L'albero della vendetta

This the sixth of seven westerns director Budd Boeticher made with producer/star Randolph Scott and while it follows the same basic formula of the others its not a bad thing since most on their own are well paced, action packed, suspenseful and ably lensed by Charles Lambert who has wonderful eye for the west and this is no exception.

In this one Scott plays bounty hunter Ben Brigade. He's taking murderer Billy John back to Sant Cruz for a reward and this gets the attention of two tired desperadoes since it includes amnesty for anyone who brings him back. With Indians on the warpath he forms an uneasy alliance with the two as well as take Mrs. Carrie Lane who runs the stage stop along with her. In addition to this quartet of issues Brigade is also being pursued by Billy's brother.

If they were car makers John Ford and Anthony Mann would make Cadillacs while Budd Boeticher would manufacture Volkswagons. While he does not have the star power or budget of those western masters he nevertheless produces the same quality product with impressive wide open space compositions effectively punctuated with symbols and clues. He may only make compact westerns but they almost always offer a good clean economical ride.

Scott's nearest threat in Ride Lonesome are not like previous cold blooded villains. Instead they are more Lenny and George from Of Mice and Men than James brothers but once they find out what the word amnesty means they are prepared to kill to get it.

Scott as usual is the same tough, humorless, stoic he plays in the other westerns while Barbera Steele is more dance hall girl than pioneer woman. What differentiates Ride Lonesome from the other Boeticher westerns is the characters of Sam Boone and Whit. They may be surly and have some rattle snake in them but they are loyal to each other and the interplay between Pernel Roberts and especially James Coburn make them interestingly sympathetic.

For a 71-minute movie, Ride Lonesome is one of the most rivetingly memorable Westerns I've ever seen. Fans of epics and lots of mindless action should stay away. This is a thinking person's group character study of the five principals and the ubiquitous presence of Lee Van Cleef's "Big Brother" Frank despite a very economic amount of screen time.

True enough that in many ways, this plays a like a typical '50's "classic-formula"(including a misplaced-and-awkward Indian-Chief-wants-widow-for-squaw subplot) Western -- albeit exceedingly well-directed and well-acted. The dialog, richness of characterizations, and interplay among characters ultimately set this one apart. These come across as indelibly drawn real people who happened to live in the 1870's West. However, Boetticher fans need not threat that he has totally abandoned his contributions to Western Mythology. The rather spartan genre-emblematic symbolism he does include resonates all the more as a result of this efficiency.

This is true despite the presence, nay -- especially due to the presence of Randolph Scott and his pitch-perfect interplay with charmingly roguish Boone, marvelously essayed by Pernell Roberts. Neither ever loses sight of who and what the other man is. Both share a healthy amount of mutual respect mixed with healthy skepticism and awareness of an inevitable dark cloud shadowing their temporary alliance. Roberts, in particular, evokes every bit of sardonic humor, masculine charm, and fidelity to his own peculiar code that the script allows him. Scott, for his part, is far closer to the dark bitterness of Will Kane than he is when playing most of his heroic characters.

Both characters are more-than-ably joined in the ensemble by half-witted-but-loyal cowpoke Whit (James Coburn), homicidal man-boy Billy (James Best), and-abandoned-wife-and-later-widowed Karen Steele. The female actor is quite appealing visually and as convincing as possible in her role given her contrived introduction into the plot. Once we get past the Indian subplot, she comes into her own as she gradually learns who Scott's and Robert's characters truly are, and adjusts her emotions accordingly.

But, one facet of this film that has always stuck in my mind is the way Boetticher and Kennedy brilliantly collaborated to have Van Cleef essay Big Brother Frank, the movie's ultimate villain - especially considering the many High-Noon-ish parallels. He neither portrays a Big-Brother-Frank-Miller type of cocksure-but-defiantly-laconic swaggering gang leader or a typically unrepentant Lee Van Cleef villain. Instead, we get a somewhat remorseful, increasingly bemused, but immutably duty-bound human being of real-flesh-and-blood feelings. It is only after exhausting potential alternatives that he reluctantly comes to terms with the inevitability of his final conflict with Scott. And, his reluctance to do Scott further harm seems genuine, only to be trumped by his commitment to free little brother Billy.

But, as good as the entire ensemble is, the film draws a good deal of its charm and heart from Pernell Robert's performance as Boone. I note this as an aside, because Roberts went on to make only one more indelible feature film performance before getting overshadowed on Bonanza. Even worse for his promising career, directors reportedly found him nearly impossible to work with and there was no love lost between him and his fellow cast members who felt he thought himself superior to all of them; intellectually speaking, he was probably right, but that bought him nothing in Hollywood. Eventually, he had a fairly long run starring in a highly rated series that for some reason, has had no shelf-life on reruns called Trapper John, M. D. But, there, too, Hollywood scuttlebutt indicates that he made few friends. After just re-watching his marvelous work in "Ride Lonesome", and recalling other performances, I found myself thinking that these off-the-set issues were truly unfortunate because Roberts truly exuded leading-man-caliber talent. Instead I can only urge other IMDB'ers not to miss this performance.

Despite the economic budget, the cinematic and sound-related choices are impeccably executed. Contrasts are especially effective. My rating for this near-perfect Western is 9/10.

Tight, efficient western story (not a "saga") about a man who uses a prisoner to get his brother into the open for revenge. In the meantime he strings along a beautiful stranded woman and 2 outlaws who hope to kill Scott and turn his prisoner in for a pardon for themselves. The climax before the evil-looking "hanging tree" is very impressive, although the film could have built Van Cleef into a stronger villain (perhaps the realism of a villain who isn't all that bad was part of the plan). Excellent synergy of all the vital elements by the director in this, one of the best of the famed (and hard to find) Ranown films.

This is taut Western, filled with good phrasing and a good story, with a slight twist at the end. Ben Brigade (Randolph Scott) captures Billy John (James Best) for the bounty on his head. The twist is concerning Billy John's brother Frank (Lee Van Cleef) which I won't give away. Brigade meets up with Sam Boone (Pernell Roberts) and Whit (James Coburn) at a stage line swing station that belongs to Mr. & Mrs Lane. Mr. Lane is absent, killed by Indians, and the story basically is of Brigade taking Billy John to justice and Mrs Lane (Karen Steele) to safety, while a war party is after them and Frank and company are out to free Billy John.

It's once again a simple old school Western, this one not being quite as good as "The Tall T". Katherine Steele is just a little too much eye candy that seems a bit out of place for the time period. As is customary for many western heroines of the 50's she's got a hairdo that could only be possible in a hair salon with the equipment they had in the 50's.

James Best plays a part he was born for, that of the young smart-aleck killer, Pernell Roberts gives a standout performance, and Coburn plays Robert's thin as a rail sidekick Whit, in probably his first film role. Roberts and Whit play minor outlaws that are caught up in the events.

Lee Van Cleef is not as effective as he could have been, but in this, as in other of his pre-Leone speaking roles, he comes off as either a hot head or a two bit outlaw. His speech and his body movements are way way too fast, but that's direction, and it seems that that was the way he was typecast for most of the fifties. Zinnerman saw his look in High Noon and kept him silent and menacing. In this film he does something so despicable that there should have been way way more buildup to to the climax, but that is of course looking at the Western with Leone colored glasses. Now this despicable act that you never actually see really doesn't work since it's thrown out way too far towards the climax. This would work better if the scenario of events was shown leading up to the act via flashbacks, giving the audience some shockers. Too late to make a long story short, the film should have been emphasizing Van Cleef as much as Scott, but that's just not Boetticher's style.

To summarize, this is a great cheapie budget Western, and although the outdoor locations alone are a major part of the film, the only structures you see are the stage swing station and corrals and some abandoned ruins. More money was probably spent on stock and wranglers than art design. Again we get cowboy lore on the treatment of horses, and good Western slang. Scott is good as the man looking for revenge, and the irony involving the male characters is excellent. Scott is a good man doing a bad thing; Roberts and Coburn have done some bad things and are looking to go "good"/straight.

A bounty hunter, Randolph Scott, escorts a killer, James Best, to be tried for murder. The murderer was worth 5000 dollars alive or dead but he was easier to bring in dead. This is the man called Brigade, Scott , hot as the revenge that drove him , hated by the woman he saved , a white woman he was going to keep against the savage Indians who are surrounding them . Along the trail he meets two outlaws, Pernell Roberts, James Coburn, and a gorgeous widow, Karen Steele , and all of them are pursued by the nasty Lee Van Cleef who is planning an ambush.

This is a nice western , a well-done example of a B movie with fine interpretations, acceptable production design, glimmering photography and enjoyable outdoors. Interesting and engaging screenplay , including attractive characters and thrilling plot . Stars the great Randolph Scott that brings a new kind of adventurer and bounty hunter to the screen, he is looking for a murderer, but it is not just the reward, as he hopes the kiler wil lead him to the man who killed Scott's spouse. Support cast is frankly good as Pernell Roberts and James Coburn play two bandits who hope if they capture the killer they will get a pardon . The explosive Karen Steele plays the pretty widow. And Lee Van Cleef, pre-Sergio Leone , performs perfectly his ordinary baddie role.

It contains a colorful and shimmering cinematography in CinemaScope by Charles Lang Jr and techical consultant by Henry Jaffa. As well as an evocative and thrilling musical score. The motion picture was well produced by Ranown and professionally directed by Budd Boetticher in his usual style.He directed a lot of Western, most of them written by Burt Kennedy, being exhibited by Columbia Pictures . Along with Randolph Scott and Harry Joe Brown formed a production company ,Ranown, financing several Westerns. At the beginning Budd worked for Universal International directing Westerns as Wolf hunters, Cimarron kid, Bronco Buster, Horizons West, Seminole, The man from the Alamo, Wings of the hawk . In 1956 he directed a B production for Batjac titled 7 men from now. In 1957 made The Tall T with his production company, following Decision at sundown, Buchanan rides alone, Ride lonesome, Comanche station, Westbound. Finally, Budd wrote the script of Two mules for Sister Sara by Donal Siegel and directed in 1969 A time of dying produced by Audie Murphy. Rating : Better than average 7 out of 10. The picture will appeal to Randolph Scott fans and Western lovers