The Age of Commercialism

hyped garbage

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is a Plot Heavy Movie with a Goodly Amount of Heavies, Literally. All the lead Bad Guys are Seriously Overweight except Craig Stevens as a well Groomed Gun for Hire.Randolph Scott is in on the Light Touch of the Film from the Get-Go as He Smiles Broadly, almost Retardedly, but that could be a Ploy. He seems perfectly Able to Figure Things Out and is Ready with a Funny Quip. After finding a Room is $10, a Steak is $10 and a Bottle of Whisky is $10...Looking straight at an Attractive Floozy in the Saloon says, "Is there anything in this town that doesn't cost $10?" There's more but You need to Watch this Amusing, Above Average Movie to experience the Fun.L.Q. Jones is a Standout as Scott's West Texas Buddy. There is a Burial Scene that's a Hoot. Newbies seeking out the Boetticher/Scott Cannon might want to Save this one for Last, so They can Wrap it Up with a Wink and a Nod to One of the Best Collaborations Found in Fifties Westerns. Note...Along with the Anthony Mann/James Stewart Films these were as Good as the Genre had to Offer in the Overdose of Oaters from the Decade.

I have really enjoyed some of Boetticher's other movies - especially The Tall T. This one starts well and seems to prefigure some of Clint Eastwood's westerns. The town riven with corruption etc. There is a marvellous scene of dark comedy between Randolph Scott and L.Q.Jones as they 'bury' another guy (who has tried to kill Scott)in a tree!!!. The dialogue is very good here. However the film loses it's way with the overcomplicated action in the town - and the villains are rather pallid in presentations and somewhat poorly acted - they do not have the depth of the 'villains' in the other films. Indeed this series of westerns is notable for the richness of the portrayals of the morally compromised characters - they are presented as complex characters - with acute psychological realism. This makes this film all the more disappointing - it is very much the poor relation of the others.

Happy-go-lucky drifter Randolph Scott rides into a crooked border town controlled by the sleazy Agry family and steps into trouble when he saves a Mexican youth accused of murder from being beaten to death by the sheriff.As with the other Bud Boetticher directed westerns starring Randolph Scott, this is excellent storytelling with stunning Technicolor cinematography that looks like a million bucks, with perfect composition in every frame!The fast-paced, entertaining story is a nice blend of suspense, drama, and comedy, with great performances by all the actors involved, especially a young L.Q. Jones. His eulogy to a fellow hired goon is a real hoot.

The fourth collaboration between Boetticher and Scott does not quite measure up to its predecessors but is enjoyable enough. Scott plays an easy-going stranger passing through a town run by a dastardly family. Of course, he has a run-in with the family and ends up in jail. Stevens, who played Peter Gunn on a popular TV series that started the same year as this film came out, plays a somewhat shady character here. L.Q. Jones, who made a career out of playing nasty villains, gets to play a clean-cut good guy here. Unlike the previous films in this series, this one has no female characters; it would have perhaps benefited from having a love interest for Scott.