|
Ride the High Country (1962) is one of Sam Peckinpah's most enjoyable Westerns. The story is about Steve Judd (Joel McCrea), an aging lawman and his former friend Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott) who agree to transport gold from a Sierra Nevada mining town. Steve, however, doesn't know that Gil intends to steal the gold.
Ron Starr, Mariette Hartley & Randolph Scott © MGM Pictures
When Steve Judd agrees to take on the assignment of transporting gold from the Sierra Nevada mining town of Coarsegold, he knows he'll need a second hand. Immediately he runs into his old friend Gil Westrum. The men team up for the job, but they have spent years apart, so they don't know each other well. Gil has other ideas about the gold and knows he'll need an accomplice as well. When he sees the reckless young Heck Longtree (Ron Starr) punch his way out of a bar fight, he invites him to be the third man.
As the men begin their ride, they find a house along the way. Joshua Knudsen (R. G. Armstrong), a religious man and his grown daughter, Elsa (Mariette Hartley), offer the men a night in the barn and a meal. It's quickly apparent that Elsa is not happy with her father's tyrannical rule. Heck takes a liking to her, but it's obvious by this time that Heck would take a liking to any girl. Anyway, Elsa informs Heck she's engaged to Billy Hammond (James Drury), a miner up in Coarsegold.
Peckinpah was a man who read the Bible a lot and interestingly, a lot of Bible versus or moral saying show up here and there in the film. When the riders unsaddle to go inside the house, Heck says about Elsa, "Think of all that going to waste up here."
Gil retorts, "Like the fellow said, gold is where you find it."
Steve adds, "If it's not yours, don't covet it."
Gil tells Heck, "Don't worry boy, the Lord's bounty may not be for sale, but the devil's is, if you can pay the price." This sets the theme of the movie immediately as good versus evil. Once inside the house Gil and Heck look at a plaque on the wall that reads, "When pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom."
Gil says, "There's a lot of truth in those words, Heck." As the men sit down for dinner, Steve and Joshua begin a battle of juxtaposing Bible verses. By now Peckinpah had done a terrific job of setting up his characters. You know exactly that Steve is good. Gil once was, but something has changed. Heck is heading for trouble, but he may still be moldable, and Elsa is a woman in jeopardy.
As Steve and Gil settle down for the night in the barn, they talk about the old days when they were both gun slingers, and Gil gets in a dig in about a gal Steve could have had but let slip through his fingers. Again, more of Peckinpah letting us get to know who these men are, as does the line spoken by Gil to Steve in regards to his righteous attitude, "You know what's on the back of a poor man when he dies? The clothes of pride, and they're not a bit warmer to him then when he was alive. Is that you want?"
Steve replies, "All I want is to enter my house justified."
When the men saddle up to leave the preacher's house, Heck tries to convince Elsa to come along, but she refuses. The men take off and Gil keeps reminding Heck about their bargain. Trouble is, Heck is beginning to take a liking to Steve and his honorable ways. Especially after they get in a scrap, and Steve teaches Heck that he can still get the best of young hooligans.
After the men ride out, Elsa and her father have another squabble, after which she packs up and rides off. When she finds the men, Heck is happy to see her, but Steve lets him know right off the bat she's off limits. She informs them she just wants them to escort her to Billy in Coarsegold.
Only a short scene unveils the collecting of the gold, but once the men have their bags, they're ready to give Elsa over to her betrothed. Within minutes of saying "I Do," Billy's wild and uncouth brothers make Elsa realize she's in danger and out of her element. One scream brings Heck and the men to the rescue, and once again the four them hit the trail back to low country.
One day out and the men are attacked by Billy and his brothers, and the shoot out ends up with Steve getting shot. Throughout the film Peckinpah packs his movie with one moral message after another, including one to Heck about not leaving his trash behind. In fact one classic film reader told me this film partly shaped his own morals.
Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott were on the verge of getting their gold watch by this time in their career and 100s of movies to their credit. But they showed movie fans the stuff they were made of by offering perfect performances, and ones highly more interesting than anyone else in the movie. And would have thought that the favorite actor, Scott, would be played against type before he was ultimately a hero? Why Peckinpah, of course, who used the age card to advantage several times in the film, like when Steve escapes into a bathroom to put on his glasses to read a contract.
Ride the High Country's" cinematography by Lucien Ballard, is part of the attraction of this film.
Although most people recognize The Wild Bunch as a better Peckinpah film, I actually enjoyed Ride the High Country more.
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Writers: N. B. Stone, Jr.
Rating: Unrated
Classic Movie Guide Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Run Time: 94 minutes
Studio: MGM Pictures
|
