I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Great Film overall

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

An ageing sheriff attempts to run a crooked gambling syndicate out of town but has to contend with public mistrust given his reputation as 'trigger happy' in this Old West drama starring Robert Ryan. While he looks old enough to be the father of love interest Virginia Mayo, Ryan delivers a very human performance here as he laments the fact that his trigger happy reputation is based only on his word against others and as he states confidently that his "ambition is to be oldest living marshal west of Kansas City". The film features some dialogue that simply simmers with wit too; early on, Ryan is told that "pride can kill a man faster than a bullet", to which he quickly responds "so can overconfidence". The conclusion of the movie feels a bit too neat and tidy for credibility, but this is a pretty solid movie overall with Mayo's underwritten, thankless role probably the biggest detractor; it is either that, or the repetitive whistling music at key dramatic parts. When the film focuses on Ryan though and the trust he tries to build with Jeffrey Hunter, it is top tier stuff with the highlight of the film being an incredibly intense scene in which they practise shooting. Apparently, this was one of Akira Kurosawa's favourite movies. It seems an unusual choice, but with such excellent character drama, it is certainly more notable than the average western out there.

"Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" director Robert D. Webb's western shoot'em up "The Proud Ones" is a solid, well-made, and highly underrated oater that stars Robert Ryan as a leathery tough town marshal, Jeffrey Hunter as an indecisive cowhand, and Virginia Mayo as Ryan's spitfire girlfriend. "The Proud Ones" anticipated later films such as Anthony Mann's "The Tin Star" (1957), Sam Fuller's "Forty Guns," Sergio Corbucci's "Minnesota Clay" (1965), Don Siegel's "Death of a Gunfighter" (1969), and Fernando Baldi's "Blindman" (1971). Webb doesn't waste a moment in this tightly helmed western drama that deals with a familiar theme in most oaters: an older man takes a younger one under his tutelage and shows him the ropes about how to survive as a lawman and how to handle a six-gun. Predictably, the younger man doesn't trust the older man and that generates half of the drama in "The Proud Ones." Clocking in at a minimal 94-minutes, this Twentieth Century Fox sagebrusher penned by Academy Award winner Edmund H. North of "Patton" and "Guns of the Timberlands" scenarist Joseph Petracca slights the villain and the heroine. Robert Middleton is a worthwhile villain and he poses a clear and present danger to our hero, but we don't get nearly enough scenes where he connives against the protagonist. In other words, Middleton doesn't make near enough an impression. Meantime, Virginia Mayo doesn't garner enough screen time either as our hero's headstrong girlfriend. Composer Lionel Newman contributes a richly atmospheric orchestral soundtrack that is distinguished by a pre-Ennio Morricone whistling theme. Veteran western lenser Lucian Ballard adds to the credibility with his artful widescreen compositions that give this western a quiet dignity. The supporting cast is fleshed out by many familiar faces, among them Walter Brennan in a pre-"Rio Bravo" role as a wise old deputy; Arthur O'Connell as a nervous, expectant father, Whit Bissell as a yellow livered townsperson, Ken Clark and Rudolfo Acosta as murderous killers; Edward Platt as the town doctor, George Mathews and I. Stanford Jolly as crooked card dealers.Basically, a hard-as-nails Kansas town marshal, Cass Silver (Robert Ryan of "Flying Leathernecks"), has to keep a town tamed after his old nemesis 'Honest John' Barrett (Robert Middleton of "The Law and Jake Wade") opens a saloon/gambling house and imports a couple of trigger-happy gunslingers to raise Cass' blood pressure. The first of the cattle herds are showing up in town and the merchants are taking advantage of their future customers by raising prices on everything, including haircuts. Complications arise when Cass has to blast one of Barrett's quick-tempered men in a saloon gunfight and a bullet nicks him on the left temple so that his vision blurs at the worst moments. Meanwhile, if blurry sight is enough for our clench-jawed hero to contend with, a cowpoke, Thad Anderson (Jeffrey Hunter of "The Searchers"), rides into town with a cattle herd and keeps two guns buckled across his hips. It seems that Anderson's no-good father worked as a hired gun for Barrett in another town and Silver had to plug him. Barrett has generated a persuasive rumor that Silver gunned down Anderson' father in cold blood and Anderson wants to know the truth.Jeffrey Hunter has the plum role as Anderson, largely because he hasn't made up his mind which side of the law that he intends to stay on. Never quite completely until the end of the action does Anderson trust Cass Silver. It is a testimony to Robert Ryan's ability as a leading man and a character actor that he comes off as a marshal who is prepared to do things that most lawmen wouldn't do. During a street showdown, he blasts a gunmen who appeared to be unarmed but had concealed a derringer in his jacket. Later, Anderson pulls the same stunt, shooting down a man at a saloon bar who appeared to all intensive purposes to be unarmed. These two scenes raise "The Proud Ones" above average. "The Proud Ones" isn't one of those westerns with unrealistic expectations. The suspicion on behalf of the townspeople that Cass Silver might be a mite unhinged in his behavior foreshadows Siegel's later western "Death of a Gunfighter." The big gundown in a barn at the end bristles with thrills, too, as Silver confronts his Achilles' heel when his sight goes bad, he loses his revolver, and he must depend on Anderson. "The Proud Ones" is an unheralded western that deserves more positive critical recognition.

"The Proud Ones" can be considered one of the best westerns of the fifties. It is a forgotten film which also was not very noticed when it was originally released. Adapted from a book by Verne Athanas, it stars Robert Ryan who has to choose between being proud and face Robert Middleton, the saloon owner and his gang on an suicidal task or listen to the advice of the woman he loves, Virginia Mayo and the town people (who are motivated by greed) and run away. This is aggravated because he is losing his eyesight. There is also Thad (Jeffrey Hunter) whose father was killed by Ryan, when according to witnesses he was unarmed. How Ryan is going to face his task with the help of Hunter is what the film manages to tell us in a very convincing way and there resides its greatest merit. It is not easy to explain Ryan's and Hunter's motivation but the good story, combined with the competent performances and good direction makes all the difference. Lucien Ballard who was Budd Boetticher's favorite cinematographer adds a lot to the film which was made in Cinemascope, and therefore is a pleasure to see nowadays on a wide screen television. Remarkable also is the soundtrack with a great melody that seems to be whistled.

"The Proud Ones" has an extremely fine script by Edmund H. North, veteran screenwriter; its plot vastly improves on the novel on which it was ostensibly based. Robert D. Webb's direction is taut, featuring dense images, helping his actors to achieve top-notch performances. Every element of this production works, from the art direction by classy Lyle Wheeler to the memorable theme song, the music by Lionel Newman, the sets, and the costumes by Travilla. Among the outstanding performances are those given by Robert Middleton as "Honest John", villain of the piece, George Matthews as his 'segundo', Whitner Bissell and others as townsmen and henchmen; the film is far-above-average in acting. This well-remembered dramatic western stars Robert Ryan, Virginia Mayo and young Jeffrey Hunter as a youth who is befriended by an aging marshal (who has been run out of a town poisoned by the lies of a delusive gambling joint owner). Hunter acquits himself well, as does Ryan, as the younger man tries to forgive the man he begins to admire, even after he has killed the boy's father in the line of duty. Virginia Mayo achieves considerable skill and charm as the woman who loves Ryan. The story's theme of honesty set against plausible pretense is unusual and difficult to carry off; the adjective "proud" has been forced to carry two contradictory meanings for years. Here it is used correctly in a secular sense to refer to men too honest to be bought off and too brave to be scared off, the sort of men who will fight when necessary, refusing to be intimidated. All-too-rare are films that celebrate objective minds, people who can be honestly wrong but act ethically when the chips are down. Whole genres are based on the betrayal of such commitments by people who argue they "can't help being what they are".As the beleaguered marshal in this story faces a town full of profiteers with the wrongness of their selling out to be opportunistic looters of unearned wealth during a boom, the film is raised to heights of thoughtfulness and of clearly-exampled good and bad behavior seldom found in the western genre. This is a very good and a very memorable achievement of cinema. Incidentally, it is physically beautiful to watch as well.