SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

weezeralfalfa Not the most original nor interesting Scott western I've seen. Like various other reviewers have said, Alexander Knox just seems out of his tree as a cattle baron. I can see why he made a good Woodrow Wilson, or perhaps a good bank president, for example. John Russell would have made a much more believable Will Isham, but then he couldn't have taken part in that marathon brawl with Scott unless the script were rewritten. Similarly, Richard Rober made an unconvincing gunslinger in looks, although his target practice in the saloon was quite impressive. I'm still not positive whether Rober was trying to kill Scott(probably) or Isham, or both, when he burst into the building as Scott and Isham were descending the stairs. Scott ducked back to safety, and Isham, in front, shifted over to where Scott had been, when the revolver fired. That was 3 murders Rober was credited with, and he tried to make Scott number 4. Their shootout continued into the street, where a very strong wind complicated things a bit. Guess who eventually prevailed.Returning to the brawl between Scott and Russell, not only did they destroy the breakaway furniture, they caused the breakaway cabin they were in to collapse! Very lucky they weren't buried under the rubble! They continued their fight over the romantic attention of Ellen Drew down a very steep slope next to a stream, with Ellen tumbling down the slope behind with a rifle. Russell finally managed to get on his horse for a get away before he got shot. Another cliffhanger is when Scott was driving a chuck wagon, trying to outrun a cattle stampede, and the lantern in the back fell off and started a fire. He continued to drive the wagon until it was about to burn him up, when he unhitched the wagon at full speed and apparently jumped off just before what was left was wrecked.The ending is rather unsatisfactory to me. What became of the Scott-Joan Leslie romantic relationship after Isham was murdered? Was she now damaged goods, so that a Scott-Joan union could not occur to combine their resources? Did Joan sell out to Scott or someone else? It appeared that Scott favored Ellen Drew at the end. She was a decade older than Joan, who was only half Scott's age. During sizable chunks of the film, I hardly understood what was going on, riding around here and there, often in the dark.Currently available at YouTube

krorie Though "Man in the Saddle" has some effective moments and a few good action scenes, it is below average for Randy Scott who usually did better. The high point of the action comes near the beginning of the movie when the cattle are stampeded with Randy trying to outrun the herd in a covered wagon that is ablaze. The shoot out at the end is much too abbreviated only lasting a few minutes. Randy doesn't even get to duke it out with the hired gunslinger Fay Dutcher (Richard Rober). What kind of name is Fay for a gunfighter? Owen Merritt (Scott) shoots Dutcher as he rolls for his gun in the street. The talented actor John Russell has a fairly nondescript role. He would have been much better cast as gunman Dutcher. The story of a love triangle with two women Joan Leslie and Ellen Drew after one man (Scott)is at times overplayed. Exactly what Owen's relationship was with Laurie Bidwell (Leslie) before she married Will Isham (Alexander Knox) for money and power is never revealed. Apparently the two had one hell of a relationship the way it still tugs at their heartstrings and is the continued buzz of the town. The hired gun is not just after more ranch land for his boss but after Owen as well. Alexander Knox who played President Woodrow Wilson magnificently in "Wilson" several years earlier was thus typecast and unable to find himself in other parts. When he played the boss rancher in "Man in the Saddle" he was still trying to find his way after Wilson. Alfonso Bedoya and veteran cowboy actor Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams do well in the comedy department. Bedoya is a good foil for Big Boy. He continually looks for a new hat. Big Boy tells him he doesn't need a new hat for his head, he needs a new head for a hat. Even Randy Scott gets in on the humor this time and comes across with some funny lines. When Bedoya tells Scott that the trees are talking to him. Scott replies, "You'd better lay off that vanilla extract." When he is hold up with Nan Melotte (Ellen Drew)recuperating from a gunshot wound he feels the stubble on his face and comments, "It's like a coyote running through brush." The usually serious Scott plays a lighter role this go around and it is a plus for this otherwise dark and moody film. Look for Cameron Mitchell of television's "The High Chaparral" in a small part as one of the two brothers murdered by Will Isham's gang. In the days before Tex Ritter gave immortality to the theme from "High Noon," showing Hollywood how cowboy music should be presented to the public, multi-talented Tennessee Ernie Ford sang the theme to "Man in the Saddle" with much the same feeling of authenticity. He also gets to sing another ballad on camera as one of the wranglers. He's hard to recognize at first because of his youth and no mustache. Tennessee Ernie was singing hillbilly boogie that sounded very much like Rockabilly when Elvis was still driving a truck in Memphis. He ended up concentrating mainly on television, retiring early from show business, except to cut a gospel album every now and then. "Man in the Saddle" is one of his few screen appearances.Though not up to par for a Randolph Scott western, still worth seeing for fans of 50's westerns.

bkoganbing Big rancher Alexander Knox has married Joan Leslie former girlfriend of smaller rancher Randolph Scott. Knox is a brooding jealous sort of man and wants Scott out the territory. He hires some gunslingers headed by Richard Rober to do the job.Scott's a 'peaceable man' in the tradition of Wild Bill Elliott, but don't provoke him too much. But Knox is determined to start a range war out of jealousy.It becomes an open war after Rober kills brothers Cameron Mitchell and Richard Crane who work for Scott. And the wild part is that Scott's now taken a fancy to Ellen Drew. A previous reviewer said that Alexander Knox was miscast in a western. True he isn't a typical western actor, but a whole lot of people went west to make names for themselves of all kinds. Knox does a good job of the brooding and jealous rancher with a deep seated inferiority complex.Now it's also true that Richard Rober is a little too nattily dressed for a villain, but that sure is a western stereotype. I think he made a very good villain in this western. Rober was tragically killed in an automobile accident soon after this picture was finished. A good career in villainy was cut short.A lot of plot similarities to this and The Violent Men also done by Columbia Pictures a few years later. It's a good entry from the Randolph Scott western collection.

billyeye@swbell.net Man In The Saddle Is Classic In Every Sense Because It Was A Fantastic Formula So Popular During The Fifties When The Star, Not The Film Pulled The Fans Into The Theater. Scott Is Excellent In The Colorful Location Of Lone Pine, California. Detoth Had Come Aboard As Director Since Usual Scott Director Edwin Marin Had Recently Died Of A Heart Attack. Man In The Saddle Is The Action Western No Longer Produced And Sorely Missed By Many, And If It Is Veiwed With An Idea Of The Time it Was Made One can Almost Feel The Excitement Which Filled Theaters No Longer Enjoyed, As In Those Days. I Rate Man In The Saddle 4 Stars Out Of 4. Billy Holcomb