Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Back in the 50s when the theaters didn't bother to post the title of the Saturday Matinée movie feature(s) It was always a crap shoot on what you were going to get. Those of us who went to see the feature (as opposed to the kids just out to raise heck in the audience, were usually pretty pleased when the name Randolph Scott appeared on the opening credits. We knew there was going to be plenty of action and simplistic characters spouting rudimentary dialog to move the plot from action to action. It was cowboy day, and just about any oater would do but a Scott flick was usually considerably better fare than most of the films made for the 50s kiddie market.I first saw Ten Wanted Men at the State Theater in downtown Schenectady New York. I don't remember if I got a soda or a Hershey bar on the way in, but those were my go-to matinée snacks at that time.Scott made some pretty impressive "B" westerns but Ten Wanted Men had absolutely nothing going for it, other than Scott. The quality of the dialog was amazingly poor and every scene seemed to land with a palpable thud. By the middle of the movie I wished I was one of the kids who chose running up and down the aisles instead of watching the movie.Naturally I would have chosen to avoid this film forever thereafter. But it popped up at least once again at a matinée. Time has not dulled my disdain for this remarkably poor excuse for a Randolph Scott western - but it has dulled my memory for titles. So, having no memory of the title - seen at least ten years before I started keeping notes on my watching habits, I ended up renting it recently from Netflix DVD. I realised my mistake during an early scene but it was too late. It was in my house, and I was left with no choice but to either watch the movie or send in back.My sense of thrift just about compels me to be a good lad and sit in my seat paying strict attention to a movie I really would have rather avoided forever.Unless you are an absolute completest for Scott westerns I suggest you do your best to avoid my horrible mistake.Pay no mind to the extensive list of reliable western bad men in the cast - even Richard Boone was a completely lackluster villain in this film. Leo Gordon almost saves the movie as Henchman Number One, at least his evil deeds do keep the plot moving briskly.

This film is an entertaining look at the Billy the Kid legend. Homeier, who was usually cast as a creep, is the Kid, but on the side of justice. Scott is the Chisum part. Instead of the Tunstall part being the Kid's father, it's his father. Boone (as always) wonderful plays the L.G. Murphy role. There are also events that were semi-changed (The fight at the McSween store is still in town, but at a different location. The murder of Tunstall is done, and the Kid was a favorite of the Mexican people, who attempt to warn Homeier away from the battle.) Of course, it's always a pleasure to see Scott out West, and Boone was one of those who could play any part.

In contrast to his usual roles as a loner or "stranger in town", Randolph Scott plays a very successful rancher, but doesn't really fit the patriarch mould, though he does get to wear a fancy waistcoat.Like other commentators, I thought that his practical joke at the beginning was foolish, and that the way the chip on bad guy Wick Campbell's shoulder grew was a bit unbelievable. And it was way into the film that I started to wonder about the "Ten Wanted Men" of the title. When the imported bad guys massed for the final shoot-out I tried to count them, and they did seem to number ten.I wondered if the version I saw on British TV had been subject to editing, such was the jerky plot, but the original runtime of 80 minutes was accommodated by the 85-minute viewing slot (including a couple of commercial breaks). The relationship between Maria and Howie seemed to happen instantaneously, and the "ten wanted men" turned up in town almost spontaneously.It was good to see Skip Homeier acting against type; he's nearly always a bad guy who gets killed; here he's even slow to rise to provocation from one of Campbell's heavies. I was half-expecting him to turn out bad but...Leo Gordon stole quite a few scenes from Richard Boone, who didn't perform that well. He had the most complex role in the film, with a chip-on-the-shoulder, somewhat pathetic infatuation with a young girl, and a really mean streak.Lee van Cleef didn't have much to do. "High Noon" apart, his filmography up to now had been unimpressive, but his day was coming.Quite apart from his misplaced sense of humour at the beginning, Scott took a foolish risk by walking into the bad guy's saloon by himself, and where were all his ranch-hands in the final confrontation? Without them, he had an unimpressive set of allies in the siege. Earlier he had recalled how he had won his land from the Apaches despite them burning him out four time, so perhaps he had a strong sense of indestructibility. John Wayne would have carried off the role better.Moonraker

"Ten Wanted Men" probably would not make a list of must see films, for the simple reason that it was released during the 50's as a movie bound for the Saturday afternoon double feature bill at the local movie house. The viewer will recognize a lot of Grade-B western movie actors, and this does give a bit of nostalgia to the film.Scott plays the rancher in the valley with most of the power and influence, while Richard Boone plays an up-and-comer who has designs to crowd in on Scott's area. Assisting Boone in this plan are veteran western heavies Leo Gordon and Lee Van Cleef and Dennis Weaver playing the sheriff before his "Gunsmoke" days. As indicated, it is a simple tale of the good guy against the bad guy, with a fistic brawl between Scott and Gordon settling the issue. A good film for the western fans.