Joel McCrea in an atypically wooden performance as a Confederate soldier who, along with two friends, escapes from a Union prison camp in the last year of the Civil War, wrangled by a Rebel troop into taking bushwhacking job robbing a Yankee wagon train of its gold bullion. There's a neat scene midway through where the men attempt to have a square dance without any women; and when lone female Arlene Dahl finally joins in, McCrea has a wonderful moment where he changes her shoes. Otherwise, Barry Sullivan is about the sorriest cowboy in '50s westerns, and a nearly-unrecognizable James Whitmore is wasted as a grizzled soldier. McCrea and Sullivan fight over Dahl, predictably, without ever asking her whom she prefers, while the other relationships in this caravan are practically non-existent. Good supporting cast, including an almost-grown up Claude Jarman, Jr., and nice Technicolor photography, but alas, this yarn is strictly rote. ** from ****
Review of The Outriders
