Buchanan Rides Alone

This is a minor entry in the Randolph Scott canon - Sometimes I wonder if Budd Boetticher is slightly overrated as a Director and 'Buchanan Rides Alone' just reinforces my idea.

I am a big Randolph Scott fan and I always thought he was the very model of a modern major western hero so I have no complaint on that score - love his pictures. Here he was his usual rugged, affable self and was surrounded by a good supporting cast; Tol Avery, Barry Kelley, Peter Whitney - in fact, the only one who seemed out of place was Craig Stevens, sporting his Ivy league look and demeanor.

I think the problem was the plot. Often plots of westerns are too thin but this one had oodles of plot, enough for 2 pictures and bordered on the film-noir genre. I felt it weighed on the pace of the film, although in the process it made the characters 3-dimensional - western characters are normally not this well-defined. I also have a problem with squeaky-clean western types and I don't feel this adds to the authenticity of a western. On the contrary, they often wore the same clothes for days on end.

I had seen this picture when it first came out when I was a teenager and rolled with it better than when I recently saw it. Funny how being a grown-up can ruin one's perspective. I still gave it a rating of 6 - Randy, you're still my guy.