A very captivating and entertaining western which seems to have been misplaced in the shuffle of endless films of the genre that were churned out in the 50's, this deserves more attention than it has thus far been accorded. Ryan plays a town marshal, preparing for the inevitable boom that is about to come from men just in off a major cattle drive. His sweetheart Mayo runs a local restaurant/hotel and his heretofore-uneventful jail house is attended to by elderly Brennan and meek O'Connell. When the cattle drive has concluded, Ryan is introduced to hotheaded and confrontational Hunter, whose father was shot and killed by Ryan in a previous town. Adding to Ryan's woes is the fact that an old enemy (Middleton) from that same town has just breezed in to open up a casino. The animosity between Ryan and Middleton is anything but dormant and within minutes, they are ready to reopen the war between them. Hunter's role in this wavers frequently between the two, while Mayo just wants to see Ryan survive it all. Ryan is excellent here, displaying a strong sense of justice and vindication against tough odds (made even worse when his character begins experiencing physical afflictions caused by a recent skirmish.) He delivers his lines with great authority and/or affection, depending on what's called for. His assessment of the town elders is a highlight. Hunter, a gloriously beautiful man whose eyes alone light up the screen, is great, too. His part is difficult to handle in that his loyalties and motivations change swiftly, but he does a nice job with it. Unlike a lot of actors might have done in this time period, he continues to walk with a limp long after his leg is injured by a bullet. Many others would have considered it "healed" after a reel and reverted to their usual gait. In one amusing instance, he is being nursed for his leg and his pants are cut up to the thigh and his shirt is removed (though there is nothing whatsoever wrong with his upper half decidedly so!) Mayo manages to get in a few good licks and benefits from a character that is spunkier and more determined than some of the ladies who were featured as window-dressing in so many other westerns of this era. Middleton is effectively slimy and self-satisfied, Brennan is enjoyably laconic and sly and O'Connell ably portrays a man in over his head and who suddenly wound up with more trouble than he bargained for. Many effective character actors dot the town. Look for "The Dick Van Dyke Show's" Deacon as the local barber (oddly, he is good in every scene except for a very awkward appearance at an impromptu town council meeting.) Former child star Coogan is reduced to one line or so as a restaurant customer. Fortunately, "The Addams Family" would come along within a decade. The use of music is very interesting in the film with a whistled theme coming up whenever the past is mentioned paired with more dramatic scoring during the, at times, suspenseful and dramatic moments. The exquisite cinematography by Ballard only adds to the other already winning ingredients.
Review of The Proud Ones
