Cavaleiro Misterioso

Stranger on Horseback is directed by Jacques Tourneur and adapted to screenplay by Herb Meadow and Don Martin from a story written by Louis L'Amour. It stars Joel McCrea, Miroslava Šternová, John McIntire, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Nancy Gates and Emile Meyer. Music is scored by Paul Dunlap and cinematography by Ray Rennahan.

Joel McCrea stars as Circuit Judge Richard Thorne, who rides into a town to find it is entirely owned by the Bannerman family, headed by Josiah Bannerman (McIntire). Initially only there to check over the town's books, it comes to light that Josiah's son Tom (McCarthy) has killed a man in cold blood under the guise of self defence and never been brought to trial. Thorne arrests him, and in a town of few friends, sets about staying alive long enough to ensure Tom Bannerman does indeed go to trial.

A mighty unusual judge, Sir.

Clocking in at just 66 minutes long, Stranger on Horseback is very much a quintessential B Western. Filmed in beautiful Sedona, Arizona, picture makes the most of having McCrea in the lead. Where many of the other characters are drawn as standard Western fodder, McCrea really gives a characterisation that is easy to jump on board with. He is like a one man army, but he doesn't need to go all guns blazing, he has his law book and his wits, he knows how to charm the ladies, he is tough and throws a good punch, but he mellows to give a child a silver dollar. He is a man that men want to be and a man that the women want to wed. It's meat and drink for McCrea, with straight back and piercing eyes, his shoulders packing some brawn, it is he that is primarily the reason why the film is so enjoyable.

The story is simple and played out as such, with echoes of High Noon and the like. Friendless man of the badge has to go it alone to ensure what is right is actually achieved. Along the way people will be either hurt or awakened from their stupors, enemies confronted, a lover gained and a finale plays out when it all comes together in a triumphant whirl of machismo. Tourneur and Rennahan ensure the second half of the picture is picturesque, the characters finally out in the open and framed wonderfully against the vistas, while the writers come up with a couple of nifty turn of events to keep the narrative interesting. Away from McCrea the fun turn comes from Carradine, while McIntire and Meyer are as reliable as ever. McCarthy is passable as a Western weasel and Miroslava, who would sadly commit suicide the same year of the film's release, turns up and with a sexy glint in her eye and manages to say her lines correctly.

It's not pushing the boat out or trying to redirect the direction of the 50s Western, but it's one of the more enjoyable B Westerns from that decade. McCrea and Rennahan ensure that is the case. 7.5/10

Circuit judge rides into town and finds that a killing has taken place that no-one wants to investigate. He soon finds that the killer is the son of the local landowner who basically owns the town. The film relates the story of the judge's attempts to bring him to justice. Although this is a fairly cliched story, it is made with panache, and with a running time of a little over an hour, it does not outstay it's welcome. Miroslava, with her eastern European looks and accent, is a striking presence in the film. Her tragic death after the film was completed was a sad loss. I saw this movie on Movies4Men and wouldn't mind having a DVD of it, and having found that it is available as part of a box set called Darn Good Westerns 1 I have ordered it through amazon.

This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot ,thrills , brawls , shoot'em up and is quite entertaining . This outstanding Tourneur Western balances action , suspense and drama . During the early days when civilisation was pushing its frontiers farther and farther West, there roamed a special creed of men , neither outlaws nor officers of the law, yet more feared than either ; then there appears a circuit judge in the old west and he attempts to bring a suspected killer to justice .¨The stranger judge¨ arrives in a town and the powerful owner gives him 12 hours to live . The judge runs afoul of the killer's rich cattle baron father in the process . The judge meets a motley group of characters : ¨The wildcat¨ (Miroslava) , when she couldn't outshoot a man she used other weapons ; ¨The killer¨(Kevin McCarthy) , a kid who liked to play with lives ; ¨The land baron¨ (John McIntire) the owned the town , hardware , lock , livestock and gun barrel ; ¨The Colonel¨(John Carradine) , he liked his cigars for him and his killings done for him .

This grand Western in the tradition of ¨Red River¨ and ¨High Noon¨ contains a thought-provoking screenplay , emotion , violence , go riding , double crosses , shoot'em up and results to be quite enjoyable .It's a classic recounting about an upright man seeking justice and attempting to detain killers . The public likes big Westerns and here to satisfy them is a big adventure , starring a big box office favorites of the 50s , Joel McCrea , with the kind of high pitched excitement that pay off . The traditional story and exciting screenplay by Herb Meadow and and Don Martin based on the story written by specialist Louis L'Amour . Photographed in Ansco Color by Pathe , being necessary a good remastering because of the copy of film is worn-out . Top-notch Joel McCrea as a relentless judge who seeks justice and magnificent John McIntire as a proud baron land . Support cast is frankly excellent such as Kevin McCarthy as Tom Bannerman , John Carradine as Col. Buck Streeter , Nancy Gates as Caroline Webb and Emile Meyer as Sheriff Nat Bell .

This is another superbly powerful triumph from producers Leonard and Robert Goldstein who brought other Westerns as ¨The duel of Silver Creek¨, ¨The Battle at Apache Pass¨, ¨The Great Sioux Uprising¨, and ¨The good guys and the bad guys¨. It is probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Jacques Tourneur . Jacques was an expert on Noir cinema such as the classic ¨Out of the past¨ , terror cinema such as ¨Cat people¨ , ¨Leopard man¨, ¨I walked with a Zombie¨, ¨Night of demon¨ and adventures as ¨Flame and the arrow¨ , ¨City under the sea¨ . In Western genre he made 5 films : The masterpiece titled ¨Canyon passage¨(1946) , ¨Star in my Crown¨(1950) also with Joel McCrea , ¨Wichita¨(1955) with Joel McCrea as Wyatt Earp formerly to OK Corral duel and ¨Great day in the morning¨ with Robert Stack dealing with facing Union and Confederation . He finally directed episodes of ¨Norhwest passage¨ (1958) titled Frontier Rangers , Fury River and Mission of danger . ¨Stranger on horseback¨ rating : Well worth watching and it will appeal to Joel McCrea fans .

The review by Tom Slaback (tom-374) from Prescott, AZ says that he's only seen this film in black & white and wanted to know if a color version is available. Well, I rented the DVD and it IS is color, though the DVD indicates that there is no surviving negative and the copy is not optimal. In other words, while it's in color, the colors are a bit off (everybody appears sunburned because of the over-saturation of reds) and the print is a tad fuzzy.

The film begins with a new federal circuit judge (Joel McCrea) arriving in a western town. The first thing he notices is that all the businesses in town are owned by a man named Bannerman. The second thing he notices is that the sheriff and prosecuting attorney in town are bought and paid for by Bannerman--and he and his family can pretty much do as they please. It's obvious that there will soon be a showdown between the judge and Bannerman--and it's a fairly typical sort of plot for a western.

At times the plot is a lot like a lower budget "5:10 to Yuma" as well as "High Noon"--awfully good company in which to place any film. Despite having many familiar elements, Joel McCrea is so good in the film and the movie is made economically (not just cost but a lot of bang in such a short film), it's well worth seeing.

As usual, Joel McCrea is excellent in an underplayed role of dignity. The movie was filmed on magnificent locations surrounding Sedona, Arizona. Unfortunately I have only found black and white copies of this movie. To due the film justice it should be seen in color, which would greatly increase my rating for this movie.