Randolph Scott was well into his fifties by the time of this movie, and still doing a lot of his own action scenes and stunts.
Many movie stars of those days stayed fit by lifting weights and swimming - guys like Cary Grant and Fred Astaire - both lifelong friends of Randolph Scott - had weight rooms in their homes and also at their home studio (Astaire who was a flyweight of around 145 lbs., worked out with 5lb bells and would do hundreds of reps while rehearsing dance steps!). John Wayne was a serious weight lifter who would rack up some amazing reps with the curling bars, and Charles Bronson had some ingenious gadgets for isometric exercises. Robert Taylor was a track star in college, and would run for miles at a stretch on his ranch.
Other actors, though, like Joel McCrea, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, and our "Santa Fe" star, Randolph Scott, stayed fit simply by working their ranches.
In this movie, Scott looks like a rawhide whip, his movements lithe and graceful and the moving camera shots (taken from a pickup) of him galloping on horseback show a stunning physique. An old friend of this reviewer's family used to tell a story of Randolph Scott pulling an old 1940s Ford pickup around with a rope. For those of us who have worked around vehicles from that era, that really is an amazing feat of strength.
Scott is surrounded by... maybe less than stellar performers for "Santa Fe," and this doesn't feel like one of his greatest performances. But it's got plenty of action and drama for a Saturday afternoon movie.
