grafxman
This excellent Robert Mitchum/Barbara Hale western is equal parts of action, comedy and romance. There's enough characters running around doing stuff that one never gets bored. In a nutshell, Chicago city slickers go west to take over an old hacienda that's been abandoned for years. Of course there's outlaws, stage coach chases, gun play and all sorts of goings on. I rented this from Netflix because after visiting and photographing the Zane Grey Museum in Ohio I'm trying to watch as many of Zane Grey movies as possible. This flick is definitely worth renting.It was shot in Lone Pine California where many Hollywood westerns were shot. It seems Barbara Hale convinced the director to employ a guy she was sweet on, Bill Williams. He isn't around much in the movie but apparently he was around enough behind the scenes that Barbara managed to sink her hooks into the guy. They ended up married until his death and had three kids. One of the kids was William Katt, the actor.
Richard Burin
Superior B-Western with Bob Mitchum in his second starring film. Lots of action and plenty of plot as Barbara Hale, her father and their French maid relocate from Chicago to Texas, stumbling across Pecos Smith (Mitchum) as he exacts revenge on the crooked vigilantes who killed his best friend, then hides out, just trying to stay alive. Hale spends a good portion of the film cross-dressing, so if you've ever wanted to see Mitchum invite what he thinks is a teenage boy into his bed for a cuddle, then this is the film for you. Bob is laid back, compelling, sometimes cool, just a few months away from the first great characterisation of his career in The Story of G.I. Joe.(3 out of 4)
Igenlode Wordsmith
I encountered this little B-Western in its natural habitat, as the bottom half of a double-bill on the big screen, and enjoyed it enormously. 'West of the Pecos' has its perfunctory genre moments, such as the 'dying cowboy' scene and the final shoot-out and siege, but at heart it's a cross-dressing comedy, based around the masquerade of star Barbara Hale in boy's clothing and the consequences that ensue when 'he' crosses the path of amiable but unobservant cowboy Robert Mitchum. It's not exactly intellectually demanding -- true to the tradition of farce, Mitchum, as Pecos Smith, discovers the youngster's true sex only when her long hair falls out of her hat, despite having rescued her from drowning and carried her soaking wet in his arms from the river! -- but the comic potential is brought out to the fullest extent, while the spitfire secondary romance between the French girl and the half-Irish Mexican sidekick provides a very funny counterpoint.It has to be said that the hilarity subsides somewhat once the sexual confusion is sorted out -- like Pecos, we rather miss the tomboy 'young squirt' -- and all the loose ends are tidied away with implausibly convenient ease for the finale. But I came out of this one with a broad grin from ear to ear and an added bounce to my step, in the awareness of having been thoroughly entertained. It's silly but it's fun.
segstef
This movie follows basically the same theme as "Stagecoach Kid". where a lady dresses as a boy and tries to pass as a boy briefly. Also, this movie has Richard Martin playing the character of Chito Rafferty. Unlike "Stagecoach Kid",Pecos doesn't realize that the "boy" is really a lady for a while, whereas the character played by Tim Holt in "Stagecoach Kid" plays along with the act. This movie has no surprises, the good guys win and the hero gets the girl at the end,but the characters are likeable,the story flows well.
AD
