Ride, Vaquero! (1953)

Even though it's not great, Quinn's performance is memorable and he really looks - and plays - the part.I'm also intrigued by a couple of brief scenes in this film - a wide shot of a cavalry fort and the shot of mounted troopers riding out look awfully like they came from "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon". Did John Ford help the producers fill a couple of small gaps?Howard Keel looked much more at home in "Pagan Love Song".Robert Taylor looks like he wore his "Billy the Kid" duds again.It's difficult to find a good, crisp copy of the film, but worth the effort.

I've always felt that Ride Vaquero was one of the weakest of Robert Taylor's westerns. In playing Rio, Taylor certainly essayed one of the darkest characters he ever brought to the screen.It's the end of the Civil War and bandit Anthony Quinn has certainly had his run of things in the area. But the Yankee army will be occupying Texas shortly. Common sense would dictate that Quinn realize the jig is up that he'd better move on. At least his foster brother Taylor thinks so, but Quinn is drunk with power and he ain't going nowhere.Taylor finds some reason to stay when he takes one look at Ava Gardner newly arrived in Brownsville, but with husband Howard Keel. They're settling on a cattle ranch and Keel has some big plans.Most of the story I got, but quite frankly two points of it were ridiculous. Why Keel would even consider hiring Taylor after Taylor tried to burn him out. And secondly why Ava had Taylor take her to Quinn's camp to convince him to leave her and Keel alone. Those two things make absolutely no sense at all.Quinn is repeating the blustering role he had in Viva Zapata. But that film had a lot more depth to it. I think Quinn realized that and blustered all the more.Other reviewers commented on the undertone of a repressed gay crush that Quinn had for Taylor. It certainly might explain Quinn's motivations. But Anthony Quinn dealt with that issue six years later in Warlock, a much better western. It's a bad script with character motivations that make no sense. Still a good cast does the best they can by it.

Set in the area around Brownsville ,Texas in the immediate post Civil War era this is a splendid if slightly over heated picture.The area is dominated by Mexican bandido Esqueda ,well played by Anthony Quinn, who with the aid of his Anglo sidekick Rio(a taciturn but effective Robert Taylor)seeks to ensure settlers do not occupy the region as he views them as a threat to the way of life he has established.Trouble arrives in the form of Howard Keel who ,with wife Ava Gardner by his side is set on resisting all attempts to drive him out of the territory.Rio is won over to the cause ,somewhat more due to the beauteous Gardner than to any principled reasons.The scene is set for the final confrontation between Rio and Esqueda in the town saloonThere are hints of a repressed sexual attraction for Taylor by Quinn in the script anticipating the theme of his role in Warlock( probably still the most grievously neglected Western classic) and the Taylor character displaying a penchent for an early version of gay chic in the clothing department underscores this The Quinn character is not a one dimensional villain-there is a reason for his stance and he displays a marked religious bentGood support from the great Jack Elam and Kurt Kaznar as the priest who takes a stand against Quinn.Gardner while beautiful was no great shakes as an actress and this together with an over stolid turn from Keel are the only real problems with the movie

Before I saw this movie, I had not heard of the director John Farrow. After some research I found that he was the father of Mia Farrow. I also found that he had good writing skills. This is apparent after you view this film closely. The lead characters are Rio (Robert Taylor) and Esqueda (Anthony Quinn) who turn out to be each others alter ego--one man slaps a woman who kisses him and the other kisses a woman before she slaps him.It's an unusual western because there is no hero--only a handsome troubled anti-hero. It is an unusual western in that Mexicans are not always painted as bad or stupid--it presents them as human beings. Even the 'bad' Esqueda has reverence for God's blessings. This probably is a result of Farrow's Catholicism as it is in the case when the priest gives the final blessings to the dead anti-hero (whose body is not shown, for some strange reason). An unusual way to end a film. Evidently Farrow espoused family values--the couple's marriage is strengthened and Rio says his adopted mother would not have approved of her son Esqueda's actions. The family bonds between Rio and Esqueda are the cornerstones of the script, with doses of Catholicism and social comments thrown in. Something tells me the film we see today is not what the director intended to show--perhaps the studios had their say. The loose editing makes one wonder what was going on.As far as performances, I think this is one of Quinn's finest unsung performances. Taylor is handsome and plays the dark anti-hero well--predictably dressed in dark colors. Ava Gardner's role is supposed to be heroic--dressed in white--but is it so simplistic to dismiss it as such. Is it a coincidence that she behaves differently when she wears pink?It is a strange and a fascinating trio--Taylor, Quinn and Gardner. Farrow had, in my view, a great chance to make a memorable film but somehow fumbled.