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Ride in the Whirlwind

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This western has been called existential, a term liberally used in film reviewing, and I'm not sure I know the correct usage of the word. But I like this film a lot. Made by a colourfull man named Monte Hellman who hasn't made a lot of films, this is one of his most unusual. Made in 1967, back to back with another film, The Shooting (also worth checking out), Jack Nicholson, Tom Filer & Cameron Mitchell, are being pursued by a posse who have mistaken them for thieves. Hellman's film are often about characters who are aimless, well, maybe not aimless, but they end up going nowhere, and this is no exception, as they climb a hill/mountain that goes up and up....one of the characters remarks "Shame to do all of this walking for nuthin'". Damn straight. They discover a cabin, where a grown daughter (Millie Perkins) and her mother suffer in servitude to the old man. Odd things happen. The film is wonderfully odd, minimilist (not by choice), it was made on a low budget, but the minimilism adds to the often unsettling atmosphere. Film is full of great dialogue, such as "It's peculiar to sit here playing chequers while a bunch of men want to string us up" Wes replies "Why don't you put a tune to it?". Highly recommended for fans of Existentialism!

Jack Nicholson wrote the screenplay for this little gem, and in the dialogue he captures the flavor of life at that time perfectly. While too much time is spent on the shootout in the first half of the film, the second half more than makes up for that, as Jack and Cameron Mitchell--two cowpokes unlucky enough to be too close to an outlaw gang--hole up in a sodbuster's cabin.

The sodbuster, an old guy, lives with his wife and daughter, played by Millie Perkins, and as Jack says about her, "You don't talk much." True. In fact, nobody does in this film, but that's just fine. Because it's the atmosphere that counts here, and Monte Hellman, the director, gets that just right. I found Hellman's The Shooting somewhat pretentious and the ending was just plain weird. But Ride in the Whirlwind is the kind of Western that resonates a lot more--it FEELS like you're there; it feels like you can talk to these people. They won't say much, but what they will say counts for a lot.

Nicholson is fine as Wes and Cameron Mitchell equally strong as his partner Vern. As Blind Dick, leader of the small outlaw gang, Harry Dean Stanton puts in another of his strong, straight-ahead performances. The shootout is between the outlaw gang and a vigilante posse that's out to get the gang after the latter have held up a stagecoach.

One thing that makes this Western so strong is the small, dusty, lonesome life that all the main characters lead. The sodbuster and his family live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. The cowpokes ride together, but they're removed from anyone else. The outlaw gang similarly hangs out in an isolated shack, and the vigilate posse, all men, ride wherever they think there's outlaws; one of them, seeing Abigail for the first time (Millie Perkins) mentions to his partner that she's a "cute piece" and that he'll be coming back to have a meal.

This lonesomeness is what pervades Ride in the Whirlwind and what makes it so compelling. It's a short (82 minutes) film, but well worth watching, if not owning.

In the spring of 1965, Roger Corman, the king of profitable, low budget movies, helped produce (without credit) two amazing films that have achieved legendary cult status. Now, thanks to VCI Home Video, Monte Hellman's "THE SHOOTING" and "RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND" are available on DVD in pristine, widescreen transfers. The films should be seen together. They are subtly connected in many ways. Perhaps even insubtext and theme.

Both films star a then unknown Jack Nicholson and super starlet Millie Perkins and were shot simultaneously on location in Utah for the modest amount of $150,000. Nicholson also wrote and co-produced "Ride in the Whirlwind." It is the straightforward tale of the making of a bad man and features on target performances from Cameron Mitchell, Harry Dean Stanton, Rupert Crosse and Katherine Squire among others. After accidentally happening on a group of outlaws, and getting caught in the crossfire by a sheriff and his posse, Wes (Jack Nicholson) is mistaken for one of the gang and escapes. But, in order to defend himself during his flight, has to start killing. By the end of the film he has become a legendary and mythic figure. Quentin Tarantino, a big fan of Hellman, has called this "one of the greatest films ever made."

In the The Shooting, former bounty hunter turned miner Gashade (Warren Oates) returns to his diggings to find one of his partners, Leland, dead, his brother Coigne gone, and his third partner, Coley (Will Hutchins) holed-up in a nearby cave. Soon, a mysterious woman (Millie Perkins) materializes out of nowhere and offers Gashade a huge sum of money to guide her on a journey he soon realizes is a manhunt.

The quirky screenplay is by Adrien Joyce, the odd pen-name of the brilliant screenwriter Carole Eastman who wrote the acclaimed "Five Easy Pieces" which also stars Nicholson.

What "The Shooting" is actually about is anybody's guess. It has been called an existential western, or anti western. The super low-budget enforced a minimalist, almost surrealistic style that is terrific and timeless. The stark outdoor locations add immensely to the mood and of this this strange, enigmatic story that seems to reflect mid 60's paranoia and disillusionment.

Since their initial release, both films, though seldom seen, have become critical favorites, and have attained cult film status here and in Europe. Both discs include an entertaining and revealing commentary by director Monte Hellman and actor Millie Perkins with additional informed commentary by American Cinematheque programmer Dennis Bartok.

wow ! i saw this movie years ago ! can't remember very well, but remember that it was one of the best performances of Cameron Mitchell ! (i am a big fan of him !) the movie is as far as i remember about friends who got fals accused for something and got hunted ! and about sacrifice ! watch it !

RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND was scripted and produced by Jack Nicholson (with an assist from Roger Corman). It's the story of two innocent cowboys who are relentlessly pursued by a posse.

While on their way to a cattle drive, Wes (Nicholson), Vern (Mitchell) and Indian Joe (Crosse) encounter hanging corpses-- the bodies of outlaws who've been dealt "frontier justice" by a vigilante gang. The three spooked men take refuge at a cabin, unaware that their hosts are "wanted" for hijacking and murder. When the very same lynch mob besieges this hideout, Vern and Wes escape. Now labeled "outlaws" and despite having committed no crime, they stand a good chance of being caught and brutally executed.


"Ride in the Whirlwind" is available on DVD.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(6.1) Ride in the Whirlwind (1965) - Cameron Mitchell/Millie Perkins/Jack Nicholson/Harry Dean Stanton/Katherine Squire/George Mitchell/Rupert Crosse

In 1965, Monte Hellman and Jack Nicholson took $150,000 dollars out into the Utah desert and came back with two films, 'The Shooting' and 'Ride in the Whirlwind'. Given that both films were shot back to back, I would have assumed that they would be similar, at least in style if not theme, as Hellman directed and Nicholson had large parts in both, but instead I found them to be very different. So different, that had I not known better, I would thought they'd come from two completely different eras - 'The Shooting' from the nihilistic early 70's and 'Whirlwind' in the lingering last days of the cowboy 50's.

At least at the beginning. 'Whirlwind' looks almost like a cheap John Ford knockoff as it starts out, with Harry Dean Stanton turning in an early Harry Dean Stanton -esque character named Blind Dick who's gang robs a stagecoach and kills one of the guards. After the robbery, the outlaws head for their hideout, and the survivors on the stagecoach head into town and get a vigilante posse together.

Into this mess ride three cowhands headed to Waco. They inadvertantly stumble onto the hideout, and Blind Dick, realizing they are just passing through, lets them bed down outside the hideout shack. In the morning, both parties find themselves surrounded by the vigilante posse, and there's no time for explanations, or sorting out who's who. The posse takes it for granted that everyone's a member of the gang, and the cowhands realize no one would believe them now anyway. Two of them are able to break out and head out on foot in the mountains, pursued by the posse.

Despite their innocence, both of the remaining cowhands are slowly forced to become exactly what the vigilante's think they are as they try to make their escape. By the movie's end, it doesn't seem as much a John Ford western anymore as it does something out of the French New Wave (with spurs).

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that it was Jack Nicholson's script - but after watching, I am anyway. This is a very intelligent movie, and one that doesn't feel the need to beat the viewer on the head by over-stating plot points or emphasizing the obvious. The actors are allowed to advance the story by their actions and by some very spare but effective dialogue - and the movie speaks for itself.

Whereas 'The Shooting' could come across as garbled or difficult, 'Whirlwind' is a much easier picture to follow along with. Fans of the western will be satisfied, and those who may not normally seek out that particular genre will, I think, also find a very thought provoking picture. The main drawback to this film is the production and film quality, which reflect the sacrifices that a $75,000 budget requires. Personally, I think it was incredible what they accomplished with such limited budgets, but there are some who, I'm sure, will be put off by the cheap look of the film.

I enjoyed both of these films, but I'll give the edge to 'Whirlwind' only because it's intelligent and more accessible than 'The Shooting'. The real shame is that at this time, both these discs are discontinued, and the cost on the second-hand market is pretty severe. Pick them up if you find them cheap, or else rent them, but either way, I'd suggest getting them both at the same time. Together, they make up a unique filmmaking chapter, one that's been ignored too long.

Monte Hellman's RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND almost always suffers from comparisons to its better-known companion film, THE SHOOTING. Both were shot over the same 35-day period in the Utah desert, both were produced for Roger Corman, both star Jack Nicholson (RIDE boasts a writing credit as well), and over the years both have become cult classics. But while THE SHOOTING takes the high road into arthouse existentialism -- it's what might have happened if Samuel Beckett had written a Western -- RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND is more conventional Western fare.

Nicholson's script, with its deep feeling for character and place, is one of the finest ever written for a Western, and Hellman's direction brings it to the screen with a minimum of fuss or adornment. The basic plot -- in which three cowboys are caught in the crossfire between a gang of bandits and a gang of vigilantes -- takes several shocking turns, and the film proves that Sam Peckinpah wasn't the only Western director working at peak form in the late '60s.

RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND has plenty to offer Western buffs and casual viewers alike. It deserves rediscovery.

The DVD edition from VCI features adequate if grainy widescreen video, a clear though unexceptional audio transfer, a roundtable commentary, previews of other Monte Hellman films, and an enthusiastic still-frame essay from Quentin Tarantino.

RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND was scripted and produced by Jack Nicholson (with an assist from Roger Corman). It's the story of two innocent cowboys who are relentlessly pursued by a posse.

While on their way to a cattle drive, Wes (Nicholson), Vern (Mitchell) and Indian Joe (Crosse) encounter hanging corpses-- the bodies of outlaws who've been dealt "frontier justice" by a vigilante gang. The three spooked men take refuge at a cabin, unaware that their hosts are "wanted" for hijacking and murder. When the very same lynch mob besieges this hideout, Vern and Wes escape. Now labeled "outlaws" and despite having committed no crime, they stand a good chance of being caught and brutally executed.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(6.1) Ride in the Whirlwind (1965) - Cameron Mitchell/Millie Perkins/Jack Nicholson/Harry Dean Stanton/Katherine Squire/George Mitchell/Rupert Crosse