Ride the High Country (1962)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writer:

N.B. Stone Jr. (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

28 July 1962 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Western

Plot:

An ex-lawman is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Partner | Gold Shipment | Bank | Friend

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 13

8:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Gil Westrum
Joel McCrea	...	Steve Judd
Mariette Hartley	...	Elsa Knudsen
Ron Starr	...	Heck Longtree
Edgar Buchanan	...	Judge Tolliver
R.G. Armstrong	...	Joshua Knudsen
Jenie Jackson	...	Kate
James Drury	...	Billy Hammond
L.Q. Jones	...	Sylvus Hammond
John Anderson	...	Elder Hammond
John Davis Chandler	...	Jimmy Hammond
Warren Oates	...	Henry Hammond
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Byron Foulger	...	Abner Sampson (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Miner (uncredited)
Percy Helton	...	Luther Sampson (uncredited)
Michael T. Mikler	...	Hank (uncredited)
Carmen Phillips	...	Saloon girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Sam Peckinpah

Writing credits
N.B. Stone Jr.		(written by)
Sam Peckinpah		uncredited
Robert Creighton Williams		uncredited

Produced by
Richard E. Lyons	....	producer

Original Music by
George Bassman

Cinematography by
Lucien Ballard

Film Editing by
Frank Santillo

Art Direction by
Leroy Coleman
George W. Davis

Set Decoration by
Henry Grace
Otto Siegel

Makeup Department
Mary Keats	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hal W. Polaire	....	assistant director (as Hal Polaire)

Sound Department
Franklin Milton	....	recording supervisor

Stunts
Bill Catching	....	stunts (uncredited)
Al Wyatt Sr.	....	stunts (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Charles K. Hagedon	....	color consultant

Music Department
George Bassman	....	conductor

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Concorde Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1966) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Esselte Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1979) (1987) (1997) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1991) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• U.S. Forest Service  thanks (as Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Also Known As:

Guns in the Afternoon (UK)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:PG | West Germany:16 | Australia:PG | UK:A (1962) (cut) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (certificate #20105)

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Final film of Randolph Scott. He retired from acting once he saw the finished film, saying he wanted to quit while he was ahead and that he would never be able to better his work here.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene in which Joel McCrea enters the bank's bathroom, attached to the reservoir tank for the toilet is a modern shut-off valve.

Quotes:

Elsa Knudsen: Mr. Longtree was a perfect gentleman.
Sylvus Hammond: How come? Something wrong with him?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Alpha to Omega: Exposing 'The Osterman Weekend' (2004) (V)

Sam Peckinpah's first realized film and arguably still his best.

How the AFI missed this as one the Top 100 Movies, I'll never know. In a film career of peaks and valleys, I think this is STILL Peckinpah's best work. It contains all of the themes from the Wild Bunch, Cable Hogue and Junior Bonner, and while it does not possess the depth or complexity of the Wild Bunch, in some ways it works even better. Every character rings true, the photography is superb, and the writing matches that. Just a great, great film, and without the violence, and sometime- bitterness associated with Peckinpah's works. It is Randolph Scott's last film, and Mariette Hartley's first. He is riveting, and she is charming.