Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
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.
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
bsmith5552
"The Ride Back" is a low budget black and white 79 minute western that is essentially a two character story featuring a half breed Mexican fugitive (Anthony Quinn) and the hot sweaty sheriff (William Conrad) who tries to bring him back from Mexico to the USA for trial.Quinn and Conrad play off of each other as each tries to out smart the other. Quinn claims his innocence but certain of his actions leaves us in doubt. Conrad's sheriff is an ordinary looking down on his luck law man who nevertheless vows to bring Quinn to justice. The two play psychological games with each other with a band of renegade Apaches stalking them all the way.Things change however, when they encounter a little girl (Ellen Hope Monroe) whose family has been massacred by the Apache. She fears the gruff grizzled sheriff while Quinn's fugitive uses her liking for him to his advantage. Then the Indians attack and.......................Conrad who was also the producer was probably instrumental in getting Anthony Quinn to play the fugitive. Quinn had just won an Oscar for "Lust for Life" and was in big demand by others. I'm sure that he didn't do this one for the money but saw the merits of a well written story. You can almost feel the intense heat as the principals cross the territory.Also in the cast are Lita Milan as Quinn's girl friend, Victor Millan as the village Padre and Jorge Trevino as the border guard.
classicsoncall
Strictly as a matter of timing, I was struck by the very opening sequence in which a young boy runs across a dusty Western street with a gun going 'bang, bang' at an imaginary outlaw. As I write this, the nation is undergoing a raucous debate over proposed new and stricter gun control laws following the Newtown, Connecticut massacre, and the media is filled with numerous stories of kids as young as five years old getting reprimanded or suspended from school for doing the same thing, sometimes for just pointing a finger to simulate a pistol. If the kid in the picture did that today, he'd probably be arrested for sure.You know, teaming William Conrad and Anthony Quinn was an interesting casting choice. It looks like they should have been in each other's role, such is their influence on supporting characters. The charismatic and good looking Kallen (Quinn) is supposed to be the bad guy, and the sweaty, bloated Hamish is the lawman. That dynamic is neatly explored in the second half of the story as the duo comes under Apache attack and rescue a young girl who lost her parents to the savages. Hamish confesses his insecurities and failures in life to Kallen, and even though Kallen has ample opportunity to make his getaway a number of times, he's developed an understanding and trust in the sheriff to get a fair trial for a murder back in the States.The film runs a compact seventy nine minutes and makes use of crisp black and white photography that's made even more cinematic whenever Lita Milan hits the screen as Kallen's Mexican firebrand fiancée. I would swear that Ellen Hope Monroe looks like she might have grown up to become some famous movie star (resemblance to Lee Meriwether?), but in checking the credits, she only made one other picture, and that one, "The Black Orchid", had Anthony Quinn in the lead role as well. She really didn't have that much to do here except look vulnerable, but as far as that goes, she made it work.
Wuchak
"The Ride Back" is a B&W Western from 1957 starring William Conrad (aka "Cannon") as a hard-luck Texas lawman sent to Mexico to bring back a charismatic man wanted for murder, played by Anthony Quinn.Plot-wise, the film is reminiscent of another B&W 1957 Western, "3:10 to Yuma," but "The Ride Back" was released about 4 months prior to "3:10" and was adapted from a "Gunsmoke" radio program episode. Conrad played Matt Dillon on the radio show in the 50s and early 60s but was too short and portly for the TV version that premiered in 1955 with James Arness starring as Marshal Dillon. Conrad produced "The Ride Back" in response.Viewing "The Ride Back" for the first time, it is interesting to see William Conrad some 15 years before starring in "Cannon" and Anthony Quinn is as larger-than-life as ever, not to mention the stunningly beautiful Lita Milan as Quinn's Mexican girlfriend. Yet I discovered that the true appeal of "The Ride Back" transcends these surface attractions.The first thing that happily struck me about the movie is that the filmmakers strove for realism in the manner of notable 50s Westerns by Stewart/Mann and Scott/Boetticher. Such realism is observed in the heavy use of Spanish in the early Mexican segments and the film's depiction of Indians. The Native Americans here are elusive wraiths more than anything else, but that's the best route to go at a time when more close-up portrayals of Indians typically came off artificial and even laughable, especially as seen through modern eyes.After the first half-hour the film morphs into a moving character study. ***SPOILER ALERT*** Hamish (Conrad) slowly realizes that Kallen (Quinn) is everything he's not: Hamish is brooding and self-loathing while Kallen exudes life and confidence; Hamish's wife hates him while Kallen's girlfriend is so devoted she chases him across the desert; Hamish is a loner while Kallen inspires love and loyalty, so much so that the Mexican villagers are willing to kill Hamish at Kallen's word; an orphaned girl withdraws from Hamish while naturally bonding with Kallen, etc. We also learn the reason for Hamish's obsessive hunt is that he wanted to finally do something right and prove himself to his wife and the people of his Texas community. As the story progresses Hamish is increasingly enlightened to the greatness of Kallen. It's a testimony to his character that this enlightenment doesn't result in hateful envy bur rather admiration and respect. ***END SPOILER***The title song was sung by Eddie Albert of "Green Acres" fame; a lot of people hate it but I thought it was pretty decent. Hey, it's better than similar Western theme songs from the era, like the horrible "North to Alaska" (wonderful film but lousy theme song).The film runs 79 minutes and was shot in California and Mexico.FINAL WORD: I was braced for an artificial 50's Western but got a potent character study instead. Who would have thought? The only negatives I can cite are that it's in black & white and has some slow, less-than-compelling parts. Regardless, I prefer it to the original "3:10 to Yuma." GRADE: B+ or A-
dougdoepke
I may have missed someone, but by my count only six actors have lines in this ultra-spare Western. The production comes from respected director Robert Aldrich's independent company with William Conrad himself producing. That may account for Quinn's appearance in a cheapie so soon after his Oscar for Lust for Life (1956)—plus, the likelihood that the streamlined production could be shot in less than 2 weeks.As a Western, it's an offbeat concept— Sheriff Conrad returning fugitive Quinn from Mexico to stand trial. The narrative is basically two nervous guys riding across the great outdoors with some drunken Apaches lurking in the background. No wonder the sheriff can't relax. However, the movie comes across as more interesting than suspenseful, mainly because crucial compromises are made with Quinn's character. He's simply made too likable and respected to generate the kind of tension needed, which may have been the price of putting a headliner like Quinn in the lead. It's really Conrad's resolute sheriff that holds interest as a number of surprising self-doubts begin to unfold. His nicely shaded performance shows how much more than a great radio voice Conrad was. Anyway, it's an entertaining little programmer with a rare distinction. It's the only film I've seen with more untranslated lines outside English than in English—an unusual effect. So, unless you speak Spanish, you may have to do a lot of inferring. (In passing—it's probably a matter of taste, but to my ear the title tune may be the worst of the era, bellowed out by a decidedly untuneful Eddie Albert.)
