinematography is by Charles Lawton Junior.The US Army is under pressure to negotiate the release of Comanche captives and send in a party to ransom for their release. Heading the party are cynical hard drinking Marshal Guthrie McCabe (Stewart) and his pal First Lt. Jim Gary (Widmark). The two men are at odds in how to go about dealing with the problem to hand, but bigger issues are just around the corner.....The Searchers lite it is for sure, Two Rode Together is a mixed bag that hasn't been helped by the quotes attributed by its director. It's well documented that John Ford only did the film out of kindness and a love of money, the great man going on record to say he hated the film, the source and etc. The shoot was far from being a happy one, with the director pitching his two stars against each other whilst grumpily putting his film crew through the mangler. The end result shows the film to be psychitzophrenic in tone and structure, where airy comedy tries to sit alongside some serious themes and fails miserably. When the moral implications of the picture are to be born out, Ford, in his half-hearted approach to the production, comes off as being either clueless, sarcastically mean or going through the motions since he had already made this film as The Searchers. Well clueless is not something you can comfortably say in relation to this particular director....However, film has strengths, not least with Stewart's over the top portrayal of McCabe. The actor is really giving it the full treatment, no doubt prompted by his director, this is a shallow man, motivated by ale and cash. This is non heroic stuff, he calls it as he sees it, he thinks nothing off telling the longing relatives of the missing that their loved ones are now alien to them. It's a clinical thread in the piece, deftly setting the film up for its telling last quarter as the moral questions are raised and the bitter irony leaves its sour taste. It's a mixed bag indeed, but hardly a disaster, though, and in spite of Ford's irreverence towards it, there's a worthy viewpoint in amongst all the causticism. It's just a shame that all the great individual aspects don't make a complete and rewarding whole, the blend of comedy and drama, this time, not making for a great John Ford picture. 6.5/10