The Outriders

Last updated

The Outriders
Outriders.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Roy Rowland
Screenplay by Irving Ravetch
Story byIrving Ravetch
Produced by Richard Goldstone
Starring Joel McCrea
Cinematography Charles Schoenbaum
Edited by Robert J. Kern
Music by André Previn
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • March 1, 1950 (1950-03-01)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,621,000 [1]
Box office$2,179,000 [1]

The Outriders is a 1950 American Western film directed by Roy Rowland and starring Joel McCrea.

Contents

Plot

With the Civil War nearing an end, rebel soldiers Will Owen, Jesse Wallace, and Clint Priest escape from a Union stockade in Missouri. A bandit leader and Confederate sympathizer, Keeley, recruits them to join a wagon train run by Don Chaves that is carrying a million dollars' worth of gold bullion.

The men see it as a chance to help the South and also profit. Don Chaves is suspicious of them, but permits them to be outriders, accompanying the wagon train but staying 200 yards from the others. Apaches attack and the three men help fend them off, gaining the Don's trust.

The beautiful widow Jen Gort attracts the interest of Will and Jesse, who have a falling-out. She is escorting teenaged Roy, her young brother-in-law, who is eager to prove his courage to the older men by fighting Indians by their side. The boy ends up inadvertently causing a stampede, however, then drowns while attempting to cross a raging river.

News comes that the war is over. Because of that, plus his love for Jen and admiration for the Don, the robbery no longer interests Will, but Jesse is determined to go through with it so that he and Keeley can split the money. A gunfight ends in Jesse's death; Will and Jen can go on with their lives.

Cast

Production

Parts of the film were shot in Duck Creek, Aspen Mirror Lake, Strawberry Valley, Paria, Long Valley, and Asay Creek in Utah. [2] :288

Reception

According to MGM records the movie earned $1,540,000 in the US and Canada and $639,000 elsewhere, making a loss to the studio of $497,000. [1]

Dennis Schwartz gave the film a positive review and found the film "a well-acted conventional Western directed in a workmanlike way by Roy Rowland". [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain man</span> Men living remotely in the Rocky Mountains of North America

A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness and makes his living from hunting and trapping. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s. They were instrumental in opening up the various emigrant trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains traveling over roads explored and in many cases, physically improved by the mountain men and the big fur companies originally to serve the mule train-based inland fur trade.

<i>Tales of the Texas Rangers</i> Western old-time radio and television police procedural drama

Tales of the Texas Rangers is a 20th century Western old-time radio and television police procedural drama which originally aired on NBC Radio from 1950 to 1952 and later on CBS Television from 1955 to 1958. Film star Joel McCrea voiced the radio version as the fictitious Texas Ranger Jace Pearson, who uses the latest scientific techniques to identify criminals. His faithful horse, Charcoal, helps Pearson to track down the culprits. The radio shows, some of which are available on the Internet, are reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormon Trail</span> Migrant route from Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) long route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers traveled from 1846–47. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel McCrea</span> American actor (1905–1990)

Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death Valley '49ers</span> Aspect of the California Gold Rush

The Death Valley '49ers were a group of pioneers from the Eastern United States that endured a long and difficult journey during the late 1840s California Gold Rush to prospect in the Sutter's Fort area of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada in California. Their route from Utah went through the Great Basin Desert in Nevada, and Death Valley and the Mojave Desert in Southern California, in attempting to reach the Gold Country.

<i>Ramrod</i> (film) 1947 film by André de Toth

Ramrod is a 1947 American Western film directed by Andre DeToth and starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Preston Foster and Don DeFore. This cowboy drama from Hungarian director DeToth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author Luke Short. DeToth's first Western is often compared to films noir released around the same time. Leading lady Veronica Lake was then married to director DeToth. The supporting cast features Donald Crisp, Charles Ruggles, Lloyd Bridges and Ray Teal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogue River Wars</span> 1855-56 conflict between Native American tribes and U.S. soldiers and settlers in Oregon

The Rogue River Wars were an armed conflict in 1855–1856 between the U.S. Army, local militias and volunteers, and the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of Rogue River Indians, in the Rogue River Valley area of what today is southern Oregon. The conflict designation usually includes only the hostilities that took place during 1855–1856, but there had been numerous previous skirmishes, as early as the 1830s, between European American settlers and the Native Americans, over territory and resources.

<i>I Died a Thousand Times</i> 1955 film by Stuart Heisler

I Died a Thousand Times is a 1955 American CinemaScope Warnercolor film noir directed by Stuart Heisler. The drama features Jack Palance as paroled bank robber Roy Earle, with Shelley Winters, Lee Marvin, Earl Holliman, Perry Lopez, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, and Lon Chaney Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt Creek Canyon massacre</span>

The Salt Creek Canyon massacre occurred on June 4, 1858, when four Danish immigrants were ambushed and killed by unidentified Indians in Salt Creek Canyon, a winding canyon of Salt Creek east of present-day Nephi, in Juab County, Utah.

<i>Wagon Master</i> 1950 film by John Ford

Wagon Master is a 1950 American Western film produced and directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond. The screenplay concerns a Mormon pioneer wagon train to the San Juan River in Utah. The film inspired the US television series Wagon Train (1957–1965), which starred Ward Bond until his death in 1960. The film was a personal favorite of Ford himself, who told Peter Bogdanovich in 1967 that "Along with The Fugitive and The Sun Shines Bright, Wagon Master came closest to being what I wanted to achieve." While the critical and audience response to Wagon Master was lukewarm on its release, over the years several critics have come to view it as one of Ford's masterpieces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Juan Expedition</span>

<i>Westward the Women</i> 1951 film by William A. Wellman

Westward the Women is a 1951 American western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel and John McIntire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg Barton</span> American actor (1912–2000)

Gregg Barton was an American actor, who played various roles in feature films and television series.

The 1935 NCAA Track and Field Championships was the 14th NCAA track and field championship. The event was held at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, California in June 1935. The University of Southern California won the team championship with 74+15 points.

The First Texan is a 1956 American Technicolor western film directed by Byron Haskin and starring Joel McCrea, Felicia Farr and Jeff Morrow. Produced by Walter Mirisch, it was shot in CinemaScope and distributed by Allied Artists. It is set during the Texas Revolution of the 1830s.

<i>Six Black Horses</i> 1962 film by Harry Keller

Six Black Horses is a 1962 American Western film directed by Harry Keller and starring Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea and Joan O'Brien.

Giulio Panicali was an Italian actor and voice actor.

A Loss of Innocence is a 1996 American romantic drama television film that first aired on September 29, 1996, on the ABC television network. It is based on the novel On This Star by Virginia Sorensen.

Chester William Hannan was an American actor and rodeo performer. He was known for starring as Yucca Bill Thompson in the 1937 film Stars Over Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Burton (actor)</span> American film and television actor

Robert George Burton was an American film and television actor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: A history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN   9781423605874.
  3. Schwartz, Dennis (May 5, 2005). "OUTRIDERS, THE". Dennis Schwartz Reviews. Retrieved August 6, 2022.