Customer Reviews

Ten Wanted Men

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

 

 

Randolph Scott (1898-1987) rides tall in the saddle as a powerful cattle rancher in this action-packed Western , Scott how made a noteworthy contribution to this genre in the late 1950s as lean , mean cowboy , stars as John Stewart , an Arizona Rancher determined to rule his vast empire with strong-willed integrity . Stewart meets with appostions , however from local landowner Wick Campbell (Richard Boone 1917-1981) who preferes the persuasive power of the pistol to the letter of the law . Suddenly Stewart is Forced to Defend himself and the Women he Loves (Jocelyn Brando 1919-2005 , older sister of Marlon Brandon 1924-2004) against Campbell?s renegates who are determined to ransack the town .Now Stewart must take a life-and-death stand in rugged controntation that pits aone man of justice against the Owerwhelming odds of TEN WANTED MAN .This is a superb plot and great movie . High Quality digital transfer . Recommended

While Columbia studios' TEN WANTED MEN is not a top drawer Western like COMANCHE STATION or RIDE LONESOME of a few years later, it is never less than entertaining---the kind of "super B" feature that enthralled sagebrush-addicts back in the 1950s. Certainly this is no Budd Boetticher directed product, and it lacks his stunning, distinctive touches, but there is enough action to keep any fan glued to his TV set. Richard Boone, who appeared in a number of Randy Scott's 1950s Westerns (most notably in THE TALL T), stands out as a superbly drawn villain. And Scott is always excellent.

i don't know why anyone gives this film less than five star rating and on top of it praise the budd boetichher westerns. though boeticher films are great, i find the pre-boetciher-scott westerns the best as there are more traditional and less talky and grim than the boeticher westerns. Ten wanted men is no exception; it is fast paced, well-plotted and has plenty of intense action to keep your eyes peeled. definately one of scott's best. sometimes i find that in the scott-boeticher westerns, there's too much talking and walking around with some pretentious talk that can drag the film down.

Ten Wanted Men, as many of Randolph Scott's other fifties Westerns, suffers in comparison to the Budd Boetticher-directed Westerns featuring Scott. Once again, as with some of the non-Boetticher Scott films, this movie has a great cast, interesting plot features, and lots of potential, but the payoff is not as great as it should be.

Scott plays a rancher who takes in a young Mexican woman who is being relentlessly pursued by Richard Boone, who is a rancher coveting Scott's vast land holdings. Scott's generosity toward the woman gives Boone the perfect excuse to start trouble, and he hires a gang of thugs, including Leo Gordon and Lee Van Cleef, to terrorize and try to kill Scott, Scott's brother, and Scott's nephew.

Boone, who is one of the alltime great Western actors, seems out of place as a desperate cad who has to hire other men to do his dirty work. Also, this film contains many elements of Scott's other movies, and rather than seeming fond and comfortable, they seem tired and warmed over.

Scott is Scott, and that says a lot. He was often criticized for his perceived lack of acting ability, but there was a humanity and honesty about his characters that drew audiences to him then, and still works today, making him one of the most appealing American actors. But Ten Wanted Men would have been better served by Boetticher, Raoul Walsh, or another capable Western director.

Director H Bruce Humberstone specialised in detective movies and musicals and his lacklustre direction of this rugged Western may be explicable for that reason .It needed a genre specialist to lift out of the routine but watchable picture we are confronted with in Ten Wanted Men

Randolph Scott plays John Steward , a prosperous Arizona rancher who brings his lawyer brother to the area to help in the imposition of law and order.Steward's most implacable enemy is locasl saloon owner and businessman Wick Campbell whose anger is further fuelled when his mistress ,tired of Campbell's jealousy and abusive seeks sanctuary at Steward's ranch .Campbell hires a bunch of ne'er do well gunslingers (including Leo Gordon and Lee Van Cleef ,both excellent ).He does not scruple to kill to obtaian more land and to rustle Steward's cattle .events move towards a climax when the gunslingers lay siege to a building with Steward ,the helpless local law and a few of Steward's closest allies

Boone is first rate,giving depth to what could simply have been a caricature villain and Jocelyn Brando does well in the underwritten role of Steward's girl friend .After a stuttering start the movie build s to a sharp and gripping climax.Given tauter direction and a more animated performance by Scott thios could have bben a minor classic .As it is ,while watchable and entertaining ,it just lacks that extra bite to lift it above the ordinary

Great movie. I hope they never remake it and ruin it like they have with so many other classics. Sorry, but the western movies produced anymore are just crap. Sam Elliot and Tom Sellick know how to do a western, but forget anything good out of the young actors these days and the craptastic writers who can't go two lines of dialogue without a four letter word.
Stick with the classics.

This is not one of Randolph Scott's better efforts. His portrayal of cattle rancher John Stewart is very wooden and shallow. The supporting cast performs no better and may in fact be even worse. I would have loved to kill Richard Boone's character strictly for bad acting job he did.

If you like a movie with lots of gunplay and don't mind bad acting, or if you're a hard core Randolph Scott fan, then go for this one. If not, you can give this one a pass and not feel like you miss anything.

Columbia Pictures presents "TEN WANTED MEN" (1955) (80 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Jocelyn Brando, Leo Gordon, Lee Van Cleef & Skip Homeier --- Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and released in February 1, 1955, our story line and film, A powerful rancher John Stewart, attempts to establish law and order on his vast Arizona spread without resorting to violence ... Less peacefully inclined is Stewart's chief rival Wick Campbell, who believes that might is right. To this end, Campbell recruits the services of hired gun Frank Scavo and eight other henchmen to drive all competition out of the territory ... Complicating matters is a dispute between Stewart & Campbell over a Mexican girl that Stewart's been sheltering ... Caught up in all this is Stewart's newly arrived brother Adam and his nephew Howie who falls in love with the Mexican girl, much to Campbell's chargrin --- Richard Boone in a strong supporting role --- Some wonderful character actors from the early B-Westerns days Terry Frost, Leo Gordon, Reed Howes, Francis McDonald, Jack Perrin and Denver Pyle, even Dennis Weaver and Lee Van Cleef join in the fun --- And Mr. Scott was secure enough in his stardom that he gave good lines and depth to the younger actors in the film.

Under H. Bruce Humberstone (Director), Harry Joe Brown (Producer), Harriet Frank, Jr. (Short Story Author), Kenneth Gamet (Screenwriter), Irving Ravetch (Short Story Author),Wilfrid M. Cline (Cinematographer), Paul Sawtell (Composer (Music Score), Gene Havlick (Editor) - - - - the cast includes Randolph Scott (John Stewart), Jocelyn Brando (Corinne Michaels), Richard Boone (Wick Campbell), Alfonso Bedoya (Hermando), Skip Homeier (Howie Stewart), Leo Gordon (Frank Scavo), Lee Van Cleef (Al Drucker), Denver Pyle (Dave Weed), Donna Martell (Maria Segura), Clem Bevans (Tod Grinnel), Minor Watson (Jason Carr), Lester Matthews (Adam Stewart), Tom Powers (Green), Dennis Weaver (Sheriff Clyde Gibbons), Louis Jean Heydt (Tom Baines), Kathleen Crowley (Marva Gibbons), Boyd "Red" Morgan (Red Dawes), Francis McDonald (Warner), George Pat Collins (Bartender), Jack Perrin, Reed Howes, Terry Frost - - - - Randy Scott had a quiet gentleman nature about him which is not seen in the films of today ... Randy took his job and his responsibility to his audience very seriously --- would not settle for anything less than his best ... same was true in his personal life.

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Randolph Scott (aka: George Randolph Scott)
Date of birth: 23 January 1898 - Orange County, Virginia
Date of death: 2 March 1987 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

Special footnote, George Randolph Scott better known as Randolph Scott, was an American film actor whose career spanned the sound era from the late 1920s to the early 1960s ... his popularity grew in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in such films as "Gung Ho"! (1943) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938); but he was especially famous for his numerous Westerns including "Virginia City" (1940) with Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, "Western Union" (1941) with Robert Young and "Ride the High Country" (1962) with Joel McCrea (a coin was flipped to see whether Scott or McCrea would receive top billing, and Scott won despite having a slightly smaller role) ... his long fistfight with John Wayne in "The Spoilers" (1942) was frequently cited by critics and the press as the most thrilling ever filmed; they were fighting over Marlene Dietrich ... another smash hit film together that same year called "Pittsburgh" (1942) once again with Dietrich, Scott and Wayne --- Daniel Webster defines "Legend", as being a notable person, or the stories told about that person exploits --- well by the time Randolph Scott made his best films he had long established himself as a legend in the film industry --- they say practice makes perfect, if that is true by 1958 at 60 years of age he was the master with these oaters from the 50s ... "The Cariboo Trail" (1950), "The Nevadan" (1950), "Colt .45" (1950), "Santa Fe" (1951), "Sugarfoot" (1951), "Fort Worth" (1951), "Man in the Saddle" (1951), "Carson City" (1952), "The Man Behind the Gun" (1952), "Hangman's Knot" (1952), "Thunder over the Plains" (1953), "The Stranger Wore a Gun" (1953), "Ten Wanted Men" (1954), "Riding Shotgun" (1954), "The Bounty Hunter" (1954), "Rage at Dawn" (1955), "Tall Man Riding" (1955), "A Lawless Street" (1955), "Seven Men from Now" (1956), "Seventh Cavalry" (1956), "Decision at Sundown: (1957), "Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend" (1957), "The Tall T" (1957), "Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958), "Ride Lonesome" (1959), "Westbound" (1959), "Comanche Station" (1960) --- Scott's age seemed to matter little, they only came to see another Randolph Scott film and always got their money's worth --- Scott's films were good and getting better becoming classics --- so if you wonder "What Ever Happened To Randolph Scott", just rent or purchase one of his films and you'll see he's never left us.

2. Richard Boone
Date of Birth: 18 June 1917 - Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: 10 January 1981 - St. Augustine, Florida

3. Jocelyn Brando
Date of Birth: 18 November 1919 - San Francisco, California
Date of Death: 27 November 2005 - Santa Monica, California

4. Skip Homeier
Date of Birth: 5 October 1930 - Chicago, Illinois
Date of death: Still Living

5. Alfonso Bedoya
Date of Birth: 16 April 1904 - Vicam, Sonora, Mexico
Date of Death: 15 December 1957 - Mexico City, Mexico.

6.. Leo Gordon
Date of Birth: 2 December 1922 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 26 December 2000 - Los Angeles, California

7. Lee Van Cleef
Date of Birth: 9 January 1925 - Somerville, New Jersey
Date of Death: 16 December 1989 - Oxnard, California

8. H. Bruce Humberstone (Director)
Date of Birth: 18 November 1901 - Buffalo, New York
Date of Death: 11 October 1984 - Woodland Hills, 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), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 80 min on DVD ~ Sony Pictures Video ~ (9/06/05)

A clumsy, grade "B" oater about a blood feud between two rival Arizona ranchers. Randolph Scott -- who I normally like -- co-produced and starred in this over-obvious western saga. This is one of the infamously "stiff" performances he is often derided for. This film's okay, but certainly no prize-winning cinematic masterpiece.

Randolph Scott was a under rated actor but as for an early action movie star one of the best. You can't go wrong spending time with him on rainy day watching a great old oater.