Ride the High Country

This is an important western because the subplot of a young woman's life in the remote west is addressed. At this time many women were looked upon as chattel. Here a young woman escapes farm life with an overbearing religious father who beats her, to flee into marriage with a redneck miner who beats her and plans to share her with his brothers and father. The lead character played by veteran Joel McCrea is trying to earn an honorable living because there is no pension or social security benefits for him to rely on. Randolph Scott is trying to score some easy dough to last during his retirement. A fine movie about morality, honor, and duty.

Ride the High Country (1962) *** (out of 4) Sam Peckinpah directed western has Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott going into the mining country to bring gold down to a bank but Scott has a different set of plans. After hearing so much praise about this film I can't help but be somewhat letdown because there really isn't anything original here or anything too different than what we've seen before. The biggest aspect is seeing McCrae and Scott doing great work again and I really enjoyed the comic relief. The biggest problem with the film is the side story with the girl and things go downhill once they arrive at the mining town. A great music score and beautiful locations are another plus.

Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea will probably be remembered as the top "B" western stars in movies. But their last film "Ride the High Country" stands as an "A" western and a very good one too. Perhaps they owe this final chance to director Sam Peckinpah who turns the story into a splendid film in its genre shot in beautiful outdoor sceneries, with very well managed action scenes, a credible script, great settings and a fine musical score too. Two moments are particularly outstanding in my opinion: the sort of "Fellinesc" sequence at the wedding with all those bizarre characters and the final showdown where Scott and McCrea face the mean Hammond brothers (John Anderson, James Drury and Warren Oates) in the "old fashioned way". A well deserved "A" product for both actors -that amused and thrilled us western fans- through their long careers in the genre.

What can I say? Ride the High Country(or Guns in the Afternoon) is a beautiful film, gentle, mature and poignant, and as an requiem to the Old West it works wonders. Sam Peckinpah does a brilliant job directing, and the story is absorbing and paced well, helped by a very good script as the two main characters bicker and cuss about whether a gold shipment should be stolen or not. The film is wondrous to look at, superbly photographed and the CinemaScope and Metrocolor is especially eye catching. The score is wonderful, and the action is excellent. As is the acting, Joel McCrea is great, as is craggy Randolph Scott in his last role, while Warren Oates, LQ Jones and RG Armstrong are marvellous in supporting roles. Not to mention Edgar Buchanan, who is a knockout as a drunken judge. Overall, a must see for fans of the genre, for especially the visuals and its gentle tone. 10/10 Bethany Cox