Ten Wanted Men

I think a 7 out of 10 is not a bad rating for a movie, given how many deserve a 1 or a 3. Ten Wanted Men starts off with one big thing in its favor - it is a beautiful movie to watch. The color of this film is rich and true and it makes most every scene a treat for the eyes. The story itself is reasonably good - I found myself engaged in it fairly early when Campbell gets into it with Howie Stewart. (This is the second movie of Homeier's where he played someone named Howie.) I like Randolph Scott a lot but I'm also a Homeier fan, and he had a good part in this movie. Unlike his usual bad guy roles, here he played a good guy who still had the opportunity to shoot a gun and break out of jail and such. Lee Van Cleef had only a small role, really, but was very good in it. Denver Pyle was about as nasty and evil a character as I've seen him play. As far as the story goes, I would have liked to see Scott use the dynamite to greater advantage against the bad guys; they had it coming.

So, this is not the greatest movie ever made, but I think it rates a seven at least. If you like Westerns, you won't regret watching this one. Just the great color is a selling point, but the story itself isn't bad at all.

Back in the 50s when the theaters didn't bother to post the title of the Saturday Matinée movie feature(s) It was always a crap shoot on what you were going to get.

Those of us who went to see the feature (as opposed to the kids just out to raise heck in the audience, were usually pretty pleased when the name Randolph Scott appeared on the opening credits. We knew there was going to be plenty of action and simplistic characters spouting rudimentary dialog to move the plot from action to action. It was cowboy day, and just about any oater would do but a Scott flick was usually considerably better fare than most of the films made for the 50s kiddie market.

I first saw Ten Wanted Men at the State Theater in downtown Schenectady New York. I don't remember if I got a soda or a Hershey bar on the way in, but those were my go-to matinée snacks at that time.

Scott made some pretty impressive "B" westerns but Ten Wanted Men had absolutely nothing going for it, other than Scott. The quality of the dialog was amazingly poor and every scene seemed to land with a palpable thud. By the middle of the movie I wished I was one of the kids who chose running up and down the aisles instead of watching the movie.

Naturally I would have chosen to avoid this film forever thereafter. But it popped up at least once again at a matinée. Time has not dulled my disdain for this remarkably poor excuse for a Randolph Scott western - but it has dulled my memory for titles. So, having no memory of the title - seen at least ten years before I started keeping notes on my watching habits, I ended up renting it recently from Netflix DVD. I realised my mistake during an early scene but it was too late. It was in my house, and I was left with no choice but to either watch the movie or send in back.

My sense of thrift just about compels me to be a good lad and sit in my seat paying strict attention to a movie I really would have rather avoided forever.Unless you are an absolute completest for Scott westerns I suggest you do your best to avoid my horrible mistake.

Pay no mind to the extensive list of reliable western bad men in the cast - even Richard Boone was a completely lackluster villain in this film. Leo Gordon almost saves the movie as Henchman Number One, at least his evil deeds do keep the plot moving briskly.

The rancher John Stewart (Randolph Scott) welcomes his brother and lawyer Adam (Lester Matthews) and his nephew Howie (Skip Homeier) that have just arrived in the pacific Ocatilla to implement law with a party in his ranch. Howie flirts with the Mexican Maria Segura (Donna Martell) and the greedy Wick Campbell (Richard Boone) that has raised the girl since she was orphan tries to force her to live with him; however John Stewart protects Maria and she moves to his ranch. Campbell hires ten gunmen to work for him; he first kills John's neighbor that was going to pay a debt with him to have his lands; then he rustles John's cattle with the gunmen; frames Howie in a duel in the bar and he is arrested in jail; and kills Adam Stewart in a lonely road. When Campbell believes he has destroyed John Stewart, the outlaws turn against him and loot Ocatilla. But John Stewart is alive and ready to payback.

"Ten Wanted Men" is that type of western with many clichés of the genre but also entertaining. The fifty-seven year-old Randolph Scott is still convincing in the role of an old cowboy that became a successful rancher and needs to use weapons again to protect his family, his friends and the town he helped to build. Lee Van Cleef in the beginning of his career has a minor role as an outlaw and Richard Boone and Leo Gordon perform the typical villain. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Arizona Violenta" ("Violent Arizona")

They're pinned down, bullets flying left, right and centre and Jocelyn Brando is sitting at the table peeling apples for what is presumably going to be a nice apple pie for supper. Then in strolls Randolph and spends the next five minutes telling her what he thinks about her. Ah the innocence of the pictures back in the day which can still in a funny way be more enjoyable than present day films.

"Ten Wanted Men" probably would not make a list of must see films, for the simple reason that it was released during the 50's as a movie bound for the Saturday afternoon double feature bill at the local movie house. The viewer will recognize a lot of Grade-B western movie actors, and this does give a bit of nostalgia to the film.

Scott plays the rancher in the valley with most of the power and influence, while Richard Boone plays an up-and-comer who has designs to crowd in on Scott's area. Assisting Boone in this plan are veteran western heavies Leo Gordon and Lee Van Cleef and Dennis Weaver playing the sheriff before his "Gunsmoke" days. As indicated, it is a simple tale of the good guy against the bad guy, with a fistic brawl between Scott and Gordon settling the issue. A good film for the western fans.