I decided to take a break from Jodorowsky and cleanse my palate with a trip down memory lane. What better way to reminisce than the Columbia years of Randolph Scott.
Before all the electronics and 500 station TVs, there was my childhood. Three station and Saturday mornings filled with cartoons, Sky King, The Lone Ranger and Randolph Scott. I was always amazed how Scott could be on the top of a moving train in a fight with an outlaw and never lose his hat.
But, there were no fights in this film. This was the mature Scott under the direction of Budd Boetticher. They made seven films together, and they are some of the finest westerns made.
In this film Scott (Ben Brigade) plays a bounty hunter who is bringing in Bill John (James Best).
Bill John: I don't know how much they're paying you to bring me in, but it ain't enough. Not near enough.
Ben Brigade: I'd hunt you for free.
That exchange is a portent of what is to come.
Along the way they are joined by Pernell Roberts, who made his claim to fame on "Bonanza" and "Trapper John, M.D."; James Coburn (In Like Flint, Our Man Flint, Affliction), and Karen Steele.
Now, Karen Steele may be one of the most beautiful actresses to work on film, but I have to comment on her bra. It may have been the fashion in the 50's, but that thing looked like a weapon to me. I mean to say that it hit you six inches before she arrived. A man could be seriously injured before he was able to hug her.
Roberts and Coburn were hoping to take Bill John away from Scott and trade him for amnesty. They are willing to kill him for the chance to start life over and they tell him so.
Sam Boone: Man gets halfway, he oughta have somethin' of his own, something to belong to, be proud of.
Ben Brigade: They say that.
Sam Boone: I got me a place. Gonna run beef, work the ground, be able to walk down the street like anybody. All I need is Billy.
Ben Brigade: I set out to take him to Santa Cruz. I full intend to do it.
Sam Boone: Well, I just wanted you to know how it was. Way I look at it, ain't near as hard for a man if he knows why he's gonna die.
But, Brigade never intends to go to Santa Cruz, and we meet the last character in the film, Billy John's brother, Frank (Lee Van Cleef). It seems that Billy John was just bait, and Brigade has a long festering hurt that had to be healed. That led to a great ending, where everybody leaves satisfied.
Before all the electronics and 500 station TVs, there was my childhood. Three station and Saturday mornings filled with cartoons, Sky King, The Lone Ranger and Randolph Scott. I was always amazed how Scott could be on the top of a moving train in a fight with an outlaw and never lose his hat.
But, there were no fights in this film. This was the mature Scott under the direction of Budd Boetticher. They made seven films together, and they are some of the finest westerns made.
In this film Scott (Ben Brigade) plays a bounty hunter who is bringing in Bill John (James Best).
Bill John: I don't know how much they're paying you to bring me in, but it ain't enough. Not near enough.
Ben Brigade: I'd hunt you for free.
That exchange is a portent of what is to come.
Along the way they are joined by Pernell Roberts, who made his claim to fame on "Bonanza" and "Trapper John, M.D."; James Coburn (In Like Flint, Our Man Flint, Affliction), and Karen Steele.
Now, Karen Steele may be one of the most beautiful actresses to work on film, but I have to comment on her bra. It may have been the fashion in the 50's, but that thing looked like a weapon to me. I mean to say that it hit you six inches before she arrived. A man could be seriously injured before he was able to hug her.
Roberts and Coburn were hoping to take Bill John away from Scott and trade him for amnesty. They are willing to kill him for the chance to start life over and they tell him so.
Sam Boone: Man gets halfway, he oughta have somethin' of his own, something to belong to, be proud of.
Ben Brigade: They say that.
Sam Boone: I got me a place. Gonna run beef, work the ground, be able to walk down the street like anybody. All I need is Billy.
Ben Brigade: I set out to take him to Santa Cruz. I full intend to do it.
Sam Boone: Well, I just wanted you to know how it was. Way I look at it, ain't near as hard for a man if he knows why he's gonna die.
But, Brigade never intends to go to Santa Cruz, and we meet the last character in the film, Billy John's brother, Frank (Lee Van Cleef). It seems that Billy John was just bait, and Brigade has a long festering hurt that had to be healed. That led to a great ending, where everybody leaves satisfied.