Horizons West (1952)

Both are films made by Robert Ryan in the early 50's and they would make a terrific double feature.A comparison of the two movies is also interesting The Racket was done for Howard Hughes' RKO studio. Horizons West was a Universal picture. Both had famous directors, John Cromwell, (supplemented by several others, including Nicholas Ray) and Bud Boetticher. The Rackett is a re-working of a successful play and movie from the 1920's with a screenplay by WR Burnett, (High Sierra among others). Horizons West is done by Louis Stevens, a veteran writer of movie westerns, (this appears to be his best work). Ryan is the main "bad guy" in both movies but in each case, he's much more complex than that. His Nick Scanlon in The racket is violent and intimidating, almost reptilian. He's fully formed as a heavy from the moment we meet him. But we find out he either grew up with or went to school with Robert Mitchum's police Captain: in the grand tradition, they came from the same background but went in different directions. We also learn that Ryan sent his now troublesome younger brother to college to keep him out of the rackets. He clearly doesn't think much of the crooked politicians and new "corporate" crooks that are running things. And in the end, his revenge is to "tell the voters to vote for the honest politicians". Underneath the violence, he has a certain integrity. Something- we never learn what turned him against society while Mitchum remained well-adjusted and on the right side of the law. In Horzions West, Ryan starts out being a good guy, or at least not a bad guy yet. He comes home from the Civil War with his brother, (Rock Hudson), and a loyal friend named "Tiny", (James Arness). As they arrive in Texas, they have a conversation about the future. Arness wants to raise his family. Hudson wants to work the family ranch, just like before. Ryan shows a harder edge. He wants to make it big. They arrive in town, (Austin) to see that Yankees carpetbaggers have made it big. Ryan ties to associate with them but gets on the wrong side of Burr in poker game and is on the outside looking in. He organizes a band of out-of-work soldiers and deserters into a cattle rustling operation and establishes connections with a Mexican military officer who is running a crooked operation across the border. Eventually he gets even with Burr, who is killed. And has an affair with Burr's pretty young wife, (Julie Adams). In the beginning our sympathy is with him but as he grows more and more powerful, he becomes more ambitious and ruthless, which makes him too many enemies and causes his eventual downfall. In Horizons West, Hudson becomes the town sheriff and has to take on his brother, thus paralleling the Ryan-Mitchum relationship in The Racket. In that film, Ryan killed a policeman played by William Tallman, who became famous as Hamilton Burgers on Perry mason. In Horizons West, he kills Hudson's deputy, who is played by Jim Arness, soon to be famous as Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke. William Conrad, radio's Matt Dillon, appears as a corrupt policeman in The Racket. That film has two actors from Perry mason, the other being Ray Collins, who played Lt. Tragg. Horizon's West has two actors form Gunsmoke, with Dennis Weaver playing a very un-Chester-like gunman. Both films have a heavy dose of corrupt public officials. Both of them have a major movie star to face off against Ryan, although Rock Hudson was early in his career and never became the dramatic force Mitchum was. But Ryan dominates every scene he's in, no matter who is in it with him.

"Horizons West" is the kind of unpretentious, fast-paced Technicolor western that Universal-International churned out in the 1950s. The pared-down narrative combined with tight cutting ensures that the movie proceeds briskly even though "Horizons West" was directed without any dramatic intensity. The basic narrative material could have been stretched out to 120 minutes or more, but director Budd Boetticher and editor Ted Kent brought the film in at less than 85 minutes.Dan Hammond (Robert Ryan), his brother Neil (Rock Hudson) and their ranch colleague Tiny (James Arness) return to Texas from the Civil War. Neil and Tiny are content to return to their previous way of life, but Dan has much bigger ideas. He recruits a gang of army deserters and rustles cattle in a big way. He is very successful and expands into land grabbing and claim jumping. Soon money and success go to his head, and hubris clouds his judgement. Eventually his loyal and loving family turn against him and take it upon themselves to bring him down.Robert Ryan was always a good, unshowy actor, and he brings out the many sides of Dan Hammond very well. John McIntire, another reliable actor, is also very good as the simple, unambitious father. Julia Adams for once is not given a peaches and cream part, and she too is successful at showing the different aspects of her character. Rock Hudson and Dennis Weaver are still at the beginnings of their careers, and their inexperience and lack of screen presence shows. As was so often the case in those days, Raymond Burr plays an unpleasant character and really makes the audience dislike him."Horizons West" is a very minor film and is unlikely to make it onto DVD, but if it appears on television, it is well worth watching.UPDATE: A Region 2 DVD of this movie will be issued in France in November, 2008. It will have the original English language soundtrack with French subtitles.

the best thing about this western is its title. the next best thing is its glorious technicolor imagery. the 'look' of this film makes it a classic western - fully lit western skies, iconographic star close ups of confederate soldiers and texas belles - richly textured in luscious technicolor. the title - horizons west - and the beauty of the images sum up the idea of manifold destiny and western expansion. curiously the narrative itself contradicts the look as elder brother robert ryan abandons the simple homestead lifestyle for the corruptly sophisticated attractions of town life. as younger brother (rock hudson)is pitted against older brother (ryan), there are suggestions of biblical undertones. hudson, now a deputy marshal, eventually hunts down ryan for murder thereby restoring the idea of honesty and integrity as part of western expansion.

Having acted alongside James Stewart in 'Bend of the River' and appeared in two films with Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson was certainly on his way up the ladder in his late 20's. He's a bit like Charlton Heston in the sense that he has the maturity of someone almost twice his age whilst still in his 20's.