Western Movie Rambles

[JackFavell]

I think this is one of those movies that gets better the more you view it. I found it hard to keep track of who was a bad guy and who was a good guy, and feel like maybe I missed something somewhere along the way... I was a little bit drifty during the movie I guess. I do think that maybe certain plot points will make themselves clear when watching it again, and I do want to watch it again, which says something for the movie itself.

 

But yeah, I don't think it was as gripping as Comanche Station or some of the other BB westerns, however, I'd hate for BB to have kept trying to make the same movie over and over again! So I respect that he was trying for something completely different in this one. The tone was light and maybe this is why it's impact is lesser... I have a feeling I'll be having a forehead smacking moment the next time I watch Buchanan, cause there are some things that are deeper mixed in there and I couldn't quite grasp them first time out. It was a very enjoyable film.

[CineMaven]

Don't smack your forehead too hard Jaxxx. I want to read what I might've missed. :0

 

I know, I know...I got some noive now, wanting complicated westerns! I need a neon-lit room and a man in a fedora right about now.

[JackFavell]

Ha! How about a tall dark man in uniform with dark forebodings of death plaguing his dreams?

[CineMaven]

Forebodings? Cool. Point me in the right direction.

[JackFavell]

http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=147635&tstart=0

[CineMaven]

Ah-haaaa...now you're talkin'!

 

BTW...one good turn deserves another. Soooo, you like cowboys, eh?

 

 

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOxTxmoYs4Q&list=PLFF85AF0D8342D031&index=11&feature=plpp_video*

 

I've got to try my hand at this.

[MissGoddess]

Oh, my it's HOT in here!! What a video! I think I have got to watch it again.

[FrankGrimes]

*It's hilarious, really. There's just one street that seems to run from Mexico across into "Agry" (I kept thinking it was "Angry") and no matter what side of the scurvy little bridge you were on, you got shot at. *

 

That's how it is walking into your town!

 

So what did you like and not like about *Buchanan Rides Alone*?

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}*It's hilarious, really. There's just one street that seems to run from Mexico across into "Agry" (I kept thinking it was "Angry") and no matter what side of the scurvy little bridge you were on, you got shot at. *

>

> That's how it is walking into your town!

>

 

i don't have a town! unless you're talking about New York, which I guess could be called Angry Town.

 

> So what did you like and not like about *Buchanan Rides Alone*?

 

It was fun and enjoyable, but nothing really struck me or captured my feelings, I guess. I don't know if it was the cast or maybe Tall T hit on something when she said that Scott didn't seem to mind whatever happened. That kind of one note reaction was funny, but it makes things a tad predictable, or at least it doesn't give you much to react to, emotionally. The last scene was my favorite, it was cleverly staged. I liked Craig Stevens, though I kind of wanted more from him and Scott, maybe a face off. But that might have been just as predictable. It's perhaps more of a twist that they don't clash.

 

I don't know if any of that makes sense.

 

I loved the horse! What a beauty.

[FrankGrimes]

 

*i don't have a town! unless you're talking about New York, which I guess could be called Angry Town. *

 

We all have a "town," Manhattan Blizzard!

 

*It was fun and enjoyable, but nothing really struck me or captured my feelings, I guess.*

 

It's not a heavy film, especially for Budd Boetticher.

 

*I don't know if it was the cast or maybe Tall T hit on something when she said that Scott didn't seem to mind whatever happened. That kind of one note reaction was funny, but it makes things a tad predictable, or at least it doesn't give you much to react to, emotionally.*

 

Buchanan (Randy) just wants to get home, ala a film such as *After Hours*. He doesn't want to revenge his wife's death or anything like that. He just wants to get back home. Enter the screwballs of the world.

 

BUCHANAN RIDES WITH SPOILERS

 

What made me end up liking the film is the turns it takes. The biggest one is when Pecos (L.Q. Jones) bites the dust. I figured he may get it, but when it happened, I was still upset over it. It upset me more than when the wayward young cowpokes in the other Boetticher/Scott films get offed, such as in *Comanche Station*.

 

I also didn't expect the kind of violence that happens at the end of the film. In this way, it's similar to *Big Jake*. Here you have this breezy, kind of goofy film going on and then, all of a sudden, it turns extremely violent.

 

But what I truly enjoyed the most in the film is Randolph Scott. It was great to see him playing this loose.

 

*I liked Craig Stevens, though I kind of wanted more from him and Scott, maybe a face off. But that might have been just as predictable. It's perhaps more of a twist that they don't clash.*

 

He seemed to be the most competent and sure man in the town but he was a lackey.

 

*I loved the horse! What a beauty.*

 

Women!

[MissGoddess]

> We all have a "town," Manhattan Blizzard!

>

 

not me. i must have been absent when they were handing them out.

 

> Buchanan (Randy) just wants to get home, ala a film such as *After Hours*. He doesn't want to revenge his wife's death or anything like that. He just wants to get back home. Enter the screwballs of the world.

>

 

That's a good way to put it. I have never seen *After Hours*.

 

> BUCHANAN RIDES WITH SPOILERS

>

> What made me end up liking the film is the turns it takes. The biggest one is when Pecos (L.Q. Jones) bites the dust. I figured he may get it, but when it happened, I was still upset over it. It upset me more than when the wayward young cowpokes in the other Boetticher/Scott films get offed, such as in *Comanche Station*.

>

 

I hated to see him go, too, though the bizarre humor of the "burial" sort of undercuts any feeling of loss.

 

> I also didn't expect the kind of violence that happens at the end of the film. In this way, it's similar to *Big Jake*. Here you have this breezy, kind of goofy film going on and then, all of a sudden, it turns extremely violent.

>

 

I didn't find it that violent.

 

> But what I truly enjoyed the most in the film is Randolph Scott. It was great to see him playing this loose.

>

 

He was terrific.

 

> He seemed to be the most competent and sure man in the town but he was a lackey.

>

 

He was, that. It kind of made the character "less".

[FrankGrimes]

*not me. i must have been absent when they were handing them out.*

 

Oh no you weren't! Your town is definitely on the map! I have the scars to prove it!

 

*That's a good way to put it. I have never seen After Hours.*

 

It's kind of a New York City "Alice in Wonderland" for guys. The main focus is the lead just wants get home but he can't.

 

BUCHANAN RIDES SPOILED

 

*I hated to see him go, too, though the bizarre humor of the "burial" sort of undercuts any feeling of loss.*

 

That wasn't Pecos' burial! He was the guy reading the last writes! He gets it later. But I thought that scene was funny. It's definitely dark humor, which is rare in westerns.

 

*I didn't find it that violent.*

 

Just about everyone gets killed or shot! And when you pair this with the humor that's throughout the film, it has a jarring effect.

 

*He was, that. It kind of made the character "less".*

 

Absolutely. He becomes less attractive when you see he's a boot-lick.

[MissGoddess]

> BUCHANAN RIDES SPOILED

>

> *I hated to see him go, too, though the bizarre humor of the "burial" sort of undercuts any feeling of loss.*

>

>

> That wasn't Pecos' burial! He was the guy reading the last writes! He gets it later. But I thought that scene was funny. It's definitely dark humor, which is rare in westerns.

>

 

That's right. I didn't even remember Pecos' dying, they didn't show it did they? Boettecher didn't seem to assign much importance to it.

 

> Just about everyone gets killed or shot! And when you pair this with the humor that's throughout the film, it has a jarring effect.

>

 

Just the two evil brothers and one of their henchmen. Stevens, Scott, the character Gomez, the boy and the goofy brother all survive.

 

> Absolutely. He becomes less attractive when you see he's a boot-lick.

>

 

He'd be a Wall Street banker today.

[movieman1957]

*That's right. I didn't even remember Pecos' dying, they didn't show it did they? Boettecher didn't seem to assign much importance to it.*

They did show it. It was just after the scene in the shack. He is trying to get Juan over the border and he gets shot. Pecos asks Juan for a favor (to get home?) and dies. It is shot mostly as if it were night.

[JackFavell]

>.Absolutely. He becomes less attractive when you see he's a boot-lick.

 

>He'd be a Wall Street banker today.

 

but he's the one who changes most. He needed Scott to step in so he could see his own weakness, which is defintitely a BB theme. His heroes are almost ALWAYS catalysts for others, rather than for themselves. Craig Stevens needed to see how corrupt he had become, even for a man with his common sense, and so become what he should have been all along...sheriff or mayor of the town.

 

Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 26, 2012 10:32 AM

[movieman1957]

Anyone who would become sherrif would be a step up. I didn't think Stevens exactly straight but given the chance he might become that way. Besides, I'm not sure who else would be remotely qualified.

[MissGoddess]

> but he's the one who changes most. He needed Scott to step in so he could see his own weakness, which is defintitely a BB theme. His heroes are almost ALWAYS catalysts for others, rather than for themselves. Craig Stevens needed to see how corrupt he had become, even for a man with his common sense, and so become what he should have been all along...sheriff or mayor of the town.

>

 

That's an intriguing insight, Jackie...I think you are right that Scott's appearance puts things in motion and shakes up the order of power, if nothing else.

 

Why do you think Stevens orders Buchanan to get moving? I thought it seemed to indicate he was going to hold on tight to his new-found control over Agry.

[JackFavell]

I got that impression too. However, it made me think about how safe it would be for Scott to stick around in that town for very long...after killing several of the citizens.

 

I imagine that all in all, it's a step up for the town - Stevens seems like a fairhanded fellow for the most part, but the ending is a bit uneasy - another BB standard. Power has fallen to the man who should probably be in charge, but he's not exactly the hero we would have hoped for.

 

Oops! I see movieman, you beat me to the punch and already wrote the exact same thing a few minutes ago. Sorry!

 

Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 26, 2012 11:48 AM

[movieman1957]

No reason to be sorry. Concerned? Maybe if the fact we're thinking alike would be a problem.

It affirms some normalcy for me though. (Shoot, I was just happy I had something to contribute.)

 

 

[JackFavell]

No, I'm glad we are on the same wavelength! Lately I have felt like I'm on a different planet from everyone else.

[wouldbestar]

:^0 Maven: I loved that Western montage; I recognized every movie on it. I also located a Clint Walker movie I can watch for free and got tuned into that Billy Bob guy who hosts the domain Westerns show and will check that out. Not a bad day's discovery, thank you.

 

I'm waiting to tune into a more recent time and see the beginning of the new *Mad Men *season that I missed last night because it was the same time as *Army Wives.* This was the time I started out on my own and those guys from Sterling Cooper would have been trying to sell me whatever it was they were pushing so it's fun seeing how this worked. I'm thinking of that Statler Brothers song Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott? which seems appropriate for their antics. I doubt any of these characters even know what "walking into their house justified" means.

[FrankGrimes]

BUCHANAN RIDES SPOILED

 

*That's right. I didn't even remember Pecos' dying, they didn't show it did they? Boettecher didn't seem to assign much importance to it.*

 

No, Movieman is right. They definitely show Pecos' death. He's fleeing to Mexico with Juan (Manuel Rojas), but his former gang catches up to him and kills him. They then grab Juan and take him back to town.

 

*Just the two evil brothers and one of their henchmen. Stevens, Scott, the character Gomez, the boy and the goofy brother all survive.*

 

But wasn't Gomez (Joe De Santis) shot? He lives, but I thought he was shot. For a film to be rather loose and funny, it turns violent by film's end.

 

*He'd be a Wall Street banker today.*

 

He would be!

[FrankGrimes]

Howdy, Denver -- *but he's the one who changes most. He needed Scott to step in so he could see his own weakness, which is defintitely a BB theme. His heroes are almost ALWAYS catalysts for others, rather than for themselves. Craig Stevens needed to see how corrupt he had become, even for a man with his common sense, and so become what he should have been all along...sheriff or mayor of the town.*

 

That's really good. And I must say, outside of Buchanan, I thought Abe (Craig Stevens) was the most interesting character in the film. You could tell he was mostly a decent fella, it's just he was a lackey. I think he valued the power he had in town being the right-hand man to the Judge (Tol Avery), but this also handcuffed him.

 

I also loved the point you made about Boetticher's heroes being the catalysts for others. They force others to examine themselves. Even the bad guys get caught up in this... for a moment.

[MissGoddess]

> No, Movieman is right. They definitely show Pecos' death. He's fleeing to Mexico with Juan (Manuel Rojas), but his former gang catches up to him and kills him. They then grab Juan and take him back to town.

>

 

I remember now. I admit I was a bit skeptical about that scenario, at how sloppily Scott and Pecos tied up the bad guys and then didn't even bother to run off their horses, so they managed to get free and ride after them in under a minute it seemed. That part was a little too easy.

 

> But wasn't Gomez (Joe De Santis) shot? He lives, but I thought he was shot. For a film to be rather loose and funny, it turns violent by film's end.

>

 

Was he? I don't remember. I've seen worse on episodes of "Gunsmoke", I guess I'm becoming hardened to western violence.

[CineMaven]

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:^0 *Maven: I loved that Western montage; I recognized every movie on it. I also located a Clint Walker movie I can watch for free and got tuned into that Billy Bob guy who hosts the domain Westerns show and will check that out. Not a bad day's discovery, thank you.*

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it Wouldbestar. If I'm going to come onto this Western thread...I figured I'd better come correct. You aficionadoes know your stuff.

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