Customer Reviews

Saddle the Wind

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

 

 

"Saddle the Wind" is the first of two 1958 Westerns in which Taylor plays a reformed outlaw... He is cast opposite a promising newcomer John Cassavetes... The sexy and flamboyant Julie London provides the love interest but her role is poorly defined and almost working from outside the plot...

Robert Taylor is a personality on screen rather than an actor... He plays here an ex-gunfighter who has reformed and is living and working on his ranch peacefully... But fate will not allow him to retire... Cassavetes, his wild young unstable brother shows up carrying a six-gun, and with a sexy dance-hall singer London...

Cassavetes' intensity did add excitement to the show... He shoots down a tough character and with his killer instinct now waked up, he attacks a group of homesteaders led by Royal Dano and sets fire to their belongings... This battle has much more cinematic electricity than the final confrontation between the two brothers...

Strong landowner (Donald Crisp) imposes himself at this point, and asks the two brothers, now troublemakers, to leave the country...

Shortly after that time, Cassavetes gets into a wild and confused struggle with Crisp's men and is wounded, but manages to escape... Taylor goes out to get him...

With some magnificent Colorado Rockies scenery caught effectively by George Folsey's CinemaScope and Technicolor photography, "Saddle the Wind" is modestly effective, humorless Western drama...

this is a very good well paced western.
good actors and good understanding of the characters.

Again the man who never smiles put in a great performance this time with yet another beautifull costar Julie London hot from her cameo in the Girl Can't Help It highly recomended for all the reasons you will when you purchase it and watch it this is not realy a review but a recomendation to do yourself a favour and treat yourself to a copy of this this is entertainment perfect transfer great colour great movie and did I mention Julie London William(al) watts radio presenter Australia

John Sturges just re-shot a few scenes in the studio because MGM was afraid that Robert Taylor would look too old under the Colorado sun. A superb western, very modern, mostly thanks to the performance of John Cassavetes. Robert Parrish is definitely a director to rediscover. The ten first minutes, with only a supporting cast, sets the tone of the whole movie. Highly recommended.

This film has three plots: ranchers vs. farmers, brother against brother, and who gets the girl. Robert Taylor is an ex-gunfighter, who killed five men, who was befriended by a land owner, Deneen, worked for him for some years, and was given part of the land to raise cattle for himself. His raised his brother, who appears to be in his early twenties - the film does not say. The brother is somewhat immature. He was always interested in guns and killed animals as a youngster. He went to town for a couple of weeks and returned with a new gun and a woman he only knew for two days, and wants to marry her. She, a saloon singer, is not in love with him, but is tired of her job, and wants to live on the big Sinclair (Taylor and his brothers) ranch. She is attracted to his older brother, Taylor.

A gunman arrives in town wanting to kill Taylor. Taylor's brother kills him, but only because the man was distracted. He now thinks of himself as a fast gun. Then a farmer comes to the valley with papers showing that part of the Sinclair ranch belongs to him. He wants to fence his property in so that he can keep out the cattle and farm it. Taylor warns him to leave, but his brother threatens to kill the farmer. Deneen recognizes that the farmer has a legal right to the land and tells the farmer he will go with him to town to buy the fence wire.

Taylor's brother kills the farmer and Deneeen tells the two bothers to get off the land and leave the valley. Taylor agrees, but his brother is now out of hand and wounds Deneen. What happens next? Is it at all possible for Taylor to save his brother, or is it too late? Can the relationship between Taylor and Deneen be salvaged and, if so, how? What happens to the farmer's family and his land? What happens to Taylor's land? What happens to the girl?

This Was A Nice Little GEM. It Is worth your time & Money. A+

MGM presents "SADDLE THE WIND" (20 March 1958) (84 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) -- Our story line and plot, Steve Sinclair (Robert Taylor) is a former world-weary former gunslinger, now living as a peaceful rancher --- Things go wrong when his wild younger brother Tony (John Cassavetes) arrives on the scene with his new bride Joan Blake (Julie London) --- when Cassavetes gets a gun for the first time he winds up killing a gunfighter Larry Venables (Charles McGraw) who was looking to kill Taylor --- Cassavetes thinks he is top man around the ranch now and has an itchy trigger finger --- Things get really bad when Clay Ellison, Owner of Strip (Royal Dano) and his family move onto the land and want to put up a fence and things turn violent --- Elmer Bernsteins haunting and driving score fits this oater like a fine glove --- Taylor in one of his best performances gives this film the depth our story deserves.

Under the production staff of:
Robert Parrish - Director
Armand Deutsch - Producer
Rod Serling - Screenwriter
Thomas Thompson - Screen Story
George Folsey - Cinematographer
Jeff Alexander - Composer (Music Score)
Elmer Bernstein - Composer (Music Score)
Ray Evans - Songwriter
Jay Livingston - Songwriter
John McSweeney, Jr. - Editor
Malcolm Brown - Art Director
William Horning - Art Director
Henry W. Grace - Set Designer
Otto Siegel - Set Designer
Helen Rose - Costume Designer

the cast includes:
Robert Taylor ... Steve Sinclair Double S Owner
Julie London ... Joan Blake, Tony's fiancee
John Cassavetes ... Tony Sinclair
Donald Crisp ... Dennis Deneen
Charles McGraw ... Larry Venables, Gunfighter
Royal Dano ... Clay Ellison, Owner of Strip
Richard Erdman ... Dallas Hanson, Saddle Tramp
Douglas Spencer ... Hemp Scribner - Double S Foreman
Ray Teal ... Brick Larson - Deneen's Foreman
Stanley Adams ... Joe, the Bartender
Jay Adler ... Hank, Saloon cleanup man
Wes Fuller ... Cowboy
Nacho Galindo ... Manuelo, Double S Cook
Kelo Henderson ... Cowboy
Lars Henderson ... Jamie
Irene Tedrow ... Mrs. Mary Ellison
Henry Wills ... Cowboy

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. Robert Taylor
Date of Birth: 5 August 1911 - Filley, Nebraska,
Date of Death: 8 June 1969 - Santa Monica, California

2. Julie London
Date of Birth: 26 September 1926 - Santa Rosa, California
Date of Death: 18 October 2000 - Encino, California

3. John Cassavetes
Date of Birth: 9 December 1929 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 3 February 1989 - Los Angeles, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- If you're into the memories of B-Westerns with high drama, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for --- please stand up and take a bow Western Classics --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 84 mins on DVD ~ Warner Home Video ~ (8/26/2008)

Excellent DVD !!!! Sous-titres en français, comme promis !!!! Je suis enchantée de mon achat!!!! MERCI à l'excellent vendeur dont l'envoi fut rapide!!!
Christiane