Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
alexandre michel liberman (tmwest)
Those who would see the Randolph Scott westerns in the fifties when originally released, would be rewarded with nice colors, more violence than in usual westerns (which would make it more dramatic) and a more mature, rugged faced Scott who combined perfectly with the other elements in the film. The more significant flaws in those films would be in the story but certainly not in this one which has a script which is conventional but good. Forrest Tucker is Tom Tanner who leaves jail and goes straight for the gold he kept. Scott is Barclay, the man that follows him. George Macready is the rancher, and Dorothy Malone is his daughter. Jeff Corey and Frank Faylen are the two brothers who are so good they are even mentioned on the New York Times original review as the best of the film. Good entertainment, and even though the film was made in 1950, it is up to the standards of today.
dougdoepke
Good Scott western that makes excellent use of the neolithic Alabama Hills with the snow- capped southern Sierras in the background. I like the way the henchmen Jeff and Bart are given personalities, something most oaters don't bother with. And just who is Barclay (Scott) anyway, and why does he befriend outlaw Tanner (Tucker) in his quest to recover stolen gold. Is Barclay a good guy or not since he doesn't act like one. But first, they've got to beat out Galt's (MacReady) gang who also, surprise, surprise, wants to get the same gold. But what I most want to know is how ugly old Galt could father a delicious looking dame like Karen (Malone) who's clearly on her way up the Hollywood ladder.There're a number of nice touches (e.g. the unexpected bucking bronco), and I can't help noticing Harry Joe Brown as co-producer along with Scott. They collaborated a few years later with Bud Boetticher on that great Ranown series of westerns that looks a lot like this one. Note how rather likable the outlaw Tanner is, also a hallmark of the Ranown series. And what an excellently staged showdown brawl in the mine tunnel. The effects are realistic and unusual for a B-western.Anyway, it's a non-clichéd script with a number of twists, lots of scenery and action, along with an appropriate ending. So what more can this old front-row kid ask for.
classicsoncall
I've seen quite a few Randolph Scott movies, and the thing I notice about him as a Western star is the frequent number of outfit changes he goes through in a picture. It's more noticeable in color of course, but it occurs in his black and white films as well. The interesting thing about "The Nevadan" is that the story actually builds in reasons for those changes, as in the switcheroo with outlaw Tanner (Forrest Tucker) in an early scene. I've never really heard anyone mention it before, but the next time you watch a Scott picture, keep it in mind and you'll usually catch him in three or four different shirts at least.As for the story, Scott's character Andrew Barclay keeps his identity under wraps as a federal marshal, as he tries to find out where Tanner has stashed a quarter million in gold from a prior robbery. He finds himself competing with Red Sand town boss Ed Galt (George Macready) who also has his eyes on the prize as it were. Galt already has a hand in every business enterprise going in town, but as is usual in such cases, more is not enough.I always enjoy seeing Jock Mahoney in a Western, and in the ones where he doesn't have a lead role, he usually turns up as a villain. Same story here, he's Galt's main henchman Sandy, but with only a single viewing on Encore Westerns yesterday, it seemed that his face wasn't always clearly visible. Galt was always having him do some dirty work, so it probably doesn't matter much, but if you didn't know he was listed in the credits, it would be pretty easy to miss him. Mahoney started in pictures as a stunt man, and his riding skill is apparent in that scene when Karen Galt (Dorothy Malone) kicks his horse away. To really appreciate his skill on a horse though, try to catch a few episodes of his Range Rider series where he really gets to show his stuff. The only thing that bothered me about his role here was when he gave chase to another rider and wound up hitting a tree branch knocking him off his horse; that looked just dumb.As for Dorothy Malone, I've seen her in back to back Westerns now, the other being 1955's "Five Guns West". Competent in both, I'm still waiting to catch her in a role more like the one of the bookstore clerk she portrayed opposite Humphrey Bogart in "The Big Sleep". It was only a minor role, but the scene crackled with double entendres that made it a hit of the picture.With all said and done, "The Nevadan" is merely an average flick, I really didn't detect much of a spark in any of the performances. Much of the supporting cast is composed of lesser known character actors, and the running gag between a pair of brothers (Frank Faylen and Jeff Corey) about a local saloon girl never amounted to anything. Encore Western fanatics like myself should be satisfied with a single viewing.
clore-2
For Randolph Scott, the 1950s started with the Columbia film The Nevadan, co-starring Forrest Tucker, George Macready and Dorothy Malone. Scott and Tucker have a marvelous give-and-take relationship that anticipates the rivalries to come in the Boetticher films. Frank Faylen and Jeff Corey give colorful performances as henchmen who are brothers, and have a rivalry of their own. Jock Mahoney has a small role, and doubles for Scott in the fight scene at the end. Only the cheap Cinecolor process betrays the slight budget, excellent direction by the unsung Gordon Douglas.
