BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

JohnHowardReid Randolph Scott (Owen Merritt), Joan Leslie (Laurie Bidwell), Ellen Drew (Nan Melotte), Alexander Knox (Will Isham), Richard Rober (Fay Dutcher), John Russell (Hugh Clagg), Alfondo Bedoya (Cultus Charlie), Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (Bourke Prine), Clem Bevans (Pay Lankershim), Cameron Mitchell (George Virk), Richard Crane (Duke Virk), Frank Sully (Lee Repp), Don Beddoe (Love Bidwell), George Lloyd (Tom Croker), James Kirkwood (Sheriff Medary), Frank Hagney (Ned Bale), Frank Ellis (townsman), Tennessee Ernie Ford (wrangler).Director: ANDRE DE TOTH. Screenplay: Kenneth Gamet. Based on the novel by Ernest Haycox. Photographed in Technicolor by Charles Lawton, junior. Film editor: Charles Nelson. Art director: George Brooks. Set decorator: Frank Tuttle. Technicolor color consultant: Francis Cugat. Music: George Duning. Songs: Harold Lewis (music) and Ralph Murphy (lyrics). Music director: Morris Stoloff. Assistant to the producer: Herbert Stewart. Assistant director: Willard Reineck. Sound recording: Frank Goodwin. Associate producer: Randolph Scott. Producer: Harry Joe Brown. Executive producers: Harry Joe Brown, Randolph Scott. A Scott-Brown Production, released through Columbia Pictures. Copyright 7 December 1951 by Producers Actors Corporation. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 2 December 1951. U.K. release: 28 June 1952. Australian release: 11 September 1952. 87 minutes.U.K. release title: The OUTCAST. SYNOPSIS: Owen Merritt, a small rancher, has to stand aside and see his ambitious girlfriend, Laurie Bidwell, marry a wealthy neighbor, Will Isham. Laurie's heart, however, is still with Owen. When Isham realizes this, he determines to destroy his rival.COMMENT: This promising theme is none too well handled by a group of first-class technicians who should have known better than fall back on such old-fashioned devices as under-cranking the camera to speed up the action. Although well-motivated, the script also fails to deliver. The story develops into one long gun-fight, with brief interludes of talkative peace. The lovely Ellen Drew is wasted as Scott's also-ran love interest.

classicsoncall Here's a Randolph Scott Western with a very perplexing ending. The character of Laurie Bidwell Isham (Joan Leslie) was so inconsistent it managed to spoil what could have been an effective story. OK, she married Will Isham (Alexander Knox) for his wealth and ambition after throwing over Owen Merritt (Scott), the laid back rancher. Having second thoughts about the whole thing made sense, but after she planned to run off with Owen and then opted to stay with the heel, that just ripped it. For the writers, it seemed like a necessary angle for Scott's character to close the deal with Nan Melotte (Ellen Drew), but it should have been handled a lot more cleverly. Oh well.Otherwise the story moved along at a nice pace and delivered it's share of action and suspense. One thing that seems virtually impossible to me though, and it's happened in a handful of Westerns I've seen, is how easily one can disengage the hitch on a runaway wagon the way Owen did in this one. It's often done with railroad cars as well, and I bet if you tried it yourself you'd strike out a hundred out of a hundred times because of the pressure forces at work.I saw John Russell's name in the opening credits and darn if I didn't recognize him when he showed up as the taciturn henchman Hugh Clagg. The picture staged a fairly impressive one on one between Russell and Scott, that had to be carried outside after the cabin they were in fell apart. Seriously, you have to see it for yourself. They had a nice tumble down the hillside as well, but I had to wonder why Clagg's horse would have been waiting for him where he landed to make a getaway. Just like I wondered how Owen and Nan managed to drive their wagon up the mountain in the first place. If there was a clear trail to that cabin, why didn't Clagg use it to get there? But tell you what, Randolph Scott didn't let me down in the wardrobe department. He donned his trademark all black outfit for the final showdown with the baddies, complementing it with a nice bandanna flourish. Bad guy Isham didn't make it to the end of the picture, so you're left to wonder whether Laurie wound up selling out to Merritt after he closes with Nan in a clinch. And steenkin' badges aside, Alfonso Bedoya fulfills his picture long wish to get a new hat.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Randolph Scott's westerns improved over the years, on the average they were better in the fifties than in the forties, and they reached their peak with "Hangman's Knot", "A Lawless Street" and those made with Budd Boetticher. "Man in the Saddle" is quite enjoyable with a lot of violent scenes: numerous shootouts and quite a fistfight with John Russel. Scott has a small ranch and is facing the jealousy of Will Isham (Alexander Knox) who is marrying Laurie (Joan Leslie) who used to be Owen Merrit(Scott)'s woman. Isham also wants to own all the property that he can and Merrit is on his way. Nan Melotte (Ellen Drew) also owns a ranch and is in love with Merrit who only has eyes for Laurie. The romantic scenes, which should be important lack luster. Scott could do much better as he showed in "The Tall T". Also some comic scenes with Alfonso Bedoya are not really that funny. But those are minor faults, in this fast paced, colorful western directed by Andre de Toth.

John W Chance This formulaic film (hero's girlfriend marries the villain) just didn't move along fast enough given some of the circumstances of the story. Scott seems too old in this one, and too many times his character turns away from decisive action, deflating the scenes. He responds to the deaths of some of his hands weakly; he escapes from Knox's gang by hiding in a full rain barrel; his escape to the high country and pursuit by John Russell seem superfluous, as does much of the film. The plot could have been tightened. High points of the film: seeing "Tennessee" Ernie Ford without a mustache singing "Man in the Saddle"; Alfonso Bedoya's too brief scenes as a cook; the color photography of the high country, and the fight scene there with John Russell.