Customer Reviews

The Ride Back [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a classic 50's westerm with great acting and suspense. The production is great, and the film looks very good on this DVD transfer. Very little grain on the picture, and the black and white shots are spectacular!

Anthony Quinn and William Conrad (of Cannon television show fame and the voice of Matt Dillon on the Gunsmoke Radio program) star in this overlooked western about a Texas border town marshal who goes to Mexico looking for accused killer Anthony Quinn, who has taken up with a woman and endeared himself to the citizens of the little village where he lives.

Conrad forces Quinn to return with him to stand trial, and their journey brings peril at every turn, causing the two enemies to begrudgingly depend and rely on each other.

Both Quinn and Conrad give first-rate performances and bring dignity to the proceedings. Don't pass up the opportunity to see or own this fine film.

THE RIDE BACK opens with a couple of young boys playing marshal and bad guy on the sleepy streets of a small western town. One is play captured and led away at wooden gunpoint when a real gunshot is heard and Anthony Quinn storms out a barbershop, his face still covered with shaving cream, his gun still smoking. Cue Eddie Albert - yes, that Green Acres' Eddie Albert - to sing the title song, "The Ride Back." Roberto "Bob" Kallen (Quinn) flees, presumably over the border into Mexico, and the audience next joins up with Sheriff Chris Hamish (William Conrad), extradition papers in hand, soon to be on the trail south to bring Kallen back north to face trial for the killing.
Hamish eventually finds his man, and the bulk of the movie chronicles their ride back to justice. When I first popped this dvd in the player I thought THE RIDE BACK was going to rehash the popular and acclaimed 3:10 TO YUMA, another western about a flawed representative of the law transporting a crafty criminal to justice. 3:10 TO YUMA was a popular and critical hit, but I had to jettison that theory when I learned that THE RIDE BACK was released about 4 months prior to 3:10.
The movie has a good look to it, and Conrad and Quinn are effective. Their characters are nicely nuanced. For instance, the first confrontation between Kallen and Hamish contains this engaging little piece of repartee - Kallen: You don't look to me like you're much. Hamish: I'm not. Kallen is there to mock and ridicule, Hamish is brutish and defensive. THE RIDE BACK is an `adult' western of the 1950s, and it's more or less a given that the trail will be filled with dangers, the bad guy will try to escape, the two lead characters will grow and change and reach a level of mutual understanding and respect.
An internet source has it that THE RIDE BACK is adapted from a Gunsmoke radio program episode. It's an intriguing possibility. Conrad played Matt Dillon on the radio in the 50s and early 60s. Too short and too portly for television (at least until the 1970s), Conrad was rejected in favor of James Arness when Gunsmoke premiered as a television series in 1955. It must have been a blow to his ego, and the William Conrad produced THE RIDE BACK may have been his response to events.
I don't demand innovative techniques or stories from westerns. As long as the story is well blocked, the action proceeds with a logical flow, and the acting isn't distractingly bad, I'm satisfied. THE RIDE BACK meets or surpasses all those conditions, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

A Sheriff with a failing record retrieves a criminal in Mexico determined to sucessfully bring him back to the US.Starring,Anthony Quinn,this movie is a triumphant test of character!!

"The Ride Back" is a B&W Western from 1957 starring William Conrad (aka "Cannon") as a hard-luck Texas lawman sent to Mexico to bring back a charismatic man wanted for murder, played by Anthony Quinn.

Plot-wise, the film is reminiscent of another B&W 1957 Western, "3:10 to Yuma," but "The Ride Back" was released about 4 months prior to "3:10" and was adapted from a "Gunsmoke" radio program episode. Reviewer Steven Hellerstedt points out that Conrad played Matt Dillon on the radio show in the 50s and early 60s but was too short and portly for the TV version that premiered in 1955 with James Arness starring as Marshal Dillon. Conrad produced "The Ride Back" in response.

Viewing "The Ride Back" for the first time, it is interesting to see William Conrad some 15 years before starring in "Cannon: Season 1, Vol. 1" and Anthony Quinn is as larger-than-life as ever, not to mention the stunningly beautiful Lita Milan as Quinn's Mexican girlfriend. However, I discovered that the true appeal of "The Ride Back" transcends these surface attractions.

The first thing that happily struck me about the movie is that the filmmakers strove for realism in the manner of notable 50s Westerns by Stewart/Mann and Scott/Boetticher. Such realism is observed in the heavy use of Spanish in the early Mexican segments and the film's depiction of Indians. The Native Americans here are elusive wraiths more than anything else, but that's the best route to go at a time when more close-up portrayals of Indians typically came off artificial and even laughable, especially as seen through modern eyes.

After the first half-hour the film morphs into a moving character study. (!SPOILER ALERT!) Hamish (Conrad) slowly realizes that Kallen (Quinn) is everything he's not: Hamish is brooding and self-loathing while Kallen exudes life and confidence; Hamish's wife hates him while Kallen's girlfriend is so devoted she chases him across the desert; Hamish is a loner while Kallen inspires love and loyalty, so much so that the Mexican villagers are willing to kill Hamish at Kallen's word; an orphaned girl withdraws from Hamish while naturally bonding with Kallen, etc. We also learn the reason for Hamish's obsessive hunt is that he wanted to finally do something right and prove himself to his wife and the people of his Texas community. As the story progresses Hamish is increasingly enlightened to the greatness of Kallen. It's a testimony to his character that this enlightenment doesn't result in hateful envy bur rather admiration and respect (END SPOILER).

The title song was sung by Eddie Albert of "Green Acres - Seasons 1-3" fame; a lot of people hate it but I thought it was pretty decent. Hey, it's better than similar Western theme songs from the era, like the horrible "North to Alaska" (wonderful film but lousy theme song).

The film runs 79 minutes and was shot in California and Mexico.

FINAL WORD: I was braced for an artificial 50's Western but got a potent character study instead. Who would have thought? The only negatives I can cite are that it's in black & white and has some slow, less-than-compelling parts. Regardless, I prefer it to the original "3:10 to Yuma."

GRADE: B+ or A-

Has some depth and complexity. Similar plot to that of 3:10 to Yuma: lone, troubled lawman bringing a charismatic fugitive to justice. I could have done without Eddie Albert blasting out the film's ballad on the soundtrack.