Tom Selleck, Sam Elliot, and Jeff Osterhage are appropriately cast as the charismatic Traven brothers in "Something Big" director Andrew V. McLaglen's "The Shadow Riders," an amiable, above-average, television adaptation of Louis L'Amour's venerable western novel. No, neither "Gunsmoke" writer Jim Byrnes nor co-scribe Verne Nobles have been entirely faithful to L'Amour's source material. Those who've read the novel should prepare themselves for some major and minor deviations. They have also fleshed out the feisty character of Uncle Jack Traven (Ben Johnson of "Rio Grande") in greater detail. In the novel, Jack joins Mac and Dal when they embark on their quest after the renegade Confederates who have kidnapped Kate Connery (Katherine Ross of "The Graduate") and company. The movie makes Jack into an amorous cowpoke wanted by Sheriff Gillette (R. G. Armstrong of "Ride the High Country"), because the latter's wife has been pursuing Jack! Basically, Byrnes and Nobles have enhanced the visual and dramatic setting of these events. Furthermore, the writers have whittled down the novel's abundant gallery of characters. In the book, the Travens rescue a little girl whose mother had been abducted by Major Ashbury (Geoffrey Lewis of "High Plains Drifter") along with Kate. One prominent character in the novel conspicuously absent from the movie is wealthy cattleman Martin Connery. Meantime, the movie introduced a new character not found in L'Amour's novel: cuckolded Sheriff Miles Gillette.
The Civil War has ended with General Lee's surrender at Appomattox to General Grant. Gray-clad sergeant Dal Traven is facing a Union firing squad when Major Ashbury's Confederate marauders disperse the blue bellies and rescue him. Turns out the man who saved Dal would later emerge as his archenemy. In the novel, action unfolds when some Unionists objected to Dal Traven (Sam Elliot of "Tombstone") and his Confederate uniform enough to lynch him in a shack. Comparatively, in the movie, the circumstances surrounding Dal's predicament differs. He is shoved atop a horse about to be strung up from a tree rather than hanged inside a shack. Happily, Mac Traven (a pre-"Magnum, P. I." Tom Selleck) intervenes to save his older brother's neck. In the movie, Dal had slain two of the Unionists' relatives, and this prompted them to string him up. Afterward, the two brothers hightail it home to Texas to find chaos awaiting them. Seems renegade Confederate Major Ashbury, who rescued Dal earlier from a firing squad, has abducted not only Dal's future bride but also another Traven brother, Jesse (Jeff Osterhage of "Masque of the Red Death"), along with two younger Traven sisters. Although Kate promised to await Dal's return, when she learned he had died in battle, she changed her mind and took up with another man.
No sooner have the Traven brothers lit out after these rebels than the third Traven brother Jesse, who had been taken hostage, escapes captivity. Ashbury's soldiers had bivouacked on the beach by the Gulf of Mexico. Ashbury had arranged a rendezvous with an infamous gunrunner. Jesse escaped while the rebs were otherwise occupied. Although he plunged into the surf, Ashbury's riflemen wounded him as he swam out into the gulf. Predictably, Jesse survived his minor flesh wound. Later, Mac and Dal rescued Jesse from two vagabonds who tried to steal his clothes. Jesse briefs them about Ashbury and the hostages. After arms smuggling gunrunner Colonel Holiday Hammond (Gene Evans of "The Steel Helmet") and Ashbury have conferred, they set sail on Hammond's ship bound for Mexico with Kate. Since neither Mac nor Dal are acquainted with Mexico, they spring cantankerous Uncle Jack from Sheriff Gillette's jail. Now, Jack serves as their Mexican tour guide. Our heroes track down Ashbury and Hammond to another shoreline camp near a railroad line as Hammond finalizes an arms and ammo sale with Ashbury. The three Traven brothers attack Hammond's camp. Frantically, Holiday scrambles onto his train with Kate, but our heroes foil his escape attempt and rescue her. As the action winds down, Sheriff Gillette and his posse arrive to arrest Uncle Jack. Mac and Dal negotiate a prisoner exchange. Gillette concedes and swaps Uncle Jack for the notorious Hammond. As a parting shot, Mac reminds Gillette he will beat him in the forthcoming sheriff's election!
Director Andrew V. McLaglen never lets the action malinger. Selleck, Elliot, and Osterhage are just as captivating here as they were in "The Sacketts." Ex-rodeo rider Ben Johnson steals the show with his display of horsemanship. The biggest dramatic mistake concerns Geoffrey Lewis's Major Ashbury. Once the heroes crush Hammond's crusade, Dal turns Ashbury loose, repaying the dastard for having saved his skin. The grand finale when the Travens surprise Hammond and Ashbury, and the careening train chase afterwards are venerable Hollywood tropes. According to noted playwright Anton Chekhov, if you put a gun on stage in the first act, somebody must use it in the third act. The presence of the train foreshadows the chase. For the record, the Union firing squad scene never appeared in L'Amour's yarn. Essentially, McLaglen lets Ashbury off the hook since the major's Southern uprising has been dashed. L'Amour was just as guilty. He let Ashbury fade out into obscurity with impunity! The book fails to duplicate the spectacle of the movie's sprawling action. Quibbles aside, my biggest pet peeve about "The Shadow Riders" is composer Jerrold Immel's lamentable soundtrack. Immel's corny, hillbilly music would have been more appropriate for a "Green Acres" episode than the brawny, shoot'em up shenanigans of "The Shadow Riders." Altogether, "The Shadow Riders" should not disappoint any armchair cowboys.
The Civil War has ended with General Lee's surrender at Appomattox to General Grant. Gray-clad sergeant Dal Traven is facing a Union firing squad when Major Ashbury's Confederate marauders disperse the blue bellies and rescue him. Turns out the man who saved Dal would later emerge as his archenemy. In the novel, action unfolds when some Unionists objected to Dal Traven (Sam Elliot of "Tombstone") and his Confederate uniform enough to lynch him in a shack. Comparatively, in the movie, the circumstances surrounding Dal's predicament differs. He is shoved atop a horse about to be strung up from a tree rather than hanged inside a shack. Happily, Mac Traven (a pre-"Magnum, P. I." Tom Selleck) intervenes to save his older brother's neck. In the movie, Dal had slain two of the Unionists' relatives, and this prompted them to string him up. Afterward, the two brothers hightail it home to Texas to find chaos awaiting them. Seems renegade Confederate Major Ashbury, who rescued Dal earlier from a firing squad, has abducted not only Dal's future bride but also another Traven brother, Jesse (Jeff Osterhage of "Masque of the Red Death"), along with two younger Traven sisters. Although Kate promised to await Dal's return, when she learned he had died in battle, she changed her mind and took up with another man.
No sooner have the Traven brothers lit out after these rebels than the third Traven brother Jesse, who had been taken hostage, escapes captivity. Ashbury's soldiers had bivouacked on the beach by the Gulf of Mexico. Ashbury had arranged a rendezvous with an infamous gunrunner. Jesse escaped while the rebs were otherwise occupied. Although he plunged into the surf, Ashbury's riflemen wounded him as he swam out into the gulf. Predictably, Jesse survived his minor flesh wound. Later, Mac and Dal rescued Jesse from two vagabonds who tried to steal his clothes. Jesse briefs them about Ashbury and the hostages. After arms smuggling gunrunner Colonel Holiday Hammond (Gene Evans of "The Steel Helmet") and Ashbury have conferred, they set sail on Hammond's ship bound for Mexico with Kate. Since neither Mac nor Dal are acquainted with Mexico, they spring cantankerous Uncle Jack from Sheriff Gillette's jail. Now, Jack serves as their Mexican tour guide. Our heroes track down Ashbury and Hammond to another shoreline camp near a railroad line as Hammond finalizes an arms and ammo sale with Ashbury. The three Traven brothers attack Hammond's camp. Frantically, Holiday scrambles onto his train with Kate, but our heroes foil his escape attempt and rescue her. As the action winds down, Sheriff Gillette and his posse arrive to arrest Uncle Jack. Mac and Dal negotiate a prisoner exchange. Gillette concedes and swaps Uncle Jack for the notorious Hammond. As a parting shot, Mac reminds Gillette he will beat him in the forthcoming sheriff's election!
Director Andrew V. McLaglen never lets the action malinger. Selleck, Elliot, and Osterhage are just as captivating here as they were in "The Sacketts." Ex-rodeo rider Ben Johnson steals the show with his display of horsemanship. The biggest dramatic mistake concerns Geoffrey Lewis's Major Ashbury. Once the heroes crush Hammond's crusade, Dal turns Ashbury loose, repaying the dastard for having saved his skin. The grand finale when the Travens surprise Hammond and Ashbury, and the careening train chase afterwards are venerable Hollywood tropes. According to noted playwright Anton Chekhov, if you put a gun on stage in the first act, somebody must use it in the third act. The presence of the train foreshadows the chase. For the record, the Union firing squad scene never appeared in L'Amour's yarn. Essentially, McLaglen lets Ashbury off the hook since the major's Southern uprising has been dashed. L'Amour was just as guilty. He let Ashbury fade out into obscurity with impunity! The book fails to duplicate the spectacle of the movie's sprawling action. Quibbles aside, my biggest pet peeve about "The Shadow Riders" is composer Jerrold Immel's lamentable soundtrack. Immel's corny, hillbilly music would have been more appropriate for a "Green Acres" episode than the brawny, shoot'em up shenanigans of "The Shadow Riders." Altogether, "The Shadow Riders" should not disappoint any armchair cowboys.