Le Cavalier de la mort

Some of the reviews here nearly dissuaded me from watching this film, which doesn't seem to have been screened much on British TV (certainly I was unaware of it), whereas the Boetticcher and other later Scott Westerns are shown regularly.

"MITS" compared very well indeed with these, and the plot was different to those of "stranger riding into town and trouble"). It's been remarked that Scott was a bit old for the two female leads, but that was the case in many of his later Westerns (and Gary Cooper's too). The colour photography also added to my enjoyment of the film. It was good to see Guinn Williams in a role that wasn't his "comic sidekick" one, and also John Russell as a jealous admirer. Joan Leslie's romantic vacillations were a bit unconvincing, as were the final scenes.

Unlike at least one previous reviewer, I didn't notice the differing appearances of Scott and his fight stand-in, and I doubt that cinema viewers in the early 1950s did either.

(I've just checked the date of release, and was a little surprised, as the film had the "look" of one made late in the decade or even the early 1960s.)

I'm glad that I watched it.

Man in the Saddle could be looked at as just another Randolph Scott western, but for one noteworthy difference: it's the first movie produced by Scott-Brown Productions. The rest is history, and thankfully, the gamble to leave mainstream Hollywood paid off: Randolph Scott westerns were some of the most popular movies of the decade!

The story of this one is fairly straightforward: Scottie McScottie Pants and Alexander Knox battle it out over a girl. You might think it's not a fair fight, since Scottie is a western superstar, and Alex usually plays ministers. However, Alex has one thing Scottie doesn't, and it's important: money. The object of their affection, Joan Leslie, values money and all it can buy, so she leaves Scottie for Alex. Does she ever regret her decision? You'll have to watch this ninety minute brawl to find out. It's not ninety minutes of pure fighting, of course; but the gigantic fight scene in the end is extremely impressive. Keep an eye out for Ellen Drew, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, John Russell, and a young Cameron Mitchell in the supporting cast.

Though "Man in the Saddle" has some effective moments and a few good action scenes, it is below average for Randy Scott who usually did better. The high point of the action comes near the beginning of the movie when the cattle are stampeded with Randy trying to outrun the herd in a covered wagon that is ablaze. The shoot out at the end is much too abbreviated only lasting a few minutes. Randy doesn't even get to duke it out with the hired gunslinger Fay Dutcher (Richard Rober). What kind of name is Fay for a gunfighter? Owen Merritt (Scott) shoots Dutcher as he rolls for his gun in the street. The talented actor John Russell has a fairly nondescript role. He would have been much better cast as gunman Dutcher.

The story of a love triangle with two women Joan Leslie and Ellen Drew after one man (Scott)is at times overplayed. Exactly what Owen's relationship was with Laurie Bidwell (Leslie) before she married Will Isham (Alexander Knox) for money and power is never revealed. Apparently the two had one hell of a relationship the way it still tugs at their heartstrings and is the continued buzz of the town. The hired gun is not just after more ranch land for his boss but after Owen as well.

Alexander Knox who played President Woodrow Wilson magnificently in "Wilson" several years earlier was thus typecast and unable to find himself in other parts. When he played the boss rancher in "Man in the Saddle" he was still trying to find his way after Wilson. Alfonso Bedoya and veteran cowboy actor Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams do well in the comedy department. Bedoya is a good foil for Big Boy. He continually looks for a new hat. Big Boy tells him he doesn't need a new hat for his head, he needs a new head for a hat. Even Randy Scott gets in on the humor this time and comes across with some funny lines. When Bedoya tells Scott that the trees are talking to him. Scott replies, "You'd better lay off that vanilla extract." When he is hold up with Nan Melotte (Ellen Drew)recuperating from a gunshot wound he feels the stubble on his face and comments, "It's like a coyote running through brush." The usually serious Scott plays a lighter role this go around and it is a plus for this otherwise dark and moody film. Look for Cameron Mitchell of television's "The High Chaparral" in a small part as one of the two brothers murdered by Will Isham's gang.

In the days before Tex Ritter gave immortality to the theme from "High Noon," showing Hollywood how cowboy music should be presented to the public, multi-talented Tennessee Ernie Ford sang the theme to "Man in the Saddle" with much the same feeling of authenticity. He also gets to sing another ballad on camera as one of the wranglers. He's hard to recognize at first because of his youth and no mustache. Tennessee Ernie was singing hillbilly boogie that sounded very much like Rockabilly when Elvis was still driving a truck in Memphis. He ended up concentrating mainly on television, retiring early from show business, except to cut a gospel album every now and then. "Man in the Saddle" is one of his few screen appearances.

Though not up to par for a Randolph Scott western, still worth seeing for fans of 50's westerns.

Man in the Saddle is directed by Andre De Toth and adapted to screenplay by Kenneth Gamet from the novel written by Ernest Haycox. It stars Randolph Scott, Joan Leslie, John Russell, Ellen Drew, Alexander Knox, Richard Rober and Guinn Williams. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr.

More known and rightly lauded for the series of Western films he made with Budd Boetticher, it often gets forgotten that Randolph Scott also had a long working relationship with Andre De Toth. Man in the Saddle was the first of six Western films the two men would make together, and it's a pretty impressive start.

Sometimes you see words such as routine and standard attributed to a lot of Westerns from the 1950s, and Man in the Saddle is one such film that's unfairly tarred with that brush. Not that the narrative drive is out of the ordinary, the plot essentially sees Randy as a peaceful farmer forced to get nasty when evil land baron flexes his muscles, but the zest of the action, the stunt work, the colour photography (Lone Pine as always a Mecca for Western fans) and Scott, mark this out as a thoroughly entertaining production.

Characterisations carry a bit more psychological smarts than your average "B" Western of the era. There's a four way tug-of-love-war operating that is clearly going to spell misery, pain and death for somebody, a capitalist slant that bites hard with its egotistical bully boy overtones, while the obsessive behaviour of the principal players adds another dark cloud over this part of the West. Then there is the action scenes, of which De Toth once again shows himself to be a darn fine purveyor of such directional skills.

And so, we get an ace runaway blazing wagon sequence, a stampede, a quite brilliant gunfight in a darkened saloon, a mano-mano fist fight that literally brings the house down – and then continues down a steep ravine, and the closing shoot-out played out during a dust storm doesn't lack for adrenaline rushes. Scott is once again a bastion of Western coolness, more so when he throws off the bright attire he wears for the first half of film, to then switch to black clothes that signifies he's going all bad ass on those who have caused him grief.

Undervalued for sure, both as a Scott picture and as a Western movie in general. Don't believe the routine and standard scare mongers, there's good craft here and it's a whole bunch of Oater fun. 7.5/10

Average Scott western, at best. There're some darn fine Lone Pine vistas that aren't usually seen, plus mountain scenes from southern Sierras. That's one thing about well-produced westerns— the scenery can sustain even when all else falters. Scott, of course, is Scott, strong-jawed and humorless, carrying the film even when the congested script doesn't. The plot's pretty familiar, rich landowner taking over hero's land, along with a number of subplots. Then too, we've got not just one ingénue, but two. Leslie and Drew may be malt shop girls from the 40's but they do well enough here. I'm glad their hair color differs, otherwise they would be hard to tell apart.

I'm with those who think Rober and Knox too bland to compete with Scott. Also, I agree that Russell would have made a much more vivid villain; too bad he's wasted in what looks like a tacked-on role. And catch how easily Bedoya goes from clown to menace, even without "stinkin' badges". I really did expect sharper results from ace director DeToth. Given the right material, he can be quite affecting, as his western masterpiece Ramrod (1948) proves. As Andrew Sarris points out, few movie makers had a better feel for human treachery than the eye-patch Hungarian. My guess is he regarded the script as little more than a vehicle for Scott, though a few nice fringe touches do emerge, such as the straggler who gets in the way of the showdown.

All in all, the oater's too sprawling in both cast and story to achieve anything more than a scenic time passer.