Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

dougdoepke Best friends Owen and Del, along with local men, are mustered out of the Union army at Civil War's end. Trouble is Big Ed has grabbed the men's gold-bearing land while the men were gone, and now, as a judge, Owen has to enforce the law in Big Ed's favor. This splits the community into warring factions.Gritty, character-driven western. We know at outset that Owen (Ford) is a flawed character when his Union detachment shells surrendering Johnny rebs. In fact, Owen hides his killer instinct behind an uptight rendering of authority, whether as a colonel or as a federal judge. Ford plays the authoritarian part so grimly (count the smiles—I stopped at zero), it's hard to see how the charming Caroline would be attracted to him. Nonetheless, the interplay between best-friends Ford and Holden is involving and forms the story's core. Alliances between the various factions are sometimes hard to keep up with, but are more unpredictable than usual. And I especially like that final maneuvering around the bridge that I didn't see coming.Columbia Studios popped for a lot of extras, along with fine special effects, especially when the burning wall comes down. Funny, though, how mountainous Colorado looks like greater LA. Too bad Columbia didn't pop for sending the crew at least to Lone Pine and the Southern Sierras. All in all, it's a very different kind of horse opera that avoids the usual clichés, with Ford at his absolute grimmest. Clearly, however, he and Holden are on their way up the Hollywood ladder.

Jeff (actionrating.com) Skip it – An extremely young William Holden and a creepy-looking Glenn Ford star in this cheesy western. The problem is that it is supposed to be a serious psychological western. Unfortunately, this movie did not age well, and to top it all off there is a serious absence of quality action. Glenn Ford plays a power-hungry, Civil War ex-officer who begins to feel the psychological effects of a life of violence and killing. After the war, his own friend (Holden) must turn against him to protect the livelihood of an entire town. The plot is very good, but the action is few and far between, and most of the acting and dialogue comes across as corny.

MartinHafer The film begins in the last days of the Civil War. Glenn Ford is a colonel in charge of Union troops and they've backed a company of Confederate soldiers in a canyon. The Confederates have no choice to surrender but even though Ford sees them waving the white flag through his binoculars, he pretends not to have seen it and orders an attack and the group is massacred! Then, the end of the war is announced--just after this killing.In the next scene, Ford is asked to become a federal judge in this territory. While he says he's reluctant to take it, upon assuming the post he seems to enjoy being the same sort of martinet he was in the military--and his decisions are sometimes cruel and harsh. You also can slowly see that he's insane--a sadist and very paranoid. Ford also makes his friend (William Holden) the Marshall, but soon they are butting heads as Holden can't accept Ford's heavy-handed ways. In particular, when land is virtually stolen from soldiers who are returning from fighting for their country, Ford sides with the dishonest miners. Holden cannot understand this and this and other decisions by Ford trouble him. You know that a major showdown is going to eventually occur between the two friends.The film is filmed in very nice 1940s Technicolor--and the DVD print was lovely. In addition, the outdoor scenes were all shot on location and the film looks nice. As for the acting, it's good--and not surprising considering Holden and Ford are in the leads. And as for the plot, it's original--and that is a rare thing with westerns! As a result it's worth seeing.By the way, early in the film you can catch a quick glimpse of Denver Pyle in a tiny role as a Union soldier before he gained fame. In this same scene, I thought I saw Sterling Hayden playing one of the Confederate soldiers. Also, shortly after this scene, you hear everyone shouting that the war is over because Lee surrendered. However, this is inaccurate. After Lee's surrender, some Confederate forces and many of the Confederate states continued fighting for another two months. And, given that the film takes place in Colorado, the men certainly would NOT have just been sent home right away, as Texas and the western region continued seeing some minor skirmishes.

MartynGryphon Throughout my 30+ years on earth, I have always appreciated the few certainties in life and held the firm belief that some things always remained constant. The sun will rise in the east and set in the west, night will always follow the day, I've always enjoyed the twice daily ebb and flow of coastal tides and I knew that Glenn Ford will always play the 'good guy' in a movie.I have just watched 'The Man From Colorado' and my view of life has been left completely skewed and severely dented, because in this movie, Ford plays nothing short of a complete nutjob.Victorious from the civil war, union Colonel Owen Devereaux, (Ford), and his lifelong best friend, Capt. Del Stewart, (William Holden), return to their home town to pick up their lives where they left off three years previously.Devereaux, however, has come back a different person. His war experiences have left him with an insatiable appetite for killing things and a sadistic streak as wide as Colorado itself.Unaware of his newly acquired 'personality issues', the Governor of the state appoints Devereaux as Federal Judge of the town, leaving him with the power of life and death over every man in it. (I think you know what's coming).His buddy Del Stewart is offered the job as Marshall of the town, but before he can accept, Stewart and Devereaux, are ambushed by a crazed confederate officer, who had witnessed Devereaux's new found rage first hand during the war, when he butchered over 100 rebel soldiers that were flying a white flag of surrender. Devereaux easily, (maybe too easily), overpowers the assailant, and foaming with rage, pumps a million bullets into him, instead of adopting the more orthodox 'arrest followed by trial' format favoured by most sober judges.From this moment on, Stewart's eyes have been firmly opened to the Jekyll & Hyde personality that has developed within his friend, and he reluctantly accepts the Marshalls job hoping that his influence as Marshall can bring Devereaux back from the 'dark side of the force'.Due to the pre-war Gold Rush, the town had experienced a population explosion, and many of the claimers had volunteered for army service with Devereaux & Stewart when the war began, safe in the belief that their claims would be protected should they return.In their absence, however, all the land had been taken over by a greedy Gold mining company, who uses a loophole in the law which stipulates that all claims that have remained dormant for three years or more, are null and void and fair game for any new claimants.Devereaux, openly expresses his personal support for the veteran claimers, but in his capacity as Judge, rules in favour of the Mining Corporation who rightly or wrongly has the law on their side.Because of this decision, the relationship between Stewart and Devereaux quickly begins to sour. It doesn't help matters either when Devereaux announces his engagement to Caroline (Ellen Drew), who until then had been the the object of Stewart's affections.The hard done to claimers, decide that if they can't reclaim what was their's through the courts, then they will take it back by less legal means and after some are captured, it's not long before Devereaux's blood lust comes to the fore. He shows no mercy to any of his former comrades in arms, and orders enough hangings to create a rope shortage. In consequence, Stewart's friendship with Devereaux, deteriorates by the day and so does Devereaux's grasp on reality.When Devereaux needlessly hangs one young man on weak circumstantial evidence, A furious Stewart finally decides it's one death too far, and angrily confronts Devereaux, declaring him self Devereaux's enemy until the power of life and death that he is constantly abusing is taken from him 'one way or the other'.After turning outlaw, it doesn't take long before Stewart's name is at the top of Devereaux's 'to hang' list. and his capture becomes Devereaux's psychotic obsession.No longer able to 'keep a lid on it' the townspeople have now become fully aware that their Judge is a complete 'wacko', and when he torches the entire town in order to get the town-folk to reveal Stewart's whereabouts, it becomes painfully evident that the last dregs of Devereaux's sanity has finally dwindled away.The film turns out to be a great mesh between a standard western and a 'Hitchcockesque' psychological thriller, with both Holden and Ford turning in great performances, but once again, it's Glenn Ford who steals this movie with his portrayal of the evil Devereaux, a role COMPLETELY in contrast to his 'good guy cowboy' image we're more used to seeing, which proves what a powerful and versatile an actor he actually was.During Glenn Ford's lifetime, I was one of the many ardent campaigners who would have loved to see Ford live to receive some long overdue honour or award. Sadly, this wasn't to be and after seeing the 'Man from Colorado' I am convinced now more than ever, that Hollywood has committed a monumental injustice, by failing to recognise Glenn Ford as one of the greatest actors of all time.This movie, has sadly debunked one of the great beliefs of my life, so I go now to reconstruct my injured viewpoint. I wonder if the Earth is STILL round?, are the Stylistics STILL crap?. God I hope so! Enjoy!!