Sat 22 Nov 2014
A Western Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (1955).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[12] Comments
STRANGER ON HORSEBACK. United Artists, 1955. Joel McCrea, Miroslava, Kevin McCarthy, John McIntire, John Carradine, Nancy Gates, Emile Meyer. Based on a story written for the film by Louis L’Amour. Director: Jacques Tourneur.
Stranger on Horseback is perhaps one of director Jacques Tourneur’s least known films, one that was commercially unavailable for decades. Filmed on location in Arizona with a budget under $400,000, the film stars Western icon Joel McCrea as a federal circuit judge tasked with bringing an accused murderer to trial.
Although the movie benefits from punchy dialogue and has some very fun, downright quirky moments (look for the cat in the sheriff’s office!), it is altogether a somewhat disappointing entry in the large corpus of slightly gritty postwar Westerns.
The film’s plot, based on Louis L’Amour story, follows Judge Richard Thorne (McCrea) as he enters a small Western town, which he soon learns is basically run from top-to-bottom by land baron Josiah Bannerman (John McIntire). It also comes to his attention that Bannerman’s son, Tom (Kevin McCarthy), may have murdered a man.
Despite entreaties from a charmingly serpentine federal lawyer (John Carradine), Thorne decides he is going to see that justice is done. He even convinces the local feline loving sheriff (Emile Meyer in a standout role) to join forces with him. Along the way, the upright judge gets into a little push and pull with the Bannerman’s ferociously exotic niece, Amy (portrayed by Czechoslovakian-born Mexican actress Miroslava). It’s one of the stranger romances I’ve yet seen depicted in a McCrea Western.
Unfortunately, the film just doesn’t gel. In some ways, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why this is the case. There seem to be a lot of minor flaws that add up to weaken what could have otherwise been a quite strong picture. These include the fact that Stranger on Horseback was filmed in Ansco Color and that it ends way too abruptly, to put it mildly.
Also, the final action scene is filmed in such a manner that it’s difficult to tell who is shooting at whom. It’s a much weaker film than Tourneur’s superbly crafted Wichita, also starring McCrea, which I reviewed here. Still, if you’re a McCrea fan, you might appreciate viewing this relatively short Western where, despite the film’s numerous flaws, he has a comparatively strong presence.
November 22nd, 2014 at 4:04 pm
WICHITA is the better movie, but STRANGER ON HORSEBACK has its merits. I liked the scene where one of McIntire’s henchmen, played by big Lane Bradford, tries to strongarm McCrea. McCrea lets Bradford take the first swing, nails him in turn, and drops him into a horse trough. What would have been a five-minute slugfest in most westerns is over in a few seconds.
November 22nd, 2014 at 4:07 pm
I know exactly the scene you’re referring to. It happens early on in the film and is a quirky little scene that I quite enjoyed myself as well
November 22nd, 2014 at 8:08 pm
I found the same flaws in this film as Jon did. As he says, the movie just doesn’t want to gel.
But any movie with Joel McCrea in it is always worth watching, and as Fred points out, there are some very good scenes in this one.
November 22nd, 2014 at 8:10 pm
I think the problem here is budget. I get the feeling from this one that the backing ran out and they had to make do with what they had in the can.
That, and while this is supposed to be about one man battling the odds against him you never really feel as if they are high enough to give McCrea’s character a real run for his money.
While the scene with Lane Bradford is quite good, it also demonstrates the central problem, McCrea hardly needs to break a sweat to take on the trouble at hand. There is no point where there is much tension about McCrea winning this match.
To me, other than a little tired and unconvincing it suffered from the attitude that it was Joel McCrea and no one quite seemed to offer much of a threat to him.
November 23rd, 2014 at 1:26 am
David
You’ve put your finger on exactly the reason why this movie doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. In the first half of movie Joel McCrea was just too good to be true, which makes for some enjoyable scenes, but this leaves the movie with almost no place to go. He has some struggles in the second half, as I recall, becoming almost human again, but if I’m remembering correctly, it comes as quite a letdown.
November 22nd, 2014 at 11:23 pm
It’s beginning to look as if you will have to change the name of this blog to Mystery and Western*File!
November 23rd, 2014 at 12:08 am
The name Mystery*File has been around for 40 odd years, but I have to admit that you may have a point there. If you can come up with something shorter and just as snappy, I just might have to consider it.
Or maybe not. Name brand recognition, and all that, you know.
November 23rd, 2014 at 11:49 am
Just another lousy picture by the sainted director Jacques Tourneur. The budget was adequate for the time and McCrea’s success to failure ratio, not so great. Even in the late forties when he was still on top, Ramrod, Four Faces West (a personal favorite), Stars In My Crown, all did disappointing business. And, he did not have his own production unit. Andre De Toth wrote that Randolph Scott did not care about stories. Well, he certainly cared abut something, because his films, produced for roughly similar amounts were just about all worthwhile in this same period. So, I know — guys who write their memoirs are not necessarily reliable. What an insight!
November 23rd, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Barry
The famous story, true or not, is about a young producer handing Scott blue pages as he left his dressing room to start shooting one day and Scott turning around, taking off costume and make up, and going home to study them while a screaming director explained you never gave Scott blue pages at the start of the day. Never the less, or maybe because of that, his output is more consistent than McCrea’s in this period.
As for de Toth, what do you expect of a one eyed director who made 3D films (I like a lot of his work, but he never quite forgave Hollywood that he didn’t become a Hitchcock or Hawks and he is quite bitter towards many people in interviews)?
But while I liked McCrea his films in this period are hit and miss compared to Scott’s steady fare of good westerns.
STARS IN MY CROWN has become something of a cult classic, but no one quite knew what to make of it on release, and Tourneur, as you say, was always uneven, though towards the end he was pretty evenly making disappointing pictures.
This film feels incomplete to me, hurried, and a bit schizophrenic. I’m a L’Amour fan, but I have to wonder if his story contributed to that too. His books didn’t always seem to translate that well to the screen in my opinion, including HONDO which I find a bit overpraised. What makes a good novel or story doesn’t always make a good film. Somehow it always felt as if L’Amour’s best books usually weren’t chosen to film.
November 23rd, 2014 at 8:59 pm
David,
Thoughtful and informed as always
Hondo, I thought quite a fine film with the exception of Geraldine Page, whose performance, perfect, but whose persona — I felt I could smell all the way home.
Re Scott and the blue pages. If true, and I doubt it, but perhaps so…he was teaching them something, namely, who was boss.
November 24th, 2014 at 1:02 am
Barry,
I have to admit I saw HONDO many years later when it finally hit video after it had been hard to find, and the presence of Lee Akers and the bit with the dog kept reminding me of RIN TIN TIN, which may have put me off, and I didn’t much care for Page either in this one.
November 24th, 2014 at 1:14 pm
I found a copy of HONDO on DVD in the bargain bin at the grocery store. After watching it I pulled the book off the shelf, but never found the time to read it. I remember kids in high school talking about how great a film it was.