Saturday Night at the Movies - Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott make an unbeatable screen team in Sam Peckinpah's "Ride the High Country" (1962)
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – I love westerns, but there have been some significant gaps in my knowledge of the genre. I closed one recently when I finally saw director Sam Peckinpah’s “Ride the High Country” (1962). What a western! Perhaps one of the great classics of all time, that should be mentioned in the same breath as “The Searchers,” “The Wild Bunch” and “The Magnificent Seven” (original, of course). Apparently, MGM had no faith in this film and literally dumped it initially as a second feature to “Boy’s Night Out.” (Huh!) Reminds me of Universal dumping “Lonely are the Brave” in similar fashion. This was Peckinpah’s second directorial credit and first western. The remarkable Joel McCrea stars as Steve Judd, an aging ex-lawman, hired by a banker to transport a gold shipment from a high-country miner’s camp to a California town. Judd teams up with an old friend, Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott), and they form one of the great screen western duos. Working from a terrific script by N.B. Stone, Jr., Peckinpah filled this really riveting film with a ton of great period detail, and realistic performances. The talented Mariette Hartley makes a strong film debut as Elsa Knudsen, a young woman who joins the team to meet her husband in the gold camp. Typical of Peckinpah films, “Ride the High Country” boasts a colorful supporting cast, including Edgar Buchanan (in a rare villainous role), James Drury (in another villainous role as Elsa’s would-be husband), Ron Starr (as Gil’s sidekick, who also makes a play for Elsa), and two future members of the Peckinpah stock company, L.Q. Jones and Warren Oates. There have been many westerns that focused on the end of the frontier – this film focuses on the end of the careers of two classic western gentlemen – iron-jawed gunman who still have a lot of fight in them. Don’t miss it. stay safe.
Physical Security Consultant
3 年An outstanding film, but, I’ve always been partial to Sam Peckinpah’s unappreciated work – “Major Dundee” starring Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn, the lovely Senta Berger, Jim Hutton, Brock Peters, and the members of the Peckinpah stock company: Ben Johnson, R. G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, Warren Oates, and the unforgettable Dub Taylor.
Technical Writer
3 年A great classic! Thanks for bringing the movie to everyone's attention. Watching it should lead folks to look into Joel McCrea's other great movies and watch Randolph Scott's Westerns, especially the ones in the '50s directed by Budd Boetticher.
Economic and energy affairs specialist ???? ?? ???????? ??????
3 年If I remeber right it was also known as "Guns in the Afternoon" in UK. I may be mixing it with another film.
Executive Vice President at CBRE
3 年One of my favorites!