In more recent years, the revisionist Western made heroes out of outlaws and men out for revenge. Think of Clint Eastwood's Will Munny in "Unforgiven". At the same time, Gene Hackman's Little Bill Daggett in the same picture was the epitome of the evil town boss, taking gleeful pleasure in dispatching anyone who threatened his supremacy. You can replace the town of Big Whiskey with the titled town of this picture, but the protagonists here don't quite build the kind of tension one expects on the way to a final showdown. Bart Allison's (Randolph Scott) motivation is built on the false premise that a villain stole his wife away from him, and refuses to acknowledge that she was in fact a 'loose' woman. The town-folk of Sundown are presented as intermediaries in this fable, who have trouble acknowledging that Tate Kimbrough (John Carroll) is the bad guy he's supposed to be, or at least as bad as Allison's preconceived notion insists on.
Since I brought Eastwood's name into it, I might as well get another thought off my chest. I like Randolph Scott, but casting him as a sixty year old gunfighter doesn't quite work in the final analysis. Catch him hunched over the bar looking like hell after the film's high spot and you'll see what I mean. Though he did age better than John Wayne and kept himself in generally good shape. I'm trying to visualize him fifty pounds overweight wearing an eye-patch and it's not a pretty picture.
I've read any number of reviews regarding Scott's collaboration with director Budd Boetticher, but I haven't experienced the magic yet. I'd rate the two I've seen so far, "Comanche Station" and "Ride the High Country" as somewhat better, primarily because Scott's character comes off as a more principled and heroic figure in those films. In this one, it's the villain who rides off into the sunset with the girl, leaving the conflicted gunman behind to tend to his wounds and trying to figure out where it all went wrong.
Since I brought Eastwood's name into it, I might as well get another thought off my chest. I like Randolph Scott, but casting him as a sixty year old gunfighter doesn't quite work in the final analysis. Catch him hunched over the bar looking like hell after the film's high spot and you'll see what I mean. Though he did age better than John Wayne and kept himself in generally good shape. I'm trying to visualize him fifty pounds overweight wearing an eye-patch and it's not a pretty picture.
I've read any number of reviews regarding Scott's collaboration with director Budd Boetticher, but I haven't experienced the magic yet. I'd rate the two I've seen so far, "Comanche Station" and "Ride the High Country" as somewhat better, primarily because Scott's character comes off as a more principled and heroic figure in those films. In this one, it's the villain who rides off into the sunset with the girl, leaving the conflicted gunman behind to tend to his wounds and trying to figure out where it all went wrong.