McCrea, Sullivan, and Whitmore escape from a Yankee prison camp during the Civil War. In the process, Sullivan manages to stab the young guard multiple times with what seems like a bit too much relish. It is. Sullivan turns out to be a shallow and greedy womanizer, while McCrea is the man of principle as always. James Whitmore is an elderly soldier with kidney stones.
The three men are swept up in a gang run by one of Quantrill's lieutenants. In case you don't know, Quantrill was a Confederate irregular responsible for several killings of innocent civilians. After the war, some of Quantrill's raiders continued their criminal activities for their own benefit, including Jesse James.
This particular band of raiders is led by Jeff Corey who coerces the escaped prisoners into guiding a wagon train full of Mexicans, refugees, and gold from Santa Fe into an ambush. It's expected that the civilians will be killed and the gold sent to Richmond for the Confederacy. Among the travelers is Arlene Dahl, looking splendid in her echt-Hollywood fashion, and her nephew, Claud Jarmon, Jr., who wants to prove his manhood -- always a bad sign.
The Civil War ends before the train reaches the ambush site but it's revealed that Sullivan knows that the gold would never have reached Richmond anyway. The plan was always for Jeff Corey to keep it for himself and the gang. Sullivan leaves the train and joins the gang.
The film would be utterly routine and without interest if it weren't for a couple of elements. The location shooting is colorful, for one thing. The story is an early effort by Irving Ravetch, later responsible for gems like "Hud." The dialog has its outstanding lines. When Sullivan informs McCrea that their wartime friendship is now at an end, McCrea's reply is: "The gullies are awash with my tears. The rain is wholesale." I mean -- okay, it's not Shakespeare and it's not Burt Kennedy's folk poetry, but an exchange like that enlivens an otherwise unexciting conversation. The sarcasm is more lyrical than, say, "It don't surprise me none." Also well written is when the company must cross a dangerously raging river. McCrea by this time is perfectly willing to miss the ambush date and suggests camping until the current subsides -- if it ever does. But Sullivan, with his eye on the gold, explains exactly how he managed to transport heavy cannon across such barriers when he was in the artillery. An arousing and really perilous sequence shows how it's done. The climax is more or less predictable.
This was released in 1950 and Joel McCrea had already decided to work on nothing but Westerns. He was over forty and most of the efforts were humdrum. This one is a bit better than most. And his final entry, "Ride the High Country", is considerably better.
The three men are swept up in a gang run by one of Quantrill's lieutenants. In case you don't know, Quantrill was a Confederate irregular responsible for several killings of innocent civilians. After the war, some of Quantrill's raiders continued their criminal activities for their own benefit, including Jesse James.
This particular band of raiders is led by Jeff Corey who coerces the escaped prisoners into guiding a wagon train full of Mexicans, refugees, and gold from Santa Fe into an ambush. It's expected that the civilians will be killed and the gold sent to Richmond for the Confederacy. Among the travelers is Arlene Dahl, looking splendid in her echt-Hollywood fashion, and her nephew, Claud Jarmon, Jr., who wants to prove his manhood -- always a bad sign.
The Civil War ends before the train reaches the ambush site but it's revealed that Sullivan knows that the gold would never have reached Richmond anyway. The plan was always for Jeff Corey to keep it for himself and the gang. Sullivan leaves the train and joins the gang.
The film would be utterly routine and without interest if it weren't for a couple of elements. The location shooting is colorful, for one thing. The story is an early effort by Irving Ravetch, later responsible for gems like "Hud." The dialog has its outstanding lines. When Sullivan informs McCrea that their wartime friendship is now at an end, McCrea's reply is: "The gullies are awash with my tears. The rain is wholesale." I mean -- okay, it's not Shakespeare and it's not Burt Kennedy's folk poetry, but an exchange like that enlivens an otherwise unexciting conversation. The sarcasm is more lyrical than, say, "It don't surprise me none." Also well written is when the company must cross a dangerously raging river. McCrea by this time is perfectly willing to miss the ambush date and suggests camping until the current subsides -- if it ever does. But Sullivan, with his eye on the gold, explains exactly how he managed to transport heavy cannon across such barriers when he was in the artillery. An arousing and really perilous sequence shows how it's done. The climax is more or less predictable.
This was released in 1950 and Joel McCrea had already decided to work on nothing but Westerns. He was over forty and most of the efforts were humdrum. This one is a bit better than most. And his final entry, "Ride the High Country", is considerably better.