Grimerlana
Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike
Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
cjudge-23429
Makes no sense why anyone would film a western called Comanche Station and use Indian hairdos that
were not at all Comanches......who wore their hair long. The Indians here (and also in Garden of Evil) look
more like Mohawks or Pawnees. Quite a big error that only one other reviewer mentions.
wes-connors
Mysterious westerner Randolph Scott (as Jefferson Cody) arrives in Comanche Territory (in or around Texas) to exchange goods for beautiful brunette Nancy Gates (as Nancy Lowe), who was abducted and turned into a White squaw (sex partner) for someone in the tribe. Her husband is offering $5,000 for Ms. Gates' return. She and Mr. Scott quickly become involved in a Comanche attack on fellow bounty hunter Claude Akins (as Ben Lane) and his two young guns, Richard Rust (as Dobie) and Skip Homeier (as Frank). Successful in warding off the Native Americans, the men decide to travel together for extra protection. However, it soon becomes clear Mr. Akins plans to violently take out Scott and collect the $5,000 reward for himself..."Comanche Territory" was the last of several fine westerns from director Budd Boetticher and his team. The formula usually involves Scott taking an uncommonly beautiful woman somewhere alongside a potentially hazardous rival and some younger actors. This time, the most unknown actor in the cast makes the biggest impression as Mr. Rust's reluctant gunslinger (deemed "too gentle" by mentor Atkins) rides off with the film. It is through this character moving the story along – writer Burt Kennedy succeeds in making us forget Scott should have settled with Atkins after 20 minutes; even with the Comanche around, he'd have had a safer trip. Although we sometimes lose track of Scott's story, a powerful ending brings it all back home.******** Comanche Station (3/1/60) Budd Boetticher ~ Randolph Scott, Nancy Gates, Richard Rust, Claude Akins
doug-balch
This is the third Boetticher/Scott Western I've seen, "Ride Lonesome" and "The Tall T" are the others. So far, "Commanche Station" is the best, followed by "The Tall T", then "Ride Lonesome". What's remarkable is how similar they all are. Same leading man, same Sierra Nevada location.......same plot. I gave this movie 6 out of 10 in the IMDb rankings. It did well in my ranking system, accumulating 14 points, a very solid score. Here's what I found admirable in this movie: I don't consider Randolph Scott an "A" Western leading man, but I would put him at the top of my "B" list. Interesting and believable back story to his character also. This was filmed entirely on location. I couldn't identify a single sound stage scene. This 80 minute special was obviously filmed on a very low budget. I know of no director who has squeezed more movie out of so few resources. The scenery on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada range in eerily beautiful and Boetticher uses it to maximum effect. The story has excellent dramatic tension. The characters are developed with mystery and subtlety. Unlike its earlier twin, "Ride Lonesome", there are no plot holes. Claude Akins does a tremendous job as the heavy. His character is devilishly likable. I'm going to go so far as to say I enjoyed his role more than Richard Boone's heavy in "The Tall T". There's some very good dialog, especially from Claude Akin's character. "Ma'am, if you was mine, I'd of come for you even if I'd of died in the doin' of it." A lot of stuff like that. Good Indian themes. Indians are presented multi-dimensionally i.e they actually have a reason for killing white people. Again an improvement over "Ride Lonesome". Some successfully executed subtle humor in the interplay between Aiken's two dimwitted henchmen. Another improvement over "RL". Interesting opening sequence with no dialog for five or ten minutes. Reminds me of the famed opening of "Rio Bravo", which was a Hawks tribute to silent films. "RB" was released a year before "CS". Did Boetticher copy Hawks? Now here's what kept the movie from being better: Generally I am willing to grant directors artistic license for inauthentic locations, but I don't see why they didn't just set this story in the Sierras where they were shooting it, instead of pretending they were in New Mexico. I'm not going to kill this for being a virtual remake of "Ride Lonesome", mostly because he cleaned up most of the obvious mistakes he made in the earlier film. I hate his Indian attacks. Indians did not ride around in circles and form perfect shooting galleries for well dug in white people. The soundtrack is awful.
MartinHafer
This is the final film that was directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott. Like their previous collaborations, they both work together to produce Westerns that manage to rise above the mediocre norm. In this film, a fairly typical plot idea is executed very well--with a grace and style that make the film well worth seeing.Randolph Scott, as usual, plays a nice but tough guy. He's brave enough to come into a Comanche stronghold in order to negotiate for the release of a White woman kidnapped by the tribe. However, trouble is in store when three drifters come upon Scott and the woman. It seems that the leader of this group (Claude Akins) is a real rogue and plans with his men to kill Scott and the woman. It seems that the woman's husband has offered a reward for her--and it can be collected dead or alive! So what did I like about the film? First, as usual, Randolph Scott is amazing. He plays the perfect cowboy hero--tough, slow to speak and anger but also a decent man through and through. Plus, he's much more believable than the bigger than life characters John Wayne usually played. I loved Wayne's films, but he was always too tough and too in command. Scott is much more like a very capable 'everyman' character. Second, as usual, Boetticher deliberately underplays the action--producing a muted but also quite believable film. Third, the film had a really nice ending--quite the twist.You can't do a lot better than a Scott/Boetticher western. While this isn't their best, it certainly is quite good.
