Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)

The grand run of Randolph Scott-Budd Boetticher westerns stumbles a bit in this serio-comic outing featuring a town of villains who get more than they bargained for when they tangle with a man named Buchanan they underestimate to their grief.Buchanan (Scott) rides into Agry Town, on the border between California and Mexico, looking to make tracks to his West Texas home. But the Agrys are tough customers who rile easily. Buchanan finds himself facing the brunt of their nastiness after saving a Mexican from their brand of vigilante justice.Scott does a lot of smiling here, more than any of his other Boetticher-directed vehicles, of a piece with the more amiable if still dangerous mood of the film. The comedy is established early when we see Scott take stock of his new surroundings. Everyone in Agry Town is fairly corrupt and mean of spirit, particularly the three Agry brothers who control the town."Ain't there anybody in this town who ain't an Agry?" Buchanan marvels.No one cares about the boy whom the Mexican kills, "it was inevitable" is all the father cares to say, and you see he's right. But since the kid was an Agry, it doesn't matter he was up to no good. They decide to lynch the Mexican quick, not to mention Buchanan for helping him. Buchanan, it turns out, was carrying $2,000 that the fat sheriff, Lew Agry (Barry Kelley) wants for himself. Lew's fatter brother, Amos (Peter Whitney), is sore because he wants a bigger share of the loot, but Lew enlists his help to double-cross town boss Simon Agry, the dead man's father, out of money he hopes to extort from the Mexican's rich dad.Them Agrys themselves don't have much going for them other than sordidness. The westerns Scott made with director Boetticher usually had fascinating villains in them, ruthless men of character and sand, who made these adventures memorable. Here, the only interesting characters are played by Craig Stevens, as the one Agry honcho who looks like he eats a salad now and then, and L. Q. Jones as a gunman who cottons to Buchanan because he's from West Texas, too.It's wrong to dock a movie because it's not "Ride Lonesome" or "Seven Men From Now;" few are in that class. "Buchanan Rides Alone" does have its moments, mostly comic, like a trial scene where Buchanan amuses the jury with the story of his ramrod livelihood or a scene where Jones offers some heartfelt words over the corpse of an ex-partner who probably shouldn't have stole from him so often.Buchanan has a scene where he's trying to get his money back from the sheriff, who tells him it's in a safe. Shoot me, the sheriff says, and you won't get your money."You know something, sheriff, it just might be worth it," Buchanan replies.But like julian-er-allen says in a January 2013 review here, this is "very much the poor relation" in the Scott-Boetticher clan, more so than the oft-criticized "Decision At Sundown" which has style and passion missing here. Scott seems stiff and awkward too often, and the story stagnates into a series of captures and escapes. There's an especially ridiculous section in the last half-hour where Buchanan and his friends leave some bad guys with their horses and guns. It's hard to care as much as you should when the hero himself doesn't seem too swift.The ending is a right hash of a good idea, centering on a bag of money which really shouldn't matter as much as it is made to here. The point may be that corruption corrupts everyone, even the good guys, but it's so underplayed it doesn't connect to anything. It just drags.Add to that a television-western set design even Lucian Ballard's lenswork can't save and generic musical underscoring, and you have a disappointing example that even great filmmakers and actors have their off days. "Buchanan" is kind of fun, in a low-key way, but it's nothing like what you have a right to expect from this team.

Of all the classic Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher, this is, by far, the worse! The story makes no sense at all! Every single character behave or react in the most stupid manner, contrary to all logic. Believable storytelling has no place here.Not helping at all, Randolph Scott grins like an idiot, like a Steve Martin caricature would, all through this topsy-turvy plot that would put most comedic plays from the french "theatre de boulevard" to shame.And the worse part is, its not suppose to be funny....I can't believe the same people that did SEVEN MEN FROM NOW, THE TALL T, and DECISION AT SUNDOWN, were also responsible for this Z-Western! Stay away from this one.

Randolph Scott and director Budd Boetticher team up again with this average cowboy flick about loyalty and betrayal. Loner Tom Buchanan, on his way home to west Texas, stops along the California/Mexican border and is jailed falsely accused of being the parter of a young Mexican trying to avenge the rape of his sister. Buchanan is released, but led out of town minus his money belt containing $5,000. He escapes being shot in the back and returns to town to collect his stolen money. In doing so, he must start some mistrust and anger between three corrupt brothers who run the town. Buchanan ends up in the manipulation of a double-cross to keep the Mexican youth from hanging. An obvious low-budget western, but still interesting. Also in the cast of players: Craig Stevens, Manuel Rojas, Barry Kelley, Peter Whitney, L.Q. Jones, Tol Avery and Jennifer Holden.Of note: Miss Holden only appeared in three movies; the first being her better role in the Elvis Presley classic JAILHOUSE ROCK(1957).

This is a western so far from reality as Moscow is from Phoenix, Arizona, although it is no comedy. Or is it? And that is why I write a comment of protest. Time and again the hero, which is certainly also an anti-hero, is sweeping through the landscape, never really knowing what to do, which is really funny to a certain degree. But it is as well totally unrealistic. Who wrote that screen-play and in what mental condition? All the figures in the story behave totally mad. I wonder whether the horses should have been more intelligent!I give an example. Randy, Pecos and the Mexican overwhelm the three little helpers of the sheriff who came to either kill or arrest them for a later hanging in a hut outside town. And what are these three guys doing? They take three lassos and bind them. Then Randy wants to go back to town to get his money which the sheriff had stolen,and the the other two ride to the Mexicans home. So far so good. Now starts the nonsense: no funny, just ridiculous: 1. the three villains get free from the three tons of binding material within approximately 10 seconds. Is this the way cowboys bind cows? They should know how to bind knots!2. next likability: You won't believe it, Randy and his two buddies let the horses of the villains parked right outside the hut! Why? Of course to make the persecution possible in case the villains get free! How foolish those poor fellows are! But it comes even better: 3.because being hunted without a shotgun aiming at one's a.. is no fun, nobody of our 3 (THREE!) cow-men thought of taking the guns of the villains along with them! 4. The Mexican and Pecos had just now a narrow escape! The Mexican waited for his hanging. He was set free but knows that the sheriff and the whole town is after him. So what will he do? He will ride home! Yes, but very, very slowly! I have never seen a western movie where two men rode so slowly across the wild wild west. It is clear what happened. The three villains got rid of the silky spiderweb, took thankfully their horses and their guns, caught within a minute the clever Mexican who had wasted so much time and shot clever Pecos who had wasted so much life. And of course Buchanan was caught too. I could give You more examples. The film is a total continuation of question marks and doubtful looks. I assume, this is not the way to make people in the American West believe that they stem from intelligent or capable forefathers (which they certainly do). Western movies are seldom very realistic, true, but too much exaggeration of (possible?) actions that make sense is too much I can bear. I found this movie in parts ridiculous. I wonder how anybody could decide to make it! I need hardly a day to write a better screenplay.