Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

dougdoepke Confederate prison escapees plan to hi-jack a Union gold shipment and divert it to the South. Priorities, however, are complicated by a key rivalry over a girl and a temptation to just keep the riches for themselves.Better than average Technicolor western. For once, MGM's tendency to over-produce its horse operas gives way to a wise use of money for a western. Happily, glamour and glitz are kept in check, except for actress Dahl. Still, her wardrobe for a wagon train is not too outlandish. Instead, the production makes excellent use of its scenic Kanab, Utah, locations, along with a fine A-list cast and enough extras to make the battle scenes interesting. What grabbed me, however, are two storyline surprises that defy expectations. Plus, for once, battles don't just unfold willy-nilly, instead Owen (McCrea) thinks along tactical lines to gain an advantage. Sure, a hi-jacked gold shipment and a rivalry between sometime buddies (McCrea & Sullivan) are familiar plot devices. Nonetheless, it's a better-than-average script, with several good touches (e.g. Sullivan's loaded gun at the end).That river-crossing scene is clearly the movie's centerpiece and is impressively done. The torrent is big and bad enough to make the fording a genuine nail-biter. I'm guessing those were not easy scenes to film.Anyway, it's a fine McCrea western even though he gets less focal time than usual.

Robert J. Maxwell 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.

moonspinner55 Joel McCrea in an atypically wooden performance as a Confederate soldier who, along with two friends, escapes from a Union prison camp in the last year of the Civil War, wrangled by a Rebel troop into taking bushwhacking job robbing a Yankee wagon train of its gold bullion. There's a neat scene midway through where the men attempt to have a square dance without any women; and when lone female Arlene Dahl finally joins in, McCrea has a wonderful moment where he changes her shoes. Otherwise, Barry Sullivan is about the sorriest cowboy in '50s westerns, and a nearly-unrecognizable James Whitmore is wasted as a grizzled soldier. McCrea and Sullivan fight over Dahl, predictably, without ever asking her whom she prefers, while the other relationships in this caravan are practically non-existent. Good supporting cast, including an almost-grown up Claude Jarman, Jr., and nice Technicolor photography, but alas, this yarn is strictly rote. ** from ****

David Atfield THE OUTRIDERS is a good workmanlike Western. There are no real surprises in the story, but there are some very strong performances. Joel McCrea gives his usual conviction to the hero role, with Barry Sullivan nicely devious as his comrade/rival. Arlene Dahl looks great, but tends to pout a bit much, James Whitmore lends sturdy support in the type of role normally played by Walter Brennan, Claude Jarman Jr. plays another of his doomed youths, and Jeff Corey is quite extraordinary as the villain (with almost expressionist make-up, and did he intend to imitate Kirk Douglas?).But the movie is stolen by silent screen legend Ramon Novarro in one of his more substantial later roles. He essays his character perfectly, giving it much more depth than was in the screenplay. He also lends the part style, grace, dignity and humor (that "Pagan" sparkle never left his eye, despite his rather sad life).In short, definitely worth seeing for the performances, and the gorgeous technicolor. What a shame the script and direction don't match them.