O Último Caudilho

I quite like Director William Dieterle's work. He first impressed me with PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948), a rather whimsical love story, and SEPTEMBER AFFAIR (1950) only confirmed in my mind his penchant for directing love stories with a sensitive touch.

Of course, RED MOUNTAIN does have a love angle, too, which ultimately symbolizes the union of North and South, for the US to become one nation. But it involves a triangle: Ladd, playing Captain Sherwood, carries a torch for lovely Lizabeth Scott... pity that she is married to Arthur Kennedy!

The film opens with the murder of an assayer weighing gold on a scale. The assailant's face is not shown but by the short steps I had an inknling as to the killer's identity: "Nah, can't be Ladd!" - I thought - "He doesn't sneak up on unsuspecting souls and ice them so coldly!"

How wrong I was, but then nothing in RED MOUNTAIN really pans out normally: Ladd is a Confederate, but you do not see him in Confederate uniform, only in Union colors as he saves Kennedy from hanging and for a while you do not know why he does it, until you learn that he was the real finder of the gold motherlode. That ain't all, either: This Ladd is a real bad lad!, thick as thieves with scheming Confederate General Quantrill until the latter reveals his real hand and his nefarious plans with the Indians.

Unfortunately, that denouement involves a deluge of talking, with repeated situations where Ladd saves Kennedy, Kennedy saves Ladd, Scott also saves them. Finally, Ladd realizes that Quantrill is a criminal. As the old saying prior to the 5th amendment had it, a criminal who kills a criminal deserves 100-year pardon.

Such is the dubious moral standard embodied against type by Ladd, normally a standup guy.

Pleasant cinematography, mediocre script. 5/10.

It is very unusual that a movie called Red in the title during the early fifties has noting to do with the Red Scare. This movie is a western, the only that director William Dieterle offered us. Useless to say it's a damn good Alan Ladd's vehicle for Paramount studios - Ladd's home studios before Ladd went to Warner. It is tense, gritty, using West legends, including the famous Quantrill. Many more westerns did the same, especially some Ray Enright, Raoul Walsh, Edward Bernds movies. Splendid color to enhance this great western. With, as usual, Arthur Kennedy as the second role. I can't remember him in a lead character, actually. Except NAKED DAWN.

It's 1865 and the Union army are beating the Confederates. Circumstances evolve so that we have Alan Ladd (Sherwood), Arthur Kennedy (Waldron) and Lizabeth Scott (Chris) seeking the help of Confederate Colonel John Ireland (Quantrill) as he sneaks around the mountains with his troops and Indian factions in the disguise of the blue cavalry. Blue is the Unionist colour whilst it should be grey for the Confederates. Deception is the order of the day.

I think the film's message of unity is kind of rubbish and tacked on at the end. The film is an excuse to put Alan Ladd into a film and we get a love triangle in which there is only going to be one winner. It's all pretty unconvincing stuff. However, the Technicolour does save the film as the scenery is amazing. It's incredible to think of all the history that has gone before on this rocky terrain. If the film's best point is the scenery, then I think we can agree that we are in trouble! The cast aren't particularly interesting and despite making out that Ireland is a bad guy, he does make sense - he should shoot the prisoners. This is war not a charity.

It's an ok film to watch once.

This one is good, but not great, although it had a lot going for it: beautiful color photography of the Southwest, fine Franz Waxman score (somewhat reminiscent of the one he did a year earlier for The Furies, another and superior western), good-lucking leads--two diminutive blonds, both of whom are enjoyably minimal in their expressiveness. However, they do not have quite the chemistry that Ladd had with Veronica Lake, another diminutive blonde. In addition, the script could be a little more inventive, but its slant on the actual historical figure of Quantrell is interesting, and John Ireland makes the most of his part. So the film never quite catches fire the way that The Furies does--and in moody black and white--but it's certainly worth a look.

Colorado territory: 1865. The American Civil War is drawing to a close. But on both sides hatred dies hard. Two men and a woman are caught up in these lawless days of murder and greed. Divided among themselves they face a common enemy: a gang of guerrilla raiders - led by the dreaded General Quantrell.

Red Mountain is an action western gem, its pulse voraciously ticking with vibrancy, the locations are not just stunning but play a part in hiking up the suspense that culminates in shootouts. It also contains some striking images: the close-up shot of spurs in the opening shot, the attempted lynching and Quantrill's hideout. Characterisation is solid - Alan Ladd is at the peak of his career, expertly balancing between good and grey areas, John Ireland eating up the scenery as the infamous rascal Quantrill, and Arthur Kennedy doing a good job, so is Lizabeth Scott as the love interest.

This exciting western, which I had seen many times on UK TV, ends with a brilliant showdown between Ladd and Ireland out in the open space, charging at each other with guns blazing .