Riding Shotgun (1954)

Overrated and overhyped

Let's be realistic.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Riding Shotgun has Randolph Scott doing just that, riding shotgun for various stagecoach lines. He's been doing this for several years, but always on the lookout for a particularly mean and vicious outlaw played by James Millican. He's hot on the trail now, but Millican and his men also hate him with equal ferocity. They lure him off the line and hold up the stage, shooting it up pretty badly with driver and guard who replaced Scott both killed. The idea is to get the local sheriff to form a posse and start chasing the bandits while they come in and loot the town, particularly a gambling house known to have large sums on hand. When Scott gets there he arrives with a lot of hatred written on the faces of the town who figure if he didn't have something outright to do with the holdup, he's a coward then. He can't convince no one no how that Millican is coming with a really big gang.This film is directed by Andre DeToth who keeps the tension simmering in this film. Some in the town like Joe Sawyer the stageline owner want to lynch him on the spot, some like Deputy Wayne Morris who arrives back in the middle of action try real hard to maintain some kind of order and let Scott have his say.Charles Bronson has one of his early roles in this film as a particularly vicious member of Millican's gang. But Millican and Scott between the two of them are what the film revolves around. Millican is every bit as shrewd and tough as Scott who narrates the film says he is. This is not and has not been an easy man to take down.The final shootout is a classic, usually in Randolph Scott westerns they are. Riding Shotgum was one of his best B films from the Fifties. Come to think of it, Randy does never use a shotgun in this film.

I like the way this Western talked about human nature--a sign of an excellent film in this genre. For example, HIGH NOON and THE OXBOW INCIDENT are two of the very best Westerns of all time and they, too, investigate the mob mentality. Individually, people might be decent folk--put them in a group, and they all become instant idiots! I like this cynical aspect of the film and it makes this a standout film.Randolph Scott plays a man who is seeking a gang of killers who rob stage coaches. He's been searching for years and now is working for the stage riding shotgun--the most likely way to meet up with these men. However, in a boneheaded move, he is lured away from the stage in search of the gang--and they soon catch HIM. He is left for dead and the gang then robs the stage. Scott soon manages to escape but when he finds his way into the nearest town, they assume Scott is part of the gang--after all, he wasn't on the stagecoach when it was attacked (while Scott was bound and waiting to die). The town seems to be inhabited by morons, because when he tries to warn the folks that the gang is planning on returning (since he heard their plans), they ignore him and even try to kill him. No matter that what they think isn't logical or that they've made some big assumptions, the town is determined to kill Scott. So, much of the film he's hiding out--trying to keep from killing the idiots in self-defense as well as avoiding their bullets. In the end, when the real gang shows up, it's of course up to good-guy Scott to save the day....even though the town really isn't worth saving.While some of the film is a bit predictable and clichéd (such as Scott's unerring ability to hit the townspeople in the hand when they try to shoot him), it's much less than the usual film of this genre and watching Randolph Scott do his usual seemingly effortless performance make this film an exception to the usual Western fare. Plus, it's view of human nature makes this a transcendent film--one well worth seeking.By the way, Charles Buchinsky is in the film in a supporting role. This is Charles Bronson, for those of you who didn't know his original name and he's quite young here.

Considering the budget, and considering other constraints on its quality, this is pretty good -- efficient movie-making at its best.Randolph Scott is a shotgun rider on a stagecoach. The coach is held up and some former enemies capture Scott, hog tie his ass, and leave him to scorch to death in the sun. Tie up Randolph Scott? Hah! He rides into town to warn the good folk of the gang's plans, which is to divert the posse into chasing some loose horses so that the gang can loot and pillage the town. I'm not sure exactly how you pillage a village but I'm morally certain that's what they have in mind.The problem is that no one in town believes Scott's warnings. What's worse, they believe him to be in cahoots with the dozen gang members, led by James Millican, with Charles Bronson in support.Narrow-minded hostility surrounds Scott as he tries to spread the alarm and bring back the posse. No one believes him except his girl, Joan Weldon. The deputy, Wayne Morris, is doubtful of the hysteria but, in any case, is in no position to stand alone against them. The town doctor is neutral and wants to see due process exercised.A couple of observations. This is Scott's only Western that I'm aware of in which he provides a noir-like narration. There's nothing wrong with that in principle but in practice it sounds a bit weird. This was released in 1954, and films noir had dominated American dramatic films for the previous ten years.Fritz Feld was the psychiatrist with a twitch in "Bringing Up Baby." Here, he plays a treacherous but comic saloon proprietor. His joint is a filthy dump and he himself is unshaven, ragged, and weaselly. He's saddled with a Mexican wife and five children -- none of them boys. When he's excited, his Spanish tirade turns into German. That's understandable because he was born in Berlin. He's a welcome presence.Joan Weldon, Scott's supportive girl friend, doesn't have a Hollywood-beautiful face but she seems to radiate intelligence and a little charm. Anybody who was a singer with the San Francisco Opera has my vote. Also, I blush, but must admit it always found her sexy.The movie also does something interesting, probably unwittingly. It demonstrates the destructive potential of rumor. Now, gossip is a necessary means of social control in human society. (Lecturer writes "gossip" on blackboard.) One of the main reasons we don't do bad things is that, if we're found out, our family, friends, and neighbors will not like us so much. But gossip is like water. A certain amount is required for survival but too much of it, out of control, is destructive. We need tap water, not a flood. And we see rumor get subtle autonomy in this movie. The marginalized Scott is holed up in a filthy saloon and every move he makes is interpreted as "bad" and exaggerated by the hostile villagers. If a man tries to shoot Scott, and Scott shoots him in the gun-wielding arm, the story is told that Scott has killed his victim. Everything he does is interpreted by his enemies as deliberately mean. The movie is really a good demonstration of this point. (Imagine if the villagers had the internet.) "Riding Shotgun" doesn't have the poetic quality of some of the Boetticher/Scott/Kennedy Westerns of the same period, but I was easily able to enjoy it for what it was.

For no logic reason whatsoever, our hero Randolph is left alive and sloppily tied up, so that freeing himself is like a walk in the park. After this idiotic beginning the film shifts into "stupidity high-gear" as Scott tries to convince a whole town filled with idiots that their town is going to get robbed. John Baer from "We're no Angels", who looks like William Katt's father (maybe he was for all I know), somehow got a role in this mess and makes a mess of that role - a mess in the mess, so to speak. Why am I writing this review? I only have a messy answer on that question. Soon, very soon, this review will contain enough lines for being permitted...just about...now!