Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

TheLittleSongbird While the western genre is not my favourite one of all film genres (not sure which one is my favourite due to trying to appreciate them all the same), there is a lot of appreciation for it by me. There are a lot of very good to great films, with the best work of John Ford being notable examples.One of seven films director Budd Boetticher made with lead actor Randolph Scott in the late 50s (a great pairing), 'Buchanan Rides Alone' is a fun worthwhile film, very interesting too for being tonally different, that doesn't disgrace either of them, both in fact are fairly well served. It is far from one of their best collaborations, for me it is one of their weaker ones but only because 'Seven Men from Now' and 'The Tall T' particularly set a high standard. It is of good interest though and doesn't deserve to be overlooked.'Buchanan Rides Alone' has flaws. It does at times get over-complicated and the ending is rushed and underplayed, perhaps ridiculous too.The film does lack the depth of characterisation that Boetticher/Scott's best outings had, with the villains being rather one-dimensional.However, Scott has fun and is very likeable here, of his films with Boetticher it's with 'Buchanan Rides Alone' that contains the most likeable main character. The supporting cast are not quite on the same level but do give above average performances if never quite standing out properly, with only Craig Stevens not quite fitting.What is immediately noticeable and intriguing about 'Buchanan Rides Alone' is its tone. Instead of the tense and elegiac tones from their other films, this adopts a more cheerful and humorous edge, with a snappy, lean (with no ramble or fat to distract) and often very funny script and lively pacing where the film never gets dull. The story is compelling and entertains and intrigues, although for my tastes as said there is a little too much going on and clarity suffers.Boetticher directs efficiently and the music fits very nicely, having presence but never getting over-bearing. 'Buchanan Rides Alone' is a great looking film, the photography in particular being beautiful to watch.Summarising, a fun ride and worth a look. Boetticher and Scott did better though. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Bill Slocum The grand run of Randolph Scott-Budd Boetticher westerns stumbles a bit in this serio-comic outing featuring a town of villains who get more than they bargained for when they tangle with a man named Buchanan they underestimate to their grief.Buchanan (Scott) rides into Agry Town, on the border between California and Mexico, looking to make tracks to his West Texas home. But the Agrys are tough customers who rile easily. Buchanan finds himself facing the brunt of their nastiness after saving a Mexican from their brand of vigilante justice.Scott does a lot of smiling here, more than any of his other Boetticher-directed vehicles, of a piece with the more amiable if still dangerous mood of the film. The comedy is established early when we see Scott take stock of his new surroundings. Everyone in Agry Town is fairly corrupt and mean of spirit, particularly the three Agry brothers who control the town."Ain't there anybody in this town who ain't an Agry?" Buchanan marvels.No one cares about the boy whom the Mexican kills, "it was inevitable" is all the father cares to say, and you see he's right. But since the kid was an Agry, it doesn't matter he was up to no good. They decide to lynch the Mexican quick, not to mention Buchanan for helping him. Buchanan, it turns out, was carrying $2,000 that the fat sheriff, Lew Agry (Barry Kelley) wants for himself. Lew's fatter brother, Amos (Peter Whitney), is sore because he wants a bigger share of the loot, but Lew enlists his help to double-cross town boss Simon Agry, the dead man's father, out of money he hopes to extort from the Mexican's rich dad.Them Agrys themselves don't have much going for them other than sordidness. The westerns Scott made with director Boetticher usually had fascinating villains in them, ruthless men of character and sand, who made these adventures memorable. Here, the only interesting characters are played by Craig Stevens, as the one Agry honcho who looks like he eats a salad now and then, and L. Q. Jones as a gunman who cottons to Buchanan because he's from West Texas, too.It's wrong to dock a movie because it's not "Ride Lonesome" or "Seven Men From Now;" few are in that class. "Buchanan Rides Alone" does have its moments, mostly comic, like a trial scene where Buchanan amuses the jury with the story of his ramrod livelihood or a scene where Jones offers some heartfelt words over the corpse of an ex-partner who probably shouldn't have stole from him so often.Buchanan has a scene where he's trying to get his money back from the sheriff, who tells him it's in a safe. Shoot me, the sheriff says, and you won't get your money."You know something, sheriff, it just might be worth it," Buchanan replies.But like julian-er-allen says in a January 2013 review here, this is "very much the poor relation" in the Scott-Boetticher clan, more so than the oft-criticized "Decision At Sundown" which has style and passion missing here. Scott seems stiff and awkward too often, and the story stagnates into a series of captures and escapes. There's an especially ridiculous section in the last half-hour where Buchanan and his friends leave some bad guys with their horses and guns. It's hard to care as much as you should when the hero himself doesn't seem too swift.The ending is a right hash of a good idea, centering on a bag of money which really shouldn't matter as much as it is made to here. The point may be that corruption corrupts everyone, even the good guys, but it's so underplayed it doesn't connect to anything. It just drags.Add to that a television-western set design even Lucian Ballard's lenswork can't save and generic musical underscoring, and you have a disappointing example that even great filmmakers and actors have their off days. "Buchanan" is kind of fun, in a low-key way, but it's nothing like what you have a right to expect from this team.

classicsoncall Whoever cast Barry Kelley (Lew Agry), Tol Avery (Judge Simon Agry), and Peter Whitney (Amos Agry) as brothers did a pretty good job - they all look like they could have been brothers! Whitney's character might possibly have been used for more comedic affect though, he looked a bit like Andy Devine but without the humor I was expecting. In their own way, each of these guys was a despicable character.The one player though that seemed completely inappropriate to the story was Craig Stevens as the Judge's personal aide Abe Carbo. He looked like he should have had Randolph Scott's role as the hero of the piece. At sixty years old, Scott looked somewhat worn for the lead role and actor Stevens seemed to outclass him in both looks and demeanor. One thing's for sure, Scott's character Buchanan is about the luckiest gunslinger to appear in a Western. I lost count how many times the bad guys got the drop on him before the final showdown.If you hang on through the inconsistencies, this is an OK Western but that's about as far as it goes. The burial of henchman Lafe (Don C. Harvey) in a tree was a pretty interesting element and Juan de la Vega's horse (Manuel Rojas) struck me as a dynamic looking animal. If he had the same agent as Trigger and Champion he might have had a longer film career.

alan-pratt High quality Boetticher western that succeeds on almost every front.Scott is first class, less taciturn than usual and displaying a gift for wry humour not always evident in his performances. The supporting cast is well above average and Barry Kelley, Tol Avery and Peter Whitney, in particular, are all excellent, playing their parts to near perfection.The scenery, both in and out of the town is wonderfully evocative - cacti to die for! - the guitar music is hauntingly beautiful and the colours are bright and pleasing.If I have a criticism at all, it is that the plot is a little too convoluted - too many twists and counter twists - but, in the face of so much that is good, this is but a minor quibble.Incidentally, the only women in the production have such tiny roles, they are not even named in the cast list. So no-one "gets the girl" this time round!