A movie is a journey, one undertaken by characters and observed by viewers, and the degree to which it can be considered a success depends on how much those characters have learnt about themselves and the world they occupy by the time they reach their destination. I think this holds true for most films, whatever the genre, but it plays an even more significant role in the western. The western, despite its frequent reliance on action, is very much a character driven genre. The great westerns achieve that quality through the development of their characters, emphasizing growth, renewal and redemption along the way. When I view a film like Phil Karlson’s They Rode West (1954) I am left thinking it is only partially successful, which of course is not to say that it fails to entertain or that it has no points of interest in plotting or approach. Ultimately though, the film feels more like an exercise in vindication as opposed to redemption, which is never as rewarding a payoff.
As is the case in any good drama, They Rode West presents multiple layers of conflict. From the beginning it is clear that Captain Blake (Phil Carey) has a strong dislike and distrust of the medical profession. The outpost has had the misfortune to be lumbered with a succession of incompetents, the last of whom has just killed Blake’s friend through drunken negligence. So, when the new replacement, Lieutenant Seward (Robert Francis), turns out to be a green recruit with neither military nor frontier experience, Blake is perhaps understandably antagonistic. This is the main source of conflict that runs through the movie and it is supplemented by a kind of stuttering rivalry over the affections of the Colonel’s niece Laurie (Donna Reed). Alongside that, there is further friction generated by Seward’s compassion and empathy for the plight of the Kiowa of the nearby reservation, feelings which are complicated by his obvious attraction to a white captive (May Wynn). Caught between the hawkish and inflexible Blake and the increasingly frustrated Kiowa, Seward soon finds the call of his conscience has led to him being labeled a traitor (a wood hawk) by the troopers.
They Rode West is a handsome production with Charles Lawton’s cinematography making the best of the Iverson Ranch locations. I can’t find anything to confirm my suspicions, but the shooting style employed by Karlson gives the impression that the movie was shot for 3D presentation. He indulges in a fair few heavily canted angles, which may simply be a stylistic choice, but there are a number of scenes (predominantly action/battle sequences) where those telltale shots of people and objects leaning and falling onto the lens are on display.
Frank Nugent’s screenplay, from a story by Leo Katcher (The Hard Man, Party Girl, Between Midnight and Dawn) has Seward and Blake forever at daggers drawn, principally though not exclusively over their contrasting attitudes towards the Kiowa. This is well enough done and feeds into the more nuanced view of the Indian that an be found throughout westerns of the era, particularly those of Delmer Daves and George Sherman, and elements of this crop up in Karlson’s own later (and superior) Gunman’s Walk. Still, the handling, or maybe I should say the way the characterizations unfold, is not all that satisfactory. As I alluded to at the top of the piece, there is little of the redemptive spirit that enriches so many 1950s westerns. One could, I suppose, argue that Seward’s actions eventually lead to the restoration of trust between the warring sides and that the faith he manages to draw from the both sets of combatants has a redemptive effect on them. However, I feel that is reaching somewhat, that the truth is the tale winds its way to a vindication of the approach championed by Seward from the get go. While that is fine in itself, it means his character has undergone little change; he sees his ideals comes to be accepted and the criticism leveled at him firmly rebutted yet he remains essentially the man we first saw, albeit a little more worldly-wise.
Phil Carey seems like he should have had a bigger career. I guess his credits show he did fine in general, but the fact is, in spite of working for directors such as John Ford and Raoul Walsh, he never rose above second lead in anything other than programmers. Roles like that of Captain Blake can’t have helped, he starts out as abrasive and short-tempered (justifiably so under the circumstances) and basically stays that way till the end credits roll. As I said, there is no renewal or rebirth to be seen here and it’s an ambivalent part too, neither fish nor fowl. Robert Francis gets the noble part and he plays it well, with freshness and decency and he also conveys the doubts and guilt which assail him quite effectively. However, his was a short and tragic life and he would die in a plane crash just a year later at the age of 25 having made only four films. May Wynn (who worked opposite Robert Francis in The Caine Mutiny) has what I feel is the most interesting part in the movie. The role is not an especially taxing one but it is pivotal and, crucially, it offers an unexpected perspective on the life of a captive. She is not portrayed as someone who is seeking escape, but instead as a woman who has reconciled herself to life with the Kiowa and who has no intention of leaving. Donna Reed had just won an Oscar for From Here to Eternity but this film wasn’t going to capitalize on that. Although she has some fun showing a bit of coquetry from time to time, it’s all standard love interest stuff and never particularly memorable.
They Rode West has appeared on DVD in France and Spain and it can generally be tracked down for online viewing too. All in all, it is an enjoyable western, a solid cavalry yarn whose heart is in the right place. It’s attractively put together, has pace and includes some exciting action scenes. Had the scripting allowed some real growth in the characters to take place, I wouldn’t feel the need to offer caveats. So, whilst it won’t make anyone’s list of great westerns, it is still a good one.
Riding the High Country 
Thanks Colin – always good to see more Karlson! I have only warmed to him fairly recently but getting there …
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This is not a bad little western, but I wouldn’t want to use it as a way to introduce someone to Karlson. Gunman’s Walk sees him doing more interesting things with the western. As for other genres, I think Hell to Eternity is very good. And of course his films noir with John Payne – 99 River Street and Kansas City Confidential – are recommended.
Speaking of film noir, I see Indicator’s new Universal set has just been announced for September here, with a contribution from yourself in the accompanying book.
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Thanks for that – I reckon I have the Payne titles. And yes, contributed a small essay on the Italian-set DEPORTED. Can’t wait to get my hands on the box, Indicator do such marvellous work.
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It’s encouraging too that it’s labeled #1, which suggests more will be forthcoming.
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I’m really hoping they do at least as many as they have for Columbia (the Bogart set counts as the unofficial volume 5 I suspect).
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If they have access, and the materials available are of the necessary quality, Universal represents a rich source to mine, and I would love to see them get round to stuff like One Way Street, The Tattered Dress and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, movies that desperately need decent presentations.
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Don’t think I’ve seen ONE WAY STREET actually…
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There are poor grey market copies around, and it pops up occasionally online, all coming from the same old television master I suspect:
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Several deserving Fregonese films awaiting the HD treatment (APACHE DRUMS top of my list).
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I think that is due out in Germany later this year. Some tempting stuff in general on the way from Germany: Hell Bent for Leather and a movie I’m rather fond of, The Spiral Road, for example.
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That is good news! Thanks mate 👍
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That Indicator Universal set looks quite good but I already have three of the six movies so there’s no way I could justify a purchase. Way too expensive.
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Fair enough. I’ve certainly passed on a number of sets myself when the double-dip quotient was too high or made the price unpalatable.
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Caught this a few years ago by virtue of this being helmed by Phil Karlson and found this to be standard calvary western. The stars were all second tier and have ignored it since then. Have never been fond of calvary westerns except a selected few and the stand out is Escape From Fort Bravo.
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I wonder whether looking at the casting of the picture today and at how it may have been perceived on release might not be different. As I understand it, Columbia clearly had hopes for Robert Francis. Now none of that obviously came to pass. And Donna Reed would have still had reasonably high profile, but her career followed an odd trajectory overall.
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They must have modified their expectations for Francis, otherwise putting him in this ordinary medium budget programmer would not have happened following the success of The Caine Mutiny. Clearly, that success was not tied to anything about either him or May Wynn within the executive suite.
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I don’t think Francis was bad in the movie though, he just was not offered much chance to really impress by the writers.
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Not bad, just not a knock-out screen presence.
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I should make an effort to catch up with The Bamboo Prison, the only one of his four films I have yet to see.
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It’s a while since I’ve seen this Western so my memory of it is a bit fuzzy, but I remember it’s one of the few 50s Westerns that I found unbearably preachy.
As far as I remember, Donna Reed’s character was all over the place. In the beginning she seemed to be very shallow and overly flirty, then she turned into Florence Nightingale without much character development.
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Yes, it’s not much of a role for Donna Reed and I agree it’s one which ranges wildly with little meaningful development.
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Preachiness is always a deal-breaker for me. And I really dislike movies in which a character suddenly changes completely for no reason.
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personally, I’m not sure I’d call it exactly preachy. It makes no bones about its position/sympathies and essentially follows a path of vindication for one character, but is that the same thing?
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“Preachiness is always a deal-breaker for me.”
Ha, tell me about it. 🙂
Colin, as it is quite a while ago since I’ve seen the movie, I might remember wrong, but for me the problem was that the movie stuffed its sympathies down the viewer’s throat with a heavy hand. And that is usually annoying.
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I guess it’s true the script does wear its heart on its sleeve, Margot, although that could be said for a lot of 50s westerns that sought to reassess attitudes towards the Indians.
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This movie pops up on TV now & again but I’ve never watched it as the quality is pretty poor-a nice choice for RTHC though.
As you mention, Colin GUNMAN’S WALK is far superior, especially in it’s treatment of racial issues.
Columbia tried to make a star out of Carey as they did with William Bishop but they mainly appeared as second leads. One of Bishop’s rare lead roles in in Karlson’s ADVENTURES IN SILVERADO appearing next week on Talking Pictures TV.
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Bishop’s life was cut tragically short, but I don’t think he had the kind of classic leading man look about him. He was in some good movies though.
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I’m Backing Britain……and Germany.
Here’s the geeky bit during the years 2008 to 2016 the (then) mighty £ normally clocked in at $1.60. It varied wildly from a high of £1.75 to a low of $1.48. Then in 2016 the disaster that was Brexit happened and the £ suddenly dipped to $1.31 where has pretty much remained ever since. Now with the UK’s economy spluttering the £ has dropped to $1.22. This makes the cost of USA imports for UK fans VERY expensive. Luckily, there are suddenly some very tasty UK and German releases appearing on the market. The Indicator Universal Noir set mentioned will be the first of several, I believe and don’t forget Universal own the entire Paramount library pre 1949. I note that on Indicator’s Vol 1 all of those titles have already appeared on Kino Lorber but the good news is after these sets go OOP they are then re-released as single items. I have most of the films in Vol 1 on Kino Lorber (THE WEB is a corker!) so what I don’t have can be purchased when the set goes OOP. I do have all 4 volumes of Indicator’s Columbia Noirs and cannot recommend them highly enough;please note vols 1 & 2 are already OOP. I do not have the Bogart set as I have most of the titles and can cherry pick the rest when that volume goes OOP. Returning to Kino Lorber they do issue 3xBlu Ray Noir sets but the problem is the films are not available as separate releases so if there’s one film you want and two you don’t…Tough! Such is the case with their recent triple (from MGM UA) THE BOSS, CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL and THE FEARMAKERS. I really want the restored version of THE BOSS (the MGM MOD disc was wretched) CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL is not Noir and is an OK programmer and THE FEARMAKERS is sub par Tourneur-he considered it his worst film. Colin will probably enjoy THE FEARMAKERS a lot more than I did, he’s far more perceptive than me,for starters. The film has intriguing plot elements and a standout performance from Dick Foran who for me saves the film from total ruin. Mel Torme’s terrible performance has to be seen to be believed. With THE FEARMAKERS and TIMBUKTU Tourneur was stuck with very low budgets so much so that his sole Peplum (THE GIANT OF MARATHON) and two Vincent Price AIP films are a giant step production quality wise.
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John, i don’t know about the perceptive bit, but I am keen to see The Fearmakers at some point and I hope a single release of it does appear somewhere sooner of later.
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John
I could not agree with you less relative to The Fearmakers, and I have no interest in Tourneour’s person l opinion, but I have in yours, Interesting story, and Dana is the whole show, although most of the supporting people are just fine, especially Veda Ann Borg and Marilee Earle. As for Dick Foran, a coarse and loud performance. Not a trace of nuance. Mel Torme played a drip, but what else could he do?
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note vols 1 & 2 are already OOP.
It’s absolutely horrifying how much stuff is OOP and how quickly it goes out of print. And of course people then starting charging terrifying prices for any copies that remain.
Being a classic movie fan is starting to get very expensive.
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Those Indicator sets are of course limited so they will inevitably go OOP, as the more popular stuff gets there faster. As John noted though, there is a silver lining in the case of the Indicator titles I that the films then get separate releases at lower prices and obviously sans booklets etc. For those of us who don’t necessarily want to rebut everything it does mean that some movies can be picked up for maybe £10, albeit after a bit of time has passed
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I thought I’d mention the latest Kino Noir triple set all from the Universal vaults and no doubt will re-appear on Indicator volumes. First,and I guess the cream of the crop is A WOMAN’S VENGEANCE a new title to me and one with a very high reputation.
Secondly,there’s Abner Biberman’s BEHIND THE HIGH WALL which to me looks more of a prison flick but interesting nonetheless
especially as it has a rare lead role for Tom Tully. Biberman an actor turned director made a few other programmer Noirs especially FLOOD TIDE which I’d really like to see. I’ve always liked Biberman’s Western GUN FOR A COWARD. Last is I WAS A SHOPLIFTER, personally I just cannot get enough of those Universal programmers starring the likes of Scott Brady,Howard Duff and Stephen McNally. So here’s a Kino set with 3 films I’d really like but over time I guess they will turn up on Indicator editions
With Explosive Media’s Westerns and Indicator’s Noirs there’s plenty to part us from our cash plus the ever increasing list of titles emerging from Network. Studio Canal have been slow to open their vaults but recently have given us lovely high definition versions of Brit classics like I AM A CAMERA with lots more promised. Studio Canal own the rights to most Rank films as well as the Ealing library, Associated British, Rolumus Films, Anglo Amalgamated and British Lion among others so there’s plenty of scope there especially as now Studio Canal are releasing several films each month..
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There was some talk before on how the physical media market seems to be in decline, but it is worth bearing in mind just how many titles are coming out all the time.
I must admit I smiled at I Was a Shoplifter, surely a contender for one of the most banal titles of all time.
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A WOMAN’S VENGEANCE is interesting and it’s a good movie. Of course it’s not even remotely film noir. It’s definitely worth seeing.
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John, I agree that the sole peplum from Tourneur, The Giant Of Marathon was one top three of Steve Reeve’s movies. Off topic, just watched an obscure U.I. western online from Lesley Selander titled The Raiders starring Conte and Lindfors which was surprisingly fast paced and entertaining, though the climax was sort of a letdown. Conte and Lindfors were also not regulars in westerns.
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I have a copy of that unwatched. Yes, those stars weren’t known for a huge number of westerns. Conte always felt a bit urban to me. Lindfors was in Run for Cover for Nicholas Ray, a film I mean to feature. She was also in a movie I am like but I think John doesn’t, The Halliday Brand.
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No,I certainly don’t despite being a huge Lewis fan. Cotten is a no no for me in Westerns and having Bond as his father did not help at all. As far as these somewhat grim,moody Noirish Westerns go DRANGO is far superior- the film is better cast for one thing.
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I very much want to see Drango now!
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I always remember Lindfors in Scaramouche as she was very flirtatious and vivacious. If I am not mistaken, she regularly played the parts of nobility ie Empress etc. I saw The Halliday Brand a long time ago and could not remember much.
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Lindfors was not in Scaramouche, but she did appear in Moonfleet.
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Personally, I have always liked “THE HALLIDAY BRAND”. Ward Bond had a good role which was a plus for me. And I tend to like ‘range war’ westerns.
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Yes, range war tales are attractive to me too. The family strife in it has lots of potential too.
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Barry, thank you. My apologies. Mistook Nina Foch for Lindfors. Lindfors was in The Adventures Of Don Juan with Flynn.
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Exactly, and thanks for your comment.
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I should imagine that the Indicator Universal Noir set will run for at least four volumes especially if they include Paramount titles- Universal own the Paramount library pre 1949. They have mentioned that they possibly have a Noir set supplied from Studio Canal’s vaults which certainly could indicate a Brit Noir set or even French Noir as Studio Canal are a French company.
On Talking Pictures TV the presenter talking about ADVENTURES IN SILVERADO noted,more or less that Karlson remained a B Movie director at least until the Matt Helm films came along. Karlson made several A pictures in the 50’s including the outstanding GUNMAN’S WALK which the presenter failed to mention.
TPTV also showed Stuart Heisler’s TULSA which I’ve never seen before and enjoyed very much despite a somewhat washed out print. TULSA is not a Western and would make a neat companion piece with Karlson’s BLACK GOLD with it’s common theme of Native Americans gaining acceptance in mainstream White society. TULSA also has an interesting subtext concerning the environment. The presenter mentioned that TULSA was a Universal picture when in fact it was a Walter Wanger Production released ‘through Eagle Lion. For me, as far as the great screen “Divas” of the 1950’s go, Susan Hayward towers above the rest of them,she’s more or less the whole show in TULSA.
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I generally like Hayward too and I’ve enjoyed the majority of the movies I’ve seen her in. Tulsa is a title I’ve often thought I might like but the mediocre quality of the prints that get shown has meant I still have only seen snippets of the movie.
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Colin,The version of TULSA that TPTV showed was pretty faded, I note Film Detective released a DVD years back and they often upgrade previous releases. At least TULSA was better quality than THE PROUD REBEL that TPTV showed recently another film that I have never seen so I decided to suffer through it. TULSA has some dreadful musical numbers and Chill Wills is even more irritating than usual but overall I enjoyed the film August is going to be very expensive for me as Australia’s Imprint have several essential releases as far as I’m concerned. Firstly they have I AM THE LAW an Edward G film I’ve never seen and another stand alone release is THE SCARLET HOUR which sees Michael Curtiz virtually working with an unknown cast. (at that time). Their latest Noir set includes THE DESPERATE HOURS (which I’ve always wanted in high def) a Stanwyck double NO MAN OF HER OWN and THE STRANGE LOVES OF MARTHA IVERS,both of which I’ve never seen and finally, the best of the lot for me THE TURNING POINT.
Wonderful to see so much Noir getting quality releases these days. Yes,film collecting is getting to be an expensive hobby even more so for Noir addicts. All Imprint releases are region free and I wish other labels followed their example.
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Those Imprint releases are indeed mouthwatering and I’d be very keen on a number of them, particularly The Scarlet Hour and The Turning Point. Finances as ever mean I’m going to have to wait and see if they pop somewhere more affordable though.
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It’s a shame Imprint do not do stand alone versions of their box set films once they go OOP. Indicator are very good in that respect. What would be ideal would be for a UK company to mine the Paramount vaults-there’s just so many hidden treasures to
be unearthed there. I still live in hope HELL’S ISLAND and SHORT CUT TO HELL will eventually get released on Blu Ray-they have not even appeared on DVD.
Colin.sorry to hear about your finances especially as you seem to work so hard; believe me I’ve been in the same situation many times but these things do seem to work themselves out over time.
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Yes, box sets have their advantages but later stand alone releases are very welcome.
As for finances, things are not as dire as I may have made them sound but there always seem to be demands on them from somewhere or other.
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