Ride Lonesome

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Allan C Another terrific Randolph Scott and Budd Boetticher western from their Ranown cycle of westerns. This time Scott plays a bounty hunter taking in James “Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane” Best, but this is complicated by Best’s deadly brother hot on their trail to, as well as hostile Indians, and top that off with a tentative alliance with a couple unsavory fellow bounty hunters, Pernell Roberts of BONANZA fame and James Coburn in his film debut (Scott was so impressed with Coburn, he asked director Boetticher to give him more lines) holding a remote station master’s wife hostage while her husband left her alone. What makes the story great is that Scott has zero allies he can fully trust, and every single character could turn on him at any moment. Additionally, Boetticher’s imagery looks like pure Frederic Remington at times in the best sort of way. They are powerful, exciting, and simply gorgeous images of the mythical American West. Karen Steele is also a standout as the station master’s wife, playing an uncharacteristically strong female character for westerns of the time, far from a simple one-note damsel in distress. On the downside, the film does drag for a bit near the end, but with a 73-minute runtime, that’s not too bad. The film also has some poor day-for-night photography, but complaining about that is like complaining about old movies using rear-projection for car scenes. They just did it that way, and I’ll admit they both have their own old-timey charm I kind of love. Overall, this isn’t the best of the Ranown Boetticher/Scott films, but it’s still dynamite filmmaking.  CAPSULE REVIEW: Solid Randolph Scott western. Bounty hunter, shady characters, great visuals. Drags a bit, but still good. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/13/25 Full Review Nick F Ride Lonesome is one of Randolph Scott's best Westerns, and has a strong support cast including James Best, Lee Van Cleef, and Pernell Roberts. Scott, 61 when this film was made in 1959, plays a bounty hunter and still looks tough - which he needs to be when he finds himself marooned at a lonely stagecoach outpost in Indian territory. Not only does Scott have a dangerous prisoner with him, but a gang of outlaws show up, along with raiding Indians. And as if that wasn't enough to handle, there is more potential trouble as everyone is keen to get their hands on the beautiful outpost manager, nicely portrayed by beautiful Karen Steele. With a tense atmosphere and a slowly unfolding storyline, this Western builds to a gripping climax against the stunningly bleak landscape of Lone Pine, California. A fine Western with Randolph Scott at his craggy and taciturn best. Reviewed by NICK FLETCHER Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/08/24 Full Review Bill B This one is over rated in my opinion. Scott is stiff, Roberts swaggers with his Adam Cartwright persona (to poor effect), Coburn is under utilized, and Van Cleef has scant screen time. The story is typical Hollywood invention and makes little sense when analyzed. Nice scenery, though. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 08/13/23 Full Review Krush J James Coburn and Lee Van Cleef certainly weren't challenged with their limited roles. The storyline plodded along with no great climax. Nothing about this western stood out. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Really good one here you need to watch it James Welch, Henderson Arkansas my 20 for you 2023 Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/26/23 Full Review William L My favorite scene in this movie is when the small group bunks down for the night while less than a day's ride from Santa Cruz, with bandits and war parties on their tail, and then none of them can sleep and then they spend the night talking to each other. Just a suggestion, but if you all can't sleep, then just keep on riding? Like many low-budget Westerns, a lot of the conflict in this movie isn't super well thought-out. Trying to craft a sense of danger both from external threats and from within the ragtag band of protagonists and anitheroes, the established director/screenwriter team of Boetticher and Kennedy dangle an inevitable confontation between Scott's jaded former sheriff Ben Brigade (who sounds like he should be an Australian ally of G.I. Joe in name alone) and Roberts' Boone, an outlaw looking for clemency through a valuable bounty. But it doesn't really need to happen - Brigade is never shy about the fact that he wants their shared prisoner to lure out his brother (played by Lee Van Cleef, who is not in this film nearly enough to match his reputation or his character's supposed fearsomeness), who killed Brigade's wife years prior, but Boone tries to coerce a gunfight out of him at the end anyway; it all seems forced. Aside from that, Ride Lonesome is a tightly paced and relatively well-designed bit of traditional Western fare with no extra fat left on the meat, and demonstrating Boetticher's eye for crafting well-designed action scenes and Kennedy's taste for classic character dynamics. I'll admit I like my Westerns with a bit more cutting commentary or slick style, but this is a plenty fine film on its own merits. (3/5) Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/29/21 Full Review Read all reviews

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