Buchanan Rides Alone

Excellent and funny story of Agry-town, a place where everything costs ten dollars and a man can be hung for being on the right side of a fight -- but the wrong side of the law. Hypocrisy and the essential weakness of human nature are humorously juxtaposed with Scott and his friends' hardboiled masculine ethic. Only the ending is a disappointment -- rushed and somewhat confused. Lang's writing is good and very barbed but somewhat predictable as the famous Ranown cycle winds down with this film.

The Pacific Film Archive here in Berkeley CA has been showing these films for the last few years, and in 2000 I and my mother had the chance to meet the director, the very charming, funny, and intelligent Bud Boetticher, and also the people who are restoring these movies for Columbia. They're doing a wonderful job, and hopefully soon we'll all be able to enjoy restored, less yellowed prints of these classic films (especially the incredible "Seven Men from Now") on DVD. Put any pressure you can on Columbia, folks, let them know you want to see these films on DVD, because the restoration is already well underway -- we just need to let them know there's an audience out there!

Perhaps the only really unjustified feature of this Western is the title. They should have kept the original, "The name's Buchanan" - a line which crops up sufficiently often in the first five minutes to verge on becoming a catchphrase for the title character. One thing Buchanan *doesn't* do is ride alone. For a cowboy hero - particularly one played by Randolph Scott! - he's an unusually cheerful and sociable type, who picks up friends and allies almost everywhere he goes. I don't believe I've ever seen Randolph Scott smile so much in all the rest of his films put together - and it has much the same shock value as a grin on the face of Leonard Nimoy.

But it's mainly the humour that sets this film apart from a hundred other unpretentious B-Westerns. The plot twists don't hurt, either. This slender piece bears as many stings in the tail as the final chapters of a Hercule Poirot mystery. Tables are turned by one side upon the other so often that it verges upon the ridiculous; a point milked to wry appreciation by the script. The other interesting point is that Buchanan himself has little influence over the course of events. He merely (albeit adroitly) rides the tide, as the bickering Agry brothers provide the main engine for the plot. This film is far less of a one-man star vehicle than many Westerns of its era. To a degree, it might even be suspected of spoofing the genre.

I spotted only one technical blooper: as the sheriff(?) leaves the jail after demanding the keys, the far side of the street, for one brief aberrant moment, appears to consist of red-brick houses with paned-glass windows! Young de la Vega's horse really is a beautiful animal, on the other hand - the beast fully bears out the script's claim that the de la Vega horses are some of the best-bred in the country. Judging by the stunts, it was also presumably a trained performer - I wonder what its 'day job' was? :-)

To summarise: a cheerful, swift-moving Western with a touch of dry humour that helps it to stand out among a host of other B-movies. If you've watched 'Unforgiven' too many times, until your guts feel like treacle - if you can't take one more coarse joke from 'Blazing Saddles' - then try 'Buchanan' for a breath of fresh air, and watch Randolph Scott for once in his life having fun!

The fourth collaboration between Boetticher and Scott does not quite measure up to its predecessors but is enjoyable enough. Scott plays an easy-going stranger passing through a town run by a dastardly family. Of course, he has a run-in with the family and ends up in jail. Stevens, who played Peter Gunn on a popular TV series that started the same year as this film came out, plays a somewhat shady character here. L.Q. Jones, who made a career out of playing nasty villains, gets to play a clean-cut good guy here. Unlike the previous films in this series, this one has no female characters; it would have perhaps benefited from having a love interest for Scott.

I'm familiar with Scott's work and am a fan. This film doesn't quite fit in with films like The Tall T, Ride Lonesome, Decision at Sundown etc. Scott shares the screen with lots of supporting characters- LQ Jones, Craig Stevens and all the Agry men. The film opens with Scott happily heading to West Texas via Agry after a profitable Mexican run. He just wants food, probably something of a binding nature and drink. What no women? Only one woman here of interest- Barbara James uncredited as Nina the judge's Mexican housekeeper. Scott has barely any interaction with any females-Jennifer Holiday. Our Scott stands for loyalty, bravery, a fair fight, love of your belt, gun and Texas. I'll give him that. There is no compelling villain here as the Agry's are a bunch of double dealing B movie bumblers. Amos Agry reminds me of a young Andy Devine. Scott is good as a very relaxed murder defendant in a back barroom courtroom. This flick therefore falls toward the lower rung of the RS canon IMHO. I'd see it again, but I'd be riding lonesome.

It is a Plot Heavy Movie with a Goodly Amount of Heavies, Literally. All the lead Bad Guys are Seriously Overweight except Craig Stevens as a well Groomed Gun for Hire.

Randolph Scott is in on the Light Touch of the Film from the Get-Go as He Smiles Broadly, almost Retardedly, but that could be a Ploy. He seems perfectly Able to Figure Things Out and is Ready with a Funny Quip.

After finding a Room is $10, a Steak is $10 and a Bottle of Whisky is $10...Looking straight at an Attractive Floozy in the Saloon says, "Is there anything in this town that doesn't cost $10?" There's more but You need to Watch this Amusing, Above Average Movie to experience the Fun.

L.Q. Jones is a Standout as Scott's West Texas Buddy. There is a Burial Scene that's a Hoot. Newbies seeking out the Boetticher/Scott Cannon might want to Save this one for Last, so They can Wrap it Up with a Wink and a Nod to One of the Best Collaborations Found in Fifties Westerns.

Note...Along with the Anthony Mann/James Stewart Films these were as Good as the Genre had to Offer in the Overdose of Oaters from the Decade.