Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

gordonl56 WESTBOUND 1959This western was produced by Warner Brothers and stars, Randolph Scott. The rest of the cast includes, Andrew Duggan, Virginia Mayo, Karen Steele, Michael Dante and Michael Pate.The film, set in 1864 during the US Civil War, has Union Officer Scott being sent west to Colorado. Scott is to supervise the running of "The Overland Stage" company. The government uses the stage line to ship the gold from California needed to finance the war effort.Needless to say there are some Confederate types out to disrupt the plan. The group is controlled by former Overland manager, Andrew Duggan. Duggan has a gang of most unsavoury types doing his dirty work. The gang is led by a top gun-hand, played by Michael Pate. Pate and his mob burn stage way stations, run off the stock etc. Also in the mix here is a former squeeze of Scott, Virginia Mayo. Mayo is now married to Duggan.Getting involved with helping Scott set things up is one-armed Union veteran, Michael Dante, and his wife, the drop dead gorgeous, Karen Steele. There is a series back and forth raids on both camps horses etc. Matters really turn nasty when young Dante is killed by one of Pate's hired guns. Then, Pate and mob run a stage off a hill killing the passengers including a little girl, so they could grab the gold shipment.Duggan is having second thoughts about Pate's methods. He wants to stop the gold shipments, but killing women and children is going too far. There is now a big showdown in the local burg between Scott and Pate's bunch. The townsfolk join in to help Scott. Duggan, Pate and the rest soon end up ready for Boot Hill.This was the sixth of seven films made by Scott and director, Budd Boetticher. It is also only one not made by Scott and Harry Joe Brown's production company, Ranown. Scott it seemed owed Warner Brothers a film from an earlier contract and this was it. Boetticher volunteered to direct and Warner Bros agreed hoping to continue the box office streak of Scott and the director. At 72 minutes the film moves well enough, but is the weakest of the pair's collaborations.The story is a bit shopworn and has all been seen before. The Miss Mayo part could have been left out and no one would have noticed. Michael Pate though is particularly good as the kill happy gunman. As for Karen Steele, this is one hot looking bit of womanhood.The director of photography was the twice Oscar nominated, J. Peverell Marley. The talented Marley lensed films like, THE SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS, SUEZ, LIFE WITH FATHER, PRIDE OF THE MARINES, KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE and DRUM BEAT.The score by David Buttolph is effective, with all the right flourishes in all the right places.

weezeralfalfa My review title is a quote from star Randolph Scott, as Union Captain John Hayes, addressing a Confederate-sympathizing cook who poured much salt into the pie slice of the lone blue coat among a group seated at the table in his restaurant. The cook claims this pie slice is no different from the others, but it's obvious this is a lie, raising Hayes' ire. This immediately reminded me of a similar episode with the same quote said by Richard Cramer: the menacing skipper of a small boat that Laurel and Hardy are trapped on, in "Saps at Sea". He's ordered them to make him a dinner, knowing that there is no food on board.Despite director Budd Beotticher's prejudice of wanting to be minimally associated with this low budget quickie Warnercolor Civil War western, it's quite an entertaining yarn, with a plot along the lines of the Missouri-Kansas border wars, only this is sited in the little frontier town of Julesburg, in the NE corner of then Colorado Territory. Located not far off the Oregon-California trail, historically, Julesburg was a major center for the Overland stage company, as portrayed in the film. However, the major plot features of Julesburg being a hotbed of Confederate sympathizers and the Overland stage transporting the bulk of California gold eastward are fictional. The great bulk of CA and NV gold and silver was transported by ships, not stages, to the East. Perhaps the screenwriters were unaware that the Colorado Rockies and SW Montana were also major gold producers during much of the Civil War. These would have been much more likely sources of gold shipments east by stage than CA gold!Not only do we get lead Randy Scott, still looking and acting virile at age 60, but two gorgeous classy blonds in Virginia Mayo and Karen Steele. Name another western that can equal that! Initially, both are married, but both husbands die as a result of gunslinger Mace's ambition to shoot Hayes. They then become potential rivals for the attention of the unmarried Hayes. Virginia was a decade older, nearing 40, and had been the female star in a number of westerns over the years, most recently "Ft. Dobbs". Although she is billed over Karen, Karen is given more screen time and is characterized as the 'good' girl, with a suggestion of at least an intermittent relationship with Hayes, in the end. Off camera, it was married Beotticher who was romancing Karen, which no doubt explains her greater presence in the film than Virginia and her starring role in several other Beotticher-Scott films. Quite the independent woman she sometimes portrayed in her films, she didn't marry until her 40s. In contrast to Karen's tomboy rancher character, Virginia plays the gold-digging kept trophy wife of wealthy Confederate sympathizer Clay Putnum. Complicating things, before the war, she was romantically involved with Hayes. It's soon clear that her marriage to Putnum is largely loveless and that she still loves Hayes. Although Virginia was mostly cast in minimally demanding roles as a classy pretty face, as in this film, she could convincingly play a rustic tomboy wildcat, as in "Along the Great Divide": my favorite of her film characters.You may wonder why the film is titled "Westbound", when the main point of the story is the shipment of California gold eastward? It refers to Hayes' initial journey westward to Julesburg from a military unit in the East. Not coincidentally, Julesburg was Hayes' hometown, he previously being the manager of the Overland stage there. The army is sending him back, as the present manager(Putnum) seems unable to stop depredations by Confederate sympathizers on the gold-laden stages in this region. The reason turns out to be that he, like most people in and around this town, is a southern sympathizer. Putnum is actually the most interesting character in this film, although Duggan lacks charisma. He wants to stop the gold shipments by sabotage: mostly stealing horses and burning down way stations, but wants to avoid any killings. In this latter respect , he is in deep conflict with his loose canon hired gun, Mace, who seems to also be the leader of Putnum's gang of thugs. Mace is more interested in stealing gold than in preventing its travel through this region. He takes an immediate dislike to Hayes upon the latter's arrival, and provides a dramatic demonstration of his marksmanship in shooting off Hayes' holster with gun after Hayes refuses to respond to his implied gun duel challenge. Mace later accidentally kills Karen's husband: one-armed union soldier Rod Miller, mistaking him for Hayes. He is also responsible for the deaths of a whole stage full of passengers, when the stage careens down a steep slope after the driver is shot dead. This is the final straw in the relationship between Putnum and Mace, as well as Putnum's marriage to Virginia. Putnum is shot dead by Mace as he races to try to save Hayes from being ambushed by Mace. Hayes then shoots Mace as he tries to escape from a surprise counter-ambush by a committee of citizens angered by the recent killings. Virginia decides to flee this region rather than try to patch things up with Hayes, leaving the field open for widowed Karen.Yes, this film is at least as good as most of the other Beottricher-Scott films I have seen, regardless of Boettricher's prejudice. Wally Brown and Fred Sherman , as the colorful stage drivers, provide a bit of diversion from the serious drama. The photography is beautiful and traveling music pleasant. Presently available on DVD.

dougdoepke This is a decent western—how could it not be since it stars Randolph Scott, always a cowboy who could make you believe it. Here he's a cavalry officer charged with getting gold shipments back east for the Union war effort. Trouble is there are Southern sympathizers in town, including his romantic rival (Duggan) and the hired gunsel (Pate); on the other hand, Scott's only help is a one-armed ex-Union soldier and his eye-catching wife (Dante & Steele).Most of the action occurs in town or at the stagecoach way station, but we do get some well-chosen scenic shots in Warner Color. Also, Dante makes a likable ally for Scott, as he shows us how to fire a rifle with only one hand; at the same time, he and Scott play off one another really well. However, Mayo's role looks like an inessential add-on, maybe for marquee value.Unfortunately, that final shootout is not up to Boetticher's usual standards— for example, Mace (Pate) looks like he wants to get shot, standing in the middle of the street as bullets fly. Speaking of the versatile Michael Pate, he seems to have been in about every sage opera of the period. But then he's got such a different look, so well suited to playing baddies.Anyway, the overall result is not on par with Boetticher's classic Ranown series of westerns, made at about the same time, (The Tall T {1957}, et al.). It's a comparison that may indicate the importance of producer Harry Joe Brown to that exceptional series. Nonetheless, Westbound is still worth a look-see as Scott turns in another fine performance.

MartinHafer This film is set during the Civil War. Randolph Scott is dispatched by the Union Army to the West in order to ensure that stagecoaches filled with gold make it unscathed--without the Confederates capturing it. Unfortunately, at one place along the route, Andrew Duggan is the town big shot and he's determined to wreck Scott's plans because Duggan is a Confederate sympathizer.Now it's pretty obvious early on that while Duggan is boss, that eventually there will be some sort of showdown between him and his foreman--the impulsive and violent Mace (Michael Pate). This was telegraphed all the way, as was the pending breakup between Duggan and his wife (Virginia Mayo). About the only surprise, and it was a very, very mild one, was how ineffective Scott was for much of the film. While he acted tough and in control, an amazing number of his people were killed before he took any serious action.The story in this Western isn't that unusual and seems very, very similar to at least a hundred other films in the genre. So, from the outset, the story is awfully derivative and keeps this film from really succeeding. However, because Budd Boetticher was the director and Randolph Scott the leading man, there was an aura of class and sophistication that made this film a bit better than just another ordinary Western. Scott, as usual, was exceptional in his low-key and realistic delivery. If only the source material had been a bit better.