Those who know a thing or two about the Ranown Cycle know the strange history of Westbound (1959). Randolph Scott owed Warner Bros. a film, so he drafted Budd Boetticher to direct it. The script was finished — Budd couldn’t change anything, just shoot it. It’s the red-headed stepchild of their collaboration.
Knowing what these guys were capable of — 7 Men From Now (1956) and The Tall T (1957), for instance — it’s easy to be disappointed by Westbound. In the middle of some of the finest Westerns ever made, it plays like a plain old Randy movie.
Reading Laura’s post on it, I realized I’ve been a real snob about this picture. As Laura put it, “I liked that it was a little more lighthearted than some of their films. Westbound may not be a Western classic, but it’s a fast-moving, enjoyable piece of entertainment made by people who knew how to make good movies.”
Laura, you’re right. Especially that last part: “made by people who knew how to make good movies.” Thanks for pointing out that, on its own terms, Westbound succeeds. And thanks for making me realize I’ve been looking at this one the wrong way.
This leads me to something I’ve been discussing elsewhere–how would you rank the Boetticher-Scott Westerns–quality and critical assessment? Best-known to least-known? I put Seven Men from Now at or near the top, in every category, but I’m curious as to whether other fans agree.
That’s kinda like asking which of my kids I love the most!
7 Men From Now is my favorite, far and away, with The Tall T close behind. Beyond that, they all have particular things about them that make them special — the humor in Buchanan Rides Alone, the masterful use of Scope in Ride Lonesome, the Scott-Akins scenes in Comanche Station and the darker-than-dark vibe of Decision At Sundown.
And thanks to Laura, I’ll add the just-a-cool-Randolph-Scott-movie of Westbound.
Chime in everybody!
What fun to discover your post! I’m honored.
I really did have a very good time watching this. It may have helped that it’s been a while since I’ve seen any of the other Scott-Boetticher films; hopefully I’ll see more soon. But it was kind of a relief not to have any hostage situations or whatnot.(grin). WESTBOUND snagged me from the minute the bouncy theme music started playing. If you include it among Randy’s “other” Westerns rather than among the Boetticher bunch, it’s at the top of my list of those seen to date, along with COLT .45.
Best wishes,
Laura
I’m close: Seven Men and Tall T, dead heat, followed by Comanche Station and Ride Lonesome, also dead heat. Buchanan, followed by Decision, followed by Westbound. I think Decision and Buchanan are farther down because they’re set-bound. But do you think this is a common consensus? I only ask because I read something recently that said that Seven Men was the least known, and I took issue with that.
7 Men falling into the Batjac limbo all those years really hurt it since no one saw it for so long.
I remember people talking about it being great, but how was I gonna know? Then finally, the Batjac DVD thing happened, along with the festivals with Boetticher and Kennedy — and word spread really fast about how good it was.
Before that, everyone seemed to put Tall T at the top by itself.
I’m really hard pushed to separate 7 Men, Tall T, Comanche Station and Ride Lonesome – all have aspects of greatness about them that deserve admiration. The others are lesser works IMO. And to hcbeck, I agree that the dominance of interiors really hurts the other films. Boetticher was born to shoot on outdoor locations and his greatest work was done there.
I love it when everybody gets going like this. First, it’s a chance to geek out about some of my all-time favorite stuff.
Second, in a way, you people are writing my book for me. These Scott/ Boetticher pictures are more like favorite uncles than movies, and it’s hard for me to look at them objectively.
Y’all’s collected insight is a huge help.
I think of the claustrophobic aspect of Decision At Sundown a bit like the experimentalism of Hitchcock’s Rope — can the Ranown/Lone Pine thing be transferred into a barn for 70 minutes?
By the way, as a kid, the realization that the bridge in Buchanan Rides Alone and the one Dean Martin stands at in Rio Bravo are the same was a huge deal.
The Scott/Boetticher films in order of merit;
in my opinion:
SEVEN MEN FROM NOW
THE TALL T
COMMANCHE STATION
RIDE LONESOME
DECISION AT SUNDOWN
BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE
WESTBOUND
Decision At Sundown although down on my list is pretty
darn good;how many Westerns have there been where the “hero” is proved to be totally wrong at the end of the
picture? A very acerbic little film in my opinion.
Other excellent non Boetticher Scott films worth seeking
out:
GUNFIGHTERS
CORONER CREEK
THE WALKING HILLS
MAN IN THE SADDLE
THE DOOLINS OF OKLAHOMA
When one of the lesser films on a list is as good as Decision At Sundown, you get a pretty good indication of the quality you’re looking at.
I seem to like Buchanan more than most folks, but it was my Randolph Scott “gateway drug,” so it’ll always have a special place for me.
Doolins Of Oklahoma and Walking Hills are outstanding. Scott made so many films, it’s easy to miss out on the really really good ones.
GUNFIGHTERS
CORONER CREEK
THE WALKING HILLS
MAN IN THE SADDLE
THE DOOLINS OF OKLAHOMA
All very good westerns, I agree. I particularly like GUNFIGHTERS and CORONER CREEK. I have a Columbia VHS tape of CORONER CREEK that I watch often.
I also like Randy’s WB films as well. Films like CARSON CITY and COLT .45 are not as well scripted as the Columbia titles but still hold up as fun oaters.
Its interesting that in the early Sixties the National
Film Theatre in London ran a season of films by “one-shot”
directors i.e. directors who had only made one film or
only one film of importance.Boetticher was included in this
group/season and his “one film” was Legs Diamond.
Despite the fact some of the French “new wave” were
looking at Budd no-one in the US or the UK paid him
much attention.That all changed in 1963 when a brilliant
young critic and later screenwriter;the late great
Christopher Wicking; wrote a wonderful piece on Budd
which certainly started the ball rolling; in fact its never
stopped rolling since!
Any idea where that Wicking article might be found?
My friend and ex-bandmate Mick Farren (doc40.blogspot.com), who has been a culture critic and journalist since the sixties, told me once that Legs Diamond was an enormous hit for him and his friends in the UK. My guess is that it had the same sort of cult-ish impact as the Leone films, which would explain the Wicking article, or vice-versa.
Hi Toby,
The Wicking article appeared in a one-off publication in
1963 “Motion:Guide To Violence & Sadism in The Cinema”
Wickings article was concerned with Boettichers Westerns
only. I will at some point photocopy the article for you and
send it on to you. Please e-mail me with the address to
which you would like it sent.
Wicking certainly did not need “Legs Diamond” to turn him
on to Budd as he was a huge Western fan anyway.
There is certainly no-one in the UK today writing with
Wickings intelligence regarding film.
Did anyone see BBCs dreadful Film 2011 the other night
with their choice of “greatest gunslingers in film history”
debacle. In the top 5 Sharon Stone,Gene Wilder and
Woody from Toy Story.
You know you are in serious trouble when you long for
the days if Jonathan Ross!
I don’t know Wicking, but when it comes to Westerns of the Italian variety, I find Christopher Frayling to be a pretty bright bulb.
By the way, did you see Time Out’s 100 Best British Films this week? Interesting at least.
Just had a quick peek online;interesting is right but in
most choices pretty much a case of the usual suspects.
Just seen a DVD of “The Long Haul” a 1957 Britflick with
Victor Mature in the unlikely role of a Liverpool based
Truck Driver.
It rings my bells more than a lot of the stuff on Time Outs
list.Sort of a combo of Noir,Trucker Thriller and Kitchen Sink
Drama;how many Britflicks tick all those boxes?
Interesting to me that the choices were so wide (2001?) and that there were so many glaring omissions that people have commented on on the site. Don’t Look Now, the greatest British movie?–suggesting it’s a better movie than Lawrence or The Third Man or several others. 2001 over Lolita? Not so sure, if Kubrick really qualifies in the first place. No Ken Russell or John Boorman or Scott brothers, etc etc. My friend Graham Fuller, who was one of those polled, thinks he might have added more Powell-Pressburger films in his personal list, given a second choice. I might have added Alfie and Shaun Of The Dead, and maybe even Goldfinger or Casino Royale in place of Dr No, but there you are.
I noticed that Riding Shotgun, a de Toth Scott Western, is on The Western Channel in a few days. I don’t think I’ve seen it, but I will. Love de Toth.
Check this out: http://mikegrost.com/detoth.htm
Thanks for the de Toth link.
Coming back to Britflicks and going way off the original subject I was surprised to see no Basil Dearden (apart from
“Dead of Night” where he directed one section) in spite of
many great films like “The Blue Lamp” “Pool Of London”
and “Victim”. Guy Green did some pretty interesting things
too;including the very daring for its time “The Mark” which
I have never seen.The trouble is there are many British
films that are totally “lost” including Rene Clements
wonderful “Knave of Hearts” with its groundbreaking location work.I remember being at a lecture many years ago where cameraman Oswald Morris stated that Clement
was making them hide cameras behind newspapers to get
the desired shots.