The Outriders (1950)

The Age of Commercialism

hyped garbage

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Joel McCrea and two colleagues (James Whitmore, Barry Sullivan) are Confederate prisoners who escape from a Union POW camp and hook up with a faction of the notorious Quantrill's Raiders in Missouri and join a plot to ambush a Union wagon train hauling gold from New Mexico to St. Louis.This is one of McCrea's lesser efforts, although MGM put a lot of money and glitz into it. Barry Sullivan is wildly miscast as a roguish New Orleans playboy, Arlene Dahl has nothing to do but stand around, look gorgeous--which she does extremely well--and let Sullivan and McCrea fight over her. Ted DeCorsia, one of the great movie heavies, was occasionally cast in westerns, but never really fit in--he was the personification of a bad-ass New York tough guy and he just couldn't escape that--and here he plays one of Quantrill's gang who accompanies the trio to New Mexico to keep an eye on them while they worm their way into the wagon train. For some unfathomable reason, he simply vanishes about halfway through the picture--he's sent back to notify the raiders that the wagon train is on the way and he's never seen again. Also, much is made early in the picture about Whitmore's back injury and he's even shown falling off his horse because of the pain, but then he makes a sudden and apparently miraculous recovery, because nothing more is said of it and he spends the rest of the picture running around, dancing and fighting. These holes in the script aren't really major flaws, but indicative of how sloppy this picture can get.The direction by MGM vet Roy Rowland is sluggish--westerns weren't really his specialty--and the script is pretty predictable. Whitmore gives it his best, as he always does, but McCrea doesn't seem to have his heart in it and pretty much sleepwalks through the picture, though he does come alive in a few scenes. Sullivan could play a slick, fast- talking, double-crossing con artist with the best of them, but he just looks out of place here. It's a fair-to-almost-middling western, and if you're a McCrea fan I guess you'll like it a lot more than I did, but it's really nothing to write home about.

During the last year of the US Civil War, confederate prisoners Joel McCrea (as Will Owen), Barry Sullivan (as Jesse Wallace), and James Whitmore (as Clint Priest) escape from a Union prison camp. They hook up with a band of cutthroats led by Jeff Corey (as Keeley) and join a plot to steal gold from wagon master Ramon Novarro (as Antonio Chaves), which would help the Confederacy. Among those on Mr. Novarro's wagon train are an arousing blonde widow Arlene Dahl (as Jen Gort) and her young brother-in-law Claude Jarman Jr. (as Roy Gort)...Written by Irving Ravetch, there are some unusual touches here, beginning the opening "overkill" of the young Union officer. The tension between characters promises more conflict than actually occurs, and an undeveloped character's fate is a wash-out. Still slumbering along without ever catching fire, "The Outriders" is a colorful, well-cast but routine western. Perhaps, fewer characters would have been preferable, beginning with the escape of two instead of three prisoners. Former "silent" star Novarro gives an note-worthy supporting performance.****** The Outriders (3/1/50) Roy Rowland ~ Joel McCrea, Arlene Dahl, Ramon Novarro, Barry Sullivan

The Outriders fulfills its genre with minimal expense but maximal outcome. Only a few brief frames appear spectacular, and many of the pleasures are among the overlooked qualities of the mid-20c Western: laconic dialog, complex plotting, psychological challenges, friendships and honor tested. The budget and production values are always restrained, but the strength of the studio system shows in excellent lighting and color plus a number of realistic outdoor scenes blending finely with studio effects. Other reviewers noted the convincing mattes of Santa Fe, but I felt almost intoxicated by the deep blue sky-backdrop to the camping scene that turns from a comic riot to a dance of love.The other virtue of the studio system is the stable of professional actors who perform their roles not to steal scenes but in service of the plot. Joel McCrea may excel even Randolph Scott in saying the most with the least words while never ever lying--the Western-hero actors of their generation internalized completely the cowboy as a latter-day knight, and the alchemy of script and star is fascinating. Arlene Dahl may be even more economical with her speech than McCrea. In the central dance scene she speaks not a word until a critical moment, then agrees to dance with McCrea only if he bows to put fresh shoes on her feet. The scene is all about sex, but the actors, the script, the direction, and the genre completely control the sexuality's expression.In the supporting ranks James Whitmore, not yet 30, is convincing as an old-coot warrior-sidekick with kidney trouble, while Ramon Navarro--a former sex symbol entering his 50s--plays a Mexican padrone who's still got chops. Barry Sullivan and Jeff Corey remain menacing even when they're acting cooperative. Claude Jarman, Jr. is always worth watching but the director or editor seemed to forget he was in the movie.I couldn't stop watching, but the less-enthusiastic reviewers have a point. The film fulfills its genre so professionally that it never falls below a certain level. But those same qualities make its most beautiful moments somewhat understated, like something even better might once have been imagined but for now they need to finish a movie.

THE OUTRIDERS is a good workmanlike Western. There are no real surprises in the story, but there are some very strong performances. Joel McCrea gives his usual conviction to the hero role, with Barry Sullivan nicely devious as his comrade/rival. Arlene Dahl looks great, but tends to pout a bit much, James Whitmore lends sturdy support in the type of role normally played by Walter Brennan, Claude Jarman Jr. plays another of his doomed youths, and Jeff Corey is quite extraordinary as the villain (with almost expressionist make-up, and did he intend to imitate Kirk Douglas?).But the movie is stolen by silent screen legend Ramon Novarro in one of his more substantial later roles. He essays his character perfectly, giving it much more depth than was in the screenplay. He also lends the part style, grace, dignity and humor (that "Pagan" sparkle never left his eye, despite his rather sad life).In short, definitely worth seeing for the performances, and the gorgeous technicolor. What a shame the script and direction don't match them.