I've always liked to think that I have a slightly above average knowledge of westerns but as I'd wager that if you know the back catalogue of our two main stars today, your western knowledge far outweighs mine and I bow in your presence.
This was actually a film that I did a mini-review for WhatCulture (ohh as if I knew better), an article about underrated westerns that netted me a cool £30 in views back in the day. The experience was a pleasurable one until a new editor who well, didn't edit, kept getting in my way and I grew frustrated with the experience.
But that memorable experience that I stumbled upon a little gem upon purchasing this set forever stuck with me. At a breezy 90 mins too, hopefully, the experience should be as fondly remembered as the last. So let's get into it with:
RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962 dir. Sam Peckinpah)
Why I watched it/Why I liked it:
Retreading the same ground, Sam Peckinpah set, yadda yadda, you know the situation as I've covered it over three blog posts already. Much like the previous film, I had no previous knowledge of this film and I was probably jaded from the first time from watching "Cable Hogue" that my expectations for this film were low.
I couldn't have been further from the truth. Peckinpah, still cutting his teeth in the industry constructed a tight western featuring two legends of the western genre who at the time declared this to be their last film (Scott kept his promise, McCrea was tempted by the sirens' call of Hollywood a couple more times). Watching this, I was heavily impressed, knowing I'd watched something a bit special and wanting to discover more of each's back catalogue. To this day, I've still not actually done that (admittedly both's backlog hasn't really been released easily in the UK), but the fact remains, this is a damn good film and was a then easy keeper.
If I think it'll stay in the collection:
I'm pretty confident that it will do. This film sort of falls in the period where the squeaky clean western was waning and more serious themes had started to creep in yet the classic stars of Hollywood would always try to end on a high.
There are a few films that fall into this category, some of which we'll actually be visiting, but you can't fault the acting and as I recall, a lot of character actors in this would become stalwarts of Peckinpah's films.
The review:
As suspected, this was a really easy watch.
The plot is simple enough, Joel McCrea plays Steve Judd, once a distinguished sheriff now ageing and ashamed to show his age. Desperate to reclaim some of the pride that his old position held, he's now reduced to doing bank runs for the local towns and hides the fact that his eyesight's failing him by reading contracts privately with his eyeglasses.
Here in town, he meets up with old deputy Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott) who's working a carny hustle with his young ward Heck Longtree, (no, really), played Ron Starr. Realizing he'll need help with the bank run from the mining town back to the bank, he enlists the help of Gil and Heck who've fallen on hard times, despite their hustle and aim to swindle the bank from the money either with Judd's help or without.
They rest at a ranch house, run by a rather religious farmer and her tomboyish daughter, Elsa (played by Mariette Hartley in her debut). Elsa, tired of being under her father's thumb and preaching longs to go to the ranch where she's been proposed to by Billy Hammond up in the mining town, one of five brothers. Heck, has a thing for her, but is reigned in by Steve and Gil and when she escapes her father, they begrudgingly agree for her to accompany them up in the mountains.
Of course, it turns out that the Hammond Overallboys are all pretty much deviants who want a 'turn' with Elsa after Billy and Elsa soon finds herself in a situation she needs to get out of. Steve and Gil help but they've now crossed the Hammonds and still waiting to make his own move against Steve is Gil...
That sets the pieces for a really tight 90 minutes of well crafted, gorgeous to look at, western action. Both McCrea and Scott are fantastic, the plot undergoing two-character redemption arcs and a genuinely moving final 10 minutes. The lush location shooting in California is staggeringly beautiful, filling the screen up.
I'd be remiss in not mentioning that Mariette Hartley is certainly easy on the eyes, delivering an excellent performance. Her tomboyish good looks help not to date the piece so much too (a trait due to the fact she'd played Joan of Arc on stage before shooting). Fun fact, she later went on to create the American Suicide Prevention foundation so she's pretty bloody awesome.
Praise should also be given to the scoring, another thing I forgot to bitch about in "Cable Hogue", whose soundtrack was just as sodding bad as the film. Here it hits all the right notes, providing pathos when needed but swelling in times of triumph.
Overall, "Ride The High Country" presents a sober Peckinpah, presenting a classic western but exploring themes that would be more representative of his later works and even those within later westerns. It really is a great watch and deserves to be picked up by anyone with a passing fancy for the western.
Should it stay or should it go?
Oh yeah, it's an easy keeper, "Ride The High Country" is a perfect example of a tea-time western with strong acting and fine action throughout. It gets a respectable 8 out 10 from me and can now find a place in the DVD wall outside of its boxed brothers.
Next time, a stone-cold classic and one of my favourite films of all time. So no problems there then.
Until next time, I remain,
Matt Major.
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