User Reviews

It seems like Randolph Scott made a million of these near-homogenous Westerns in the 40s and 50s. Every time one pops up on the schedules – which they regularly do (usually on a weekday afternoon when they're frequently interrupted by excitable chaps selling cheap loans or offering to make you rich for tripping over your own feet, or actresses you thought were dead selling life insurance to the over 50s, or riding very slowly on a stairlift) - I think I must have seen it already, but it seems like I never have…

Anyway, this is a fairly typical example of his work, although a couple of truncated scenes suggest that Ray Enright's direction was found lacking during post-production. Randy's a man on a mission to hunt down the cad who murdered his fiancée. He's provided with clues to the killer's identity by a central-casting redskin whose brief sentences comprising of mostly two-syllable words ending in A somehow translate into fulsome paragraphs when translated into English. He travels around the old West until he comes to the town of Coroner Creek where he finally finds his man, and you can guess the rest…

Except you can't really, because the film's only half-an-hour old by the time Scott stumbles upon icy, steely-eyed George Macready, and instead of facing him down in a showdown, Scott's character embarks on a crusade of psychological pressure that slowly whittles away at Macready's self-satisfied hold over the eponymous town. In the hands of a more accomplished writer and director this could have made for a more compelling movie than we actually have but, like I say, it's entertaining enough. There's the regulation sidekick whose loyalty to the hero inevitably proves to be fatal, an ageing widow whose crush on Scott is barely alluded to (suggesting further deleted scenes) until he leaves her, an ineffectual sheriff, a fetching hotel manageress (and you just know where that's going to end – it's been 18 months after all) and a small coterie of secondary villains who all fall foul of Scott sooner or later.

The opening scene to this Randolph Scott suggests it is going to be an old fashioned cowboys versus Indians film as we see a group of Apache attacking a stage coach; it turns out that they are working for a white man though and once they force the coach to stop this white man kills the men and takes the one female passenger away with him. After this prologue we meet the films protagonist; Chris Danning. He is trying to find out what happened on the stage and learns a few facts about the man responsible; he is blond, blue eyed, has a scar on his face and can speak fluent Apache... he also learns that the woman later killed herself.

At this point we don't know his connection to the woman but it is clear that she meant a lot to him as he sets off to find the man responsible. He tracks him down to the town of Coroner Creek; here he learns the man's name is Younger Miles and he is the dominant rancher in the area; doing what it takes to force rivals off their land and getting away with it because his father in law is the sheriff. Danning doesn't go gunning for Miles; instead he starts to provoke him; getting a job with Miles last rival and letting the whole town that he helped Miles' drunk wife get home. It doesn't all go Danning's way though a fight with Miles' gang leaves him with a badly broken hand and several hundred of his employer's cattle are killed when Miles' men set fire the undergrowth in the canyon they were grazing in. This doesn't stop Danning of course and ultimately he will have his revenge and we will learn why he was determined to see Miles dead.

I found this to be a surprisingly gritty western; the fight between Scott and Forrest Tucker was particularly brutal for a film of this era; with the latter stamping on Scott's hand then when the tables are turned Scott does the same to him; showing that our hero is only out for revenge. An even bigger surprise came earlier in the scene when Scott bit Tucker's arm; I don't recall seeing any western hero fight that dirty before! Scott puts in a fine performance as Danning; he may have been fifty when he filmed this but he was believable as a man who could handle himself in a dangerous situation. George Macready, played Younger Miles, was suitably villainous; we even see him slapping his wife hitting a man across the face with a spur just to prove how bad he is! Director Ray Enright keeps the action moving along well enough and for the most part makes the fights look good... one early fight did include a very obviously sped up section though which didn't work for me.

If you enjoy B westerns this is definitely worth checking out if it is on TV and is a must if you have enjoyed other Randolph Scott westerns.

My grandfather took my dad to the movies whenever a Randolph Scott western was shown, and no doubt they would have certainly enjoyed this one. This is a first-class Randolph Scott film, a western picture based on a Luke Short novel, and a good introduction for anyone interested in Scott's career and western films of the 1940s. Randolph Scott plays a character hell-bent on revenge in Coroner Creek, seeking justice for the death of his fiancé. This solid, riveting picture, has all the elements of a gripping western based on revenge, with the added storyline of the typical power-hungry, manipulating ranch boss. George McCready's performance is compelling, as he plays the cut-throat ranch owner with savagery, hidden behind a civil mask. Forrest Tucker and Randolph Scott have an extremely vicious fight in this film, that is very surprising for a western of the 1940s. Randolph Scott is strong and steady with his performance. Edgar Buchanan, Marguerite Chapman, Sally Eilers all help to round-out this story that has some twists and turns in the plot. A synopsis does not give this intriguing, underrated film adequate justice.

The basic plot much reminds me of at least 2 of Scott's later, better remembered, films. both directed by Budd Boettricher: "Seven Men from Now" and "Ride Lonesome". In each of these films, Scott is obsessed with engineering vengeance upon the killer or tormentor of his wife or , in the present case, betrothed. Don't expect much in the way of humor or music. In strict keeping with Chris Danning's(Scott) creed of 'an eye for an eye', and yet , in keeping with admirer Kate's alternative creed of "Vengeance is Mine. I will repay", neither his betrothed nor the man(Younger Miles)Scott blames for her death technically die at the hands of another. The one is a suicide (presumably a reaction to being molested by Miles and perhaps his Apache accomplices), the other an accidental fall while Scott is hunting him in a dark livery stable. Otherwise, there are a goodly number of mostly senseless murders, mostly clustered near the beginning and ending. Yes,, the coroner of Coroner Creek should have been quite busy for a little while.

In the beginning, Scott doesn't know the name or looks of his fiancée's tormentor. However, he finds one of the Apaches involved in the stage hold up, who gives a sufficient description, but minus a name.One of the distinctive physical characteristics of this man is a long scar on his right cheek. this didn't have to be faked, as George Macready already had such a scar. It's never explained why he seems to have an affinity with the Apache, learning their language, to the point that his thoroughly inebriated wife mumbles something in an Apache language, giving Scott an important validation of his presumption of Miles as the man he's been looking for. Scott keeps everyone guessing about the reason for his dislike of Miles until their finale confrontation.

Forest Tucker plays Ernie: Mile's right hand man, who gets into several altercations with Scott. In one, he breaks Scott's right hand while Scott is out cold. After just a little while, , with the help of his friend, Scott turns the tables and breaks Ernie's right hand(now making Ernie Miles' left hand man?) Relating to their shooting accuracy, shouldn't be that big a deal from fairly chose range. Ironically, although it's Miles that Scott wants to hurt, it's actually Ernie whom he periodically tangles with physically, and the only one of the gang whom Scott kills directly. In this shootout, Scott has female admirer Kathy with him. She contributes to the proceedings by firing a pistol while looking away, managing to hit something that falls on the other badman(Stew), knocking him out, thus enabling him to be used as a human shield in confronting Miles, while conforming to her creed of letting God take the lead in the business of vengeance.

Miles is your stereotypical 'town boss', who has stooped to much more crooked means of obtaining his position than anyone is aware off. Actually, his empire seems to consist of land and cattle, rather than town-based operations. Judging by his behavior in the stage hold up, he reveals himself as a senseless murderer, as all the men on or in the stagecoach are shot dead, even without resisting.(Strangely, Miles doesn't cover his face with a mask, although we are not given a look). Later, he orders or carries out the murder of several men who want to get in the way of his operation or plans.

There are 4 women who play significant roles. Ironically, the one whose fate precipitates the rest of the story goes nameless, and is not even included in the credits at this site. Danning's(Scott) fiancée is very briefly seen in the stagecoach and utters not a word.....Kate is the manager of the hotel where Scott initially hangs up his hat in Coroner Creek. Clearly she very soon marks him as a very unusual and trustworthy cowboy, trusting him with driving the inebriated Mrs. Miles home from the hotel. Seems Mrs. Miles is distraught over her husband's suspected infidelities and criticisms. Her father(played by Edgar Buchanan) is the stereotypical bought sheriff, who looks the other way when confronted with one of Miles' transgressions. the inimical Buchanan had played a very similar role a cowardly lawman in the previous Scott western "Abilene Town" . ..The 4th woman is Della Harms: a redheaded widow who runs the next biggest ranch in the area, hence is an object of Miles' illegal activities. Although she makes a play for Scott, whom she quickly makes her foreman, clearly he favors the younger, blue-eyed, raven -haired Kate.

As with the previous Scott western released in '48 : "Albuquerque",this was filmed in the budget "Cinecolor", which cost much less to film than Technicolor, for example, but has some off-color issues. Scott's '50 "The Nevadan" was also filmed in Cinecolor. George Macready and Forest Tucker returned for their roles as Scott's chief nemesis, albeit in a more complex plot setting. I somewhat prefer that film over this one.

As in the case of "Albuquerque", this film was partly shot in the spectacular -looking Sedona, AZ region and partly in southern CA, and both were directed by Ray Enright.