Comanche Station (1960)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Budd Boetticher

Writer:

Burt Kennedy (written by)

Release Date:

March 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

SHE WAS WORTH $5000 ALIVE...OR DEAD! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A man saves a woman who had been kidnapped by Comanches, then struggles to get both of them home alive.

Plot Keywords:

Reward | Rescue | Horse Thief | Search For Spouse | Loss Of Friend

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Jefferson Cody
Nancy Gates	...	Nancy Lowe
Claude Akins	...	Ben Lane
Skip Homeier	...	Frank
Richard Rust	...	Dobie
Rand Brooks	...	Station Man
Dyke Johnson	...	John Lowe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
P. Holland	...	Lowe Boy (uncredited)
Foster Hood	...	Comanche Lance Bearer (uncredited)
Joe Molina	...	Comanche Chief (uncredited)
Vince St. Cyr	...	Warrior (uncredited)

Directed by
Budd Boetticher

Writing credits
Burt Kennedy		(written by)

Produced by
Budd Boetticher	....	producer
Harry Joe Brown	....	executive producer
Randolph Scott	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Mischa Bakaleinikoff		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles Lawton Jr.

Film Editing by
Edwin H. Bryant		(as Edwin Bryant)

Art Direction by
Carl Anderson

Set Decoration by
Frank Tuttle		(as Frank A. Tuttle)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sam Nelson	....	assistant director

Sound Department
George Cooper	....	sound
John P. Livadary	....	recording supervisor (as John Livadary)

Editorial Department
Henri Jaffa	....	color consultant

Music Department
Mischa Bakaleinikoff	....	conductor
Gerard Carbonara	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
George Duning	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
George Greeley	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Leigh Harline	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Paul Sawtell	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Ranown Pictures Corp. (as A Ranown Production)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1960) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Étoile Distribution (1968) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pathé  Eastman color by

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (certificate #19427)

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Ranown Pictures Corp.

Trivia:

Shot in 12 days.

Quotes:

Dobie: Me and Frank were riding together up Val Verde way. Frank was alone, same as me. And we heard about this fella who was looking for some young guns. We've been with him ever since.
Jefferson Cody: You'll end up on a rope, Dobie. You know that.
Dobie: Yes, sir.
Jefferson Cody: You could break with him.
Dobie: I've thought about that. I've thought about that a lot. Frank says, "A man gets used to a thing."
Jefferson Cody: Dobie, when we get to Lawrenceburg, you can ride with me for a ways. A man gets tired being all the time alone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV)

Excellent story, Scott at his best, not to be missed

John Ford could a make a great film that happened to be a western, Anthony Mann could make great westerns with a dark side to them, Sergio Leone could do great stylized westerns but nobody could like Budd Boetticher do a pure, simple, conventional western, where the best would be in what seems to be minor details. Comanche Station is the story of a man, Randolph Scott obsessed with the idea of finding his missing wife, captured by the Indians. To him money does not matter at all, he is the opposite of Claude Akins who will do anything to get the 5000 dollars offered to deliver the woman Scott rescued from the Comanches to her husband. The "bad guys" here are not just bad guys, they are men who feel there is a chance to change their lives by getting the reward and that will be one chance in a lifetime. They also think that to survive in the west they have to be hard. Their sense of morality goes down the drain surpassed by these other feelings. Richard Rust (Dobie) is the one who in spite of everything has good feelings. Boetticher is an expert in action scenes and here he is as good as always. He does not need to make them in the dark because it is easier. An excellent story, which is a quality of every "Ranown" film, Randolph Scott at his best and the unique direction of Boetticher make "Comanche Station" a film not to be missed.