The Ride Back (1957)

the audience applauded

A Masterpiece!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

More a psychological drama than a western ;fans of action-packed stories will not get something out of it.The enemy remains in the wings ,and anyway Chris's worst enemy is neither the Indians nor unlucky outlaw Bob .It's his own self.This ride back is actually an initiatory journey .This sheriff is a complete washout and the capture of Bob could be his only claim-to-fame .All along the way ,he learns that the "villain" is (and has) anything he longs for: the scenes in the Mexican village may seem filler,but they are crucial:we are told that a woman is attached to this bandit ,but that he has also found a place where he is loved :that's what the priest tries to explain to Chris but it's too soon :he is not ready to accept his own reality : he has never been able to love anybody ,and to be loved ,he has lost his will to live .When they discover the dead bodies ,he is not even able to show some compassion and it's the outlaw who urges him to bury them.It's only when they meet the survivor that the marshal realizes that your life is not wretched when you help your fellow man, with nothing in return.Anthony Quinn's Bob's moral fiber is constantly growing ,as long as the movie progresses.Both him and William Conrad give restrained performances which go straight to the heart.

In this quiet, appealing Western / character study, Anthony Quinn offers a typically charismatic performance. He plays Roberto "Bob" Kallen, a wanted man who is sought out by stubborn sheriff Chris Hamish (William Conrad). Chris, a rather sad man who's never had much luck or success in life, is determined that this one time he's going to succeed at something, and that's heading into Mexico to bring Bob back to America to stand trial. It's going to be an eventful trip, as Bob naturally seizes on any opportunity to try to escape, but there are also Apaches on the warpath.Our sympathies do a bit of shifting as we watch "The Ride Back". While initially we may be rooting for the lawman to persevere, we come to see that Bob is really not such a bad guy. He claims the shooting was done in self defense. Yeah, that's what they all say, but Bob reveals at select moments to have a caring and compassionate side, and realize that he just might be telling the truth. There are also times when Chris reveals a doggedly unlikable aspect to his personality. This is how a traumatized young girl (Ellen Hope Monroe) comes to respect Bob more and want to side with him.There are action and suspense scenes here, and good ones too, but this is mostly a two character drama. Both Conrad (who also produced the picture with an uncredited Robert Aldrich) and Quinn are excellent, and they play off each other wonderfully. Lita Milan is energetic as Bob's fiery lover Elena; for a while she makes something of a nuisance of herself, following Chris and Bob as they make their way back to Scottsville. And Victor Millan delivers another ingratiating performance as the padre who disapproves of the Bob / Elena relationship.Originally conceived as an episode of the 'Gunsmoke' radio series with Conrad.Eight out of 10.

I may have missed someone, but by my count only six actors have lines in this ultra-spare Western. The production comes from respected director Robert Aldrich's independent company with William Conrad himself producing. That may account for Quinn's appearance in a cheapie so soon after his Oscar for Lust for Life (1956)—plus, the likelihood that the streamlined production could be shot in less than 2 weeks.As a Western, it's an offbeat concept— Sheriff Conrad returning fugitive Quinn from Mexico to stand trial. The narrative is basically two nervous guys riding across the great outdoors with some drunken Apaches lurking in the background. No wonder the sheriff can't relax. However, the movie comes across as more interesting than suspenseful, mainly because crucial compromises are made with Quinn's character. He's simply made too likable and respected to generate the kind of tension needed, which may have been the price of putting a headliner like Quinn in the lead. It's really Conrad's resolute sheriff that holds interest as a number of surprising self-doubts begin to unfold. His nicely shaded performance shows how much more than a great radio voice Conrad was. Anyway, it's an entertaining little programmer with a rare distinction. It's the only film I've seen with more untranslated lines outside English than in English—an unusual effect. So, unless you speak Spanish, you may have to do a lot of inferring. (In passing—it's probably a matter of taste, but to my ear the title tune may be the worst of the era, bellowed out by a decidedly untuneful Eddie Albert.)

Well written, well directed, well acted, well paced. This is a film made by people (Robert Aldrich, William Conrad) who care about the medium.Powerful performances by the leads and good support makes a simple story - of a Marshall taking a prisoner back to stand trial - an excellent one.If you like 1950s Jimmy Stewart/Anthony Mann and Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher westerns, you'll like this one.