Stranger on Horseback

The review by Tom Slaback (tom-374) from Prescott, AZ says that he's only seen this film in black & white and wanted to know if a color version is available. Well, I rented the DVD and it IS is color, though the DVD indicates that there is no surviving negative and the copy is not optimal. In other words, while it's in color, the colors are a bit off (everybody appears sunburned because of the over-saturation of reds) and the print is a tad fuzzy.

The film begins with a new federal circuit judge (Joel McCrea) arriving in a western town. The first thing he notices is that all the businesses in town are owned by a man named Bannerman. The second thing he notices is that the sheriff and prosecuting attorney in town are bought and paid for by Bannerman--and he and his family can pretty much do as they please. It's obvious that there will soon be a showdown between the judge and Bannerman--and it's a fairly typical sort of plot for a western.

At times the plot is a lot like a lower budget "5:10 to Yuma" as well as "High Noon"--awfully good company in which to place any film. Despite having many familiar elements, Joel McCrea is so good in the film and the movie is made economically (not just cost but a lot of bang in such a short film), it's well worth seeing.

According to the Films of Joel McCrea series book, McCrea liked so much working with Jacques Tourneur on one of his best films Stars In My Crown that he signed eagerly to do this adaption of a Louis L'Amour novel of a western circuit riding, gun toting judge. This is a man who backs up his decisions.

No one has been to this town recently when McCrea rides in and he quickly discovers the place is run top to bottom by the local Ben Cartwright played by John McIntire. McCrea discovers quickly enough that McIntire's punk son has been responsible for several non-natural deaths and no one has seen fit to prosecute. McCrea orders cynical marshal Emile Meyer to arrest Kevin McCarthy. Soon enough though it's pretty obvious that no fair trial can be obtained in McIntire's town so a change of venue is ordered. The rest of the film is McCrea, Meyer, McCarthy and a few others making the journey for said change of venue with McIntire on their heels.

Stealing every scene he's in is John Carradine playing a rather cheerfully corrupt prosecutor in McIntire's town. He reminds me so much of Cassius Starbuckle the cattleman's mouthpiece in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. His role here could be a younger version, a dress rehearsal for the John Ford classic.

Playing McIntire's niece is Czech/Mexican actress Miroslava who would do only one more film before committing suicide at the age of 30. She was one sexy alluring creature who tries her ways on McCrea. He's tempted to be sure.

Stranger On Horseback is short and taught western with maximum editing skills applied by its director. McCrea's character might well have been transferred to television for a series about a circuit riding judge. I'm surprised no one saw the possibilities.

1954's "Stranger on Horseback" was shot in Sedona AZ in the rarely used Ansco color process, rather than the far more popular Cinecolor. Joel McCrea is the star, playing circuit judge Richard Thorne, arriving in a town ruled by the Bannerman clan, investigating a shooting death where no arrests have been made. Trouble begins when Thorne learns that Tom Bannerman (Kevin McCarthy) was the shooter, his father Josiah (John McIntire) unwilling to allow any lawman to bring his offspring to trial. The beautiful Miroslava commands the screen as Amy Lee Bannerman, whose allegiance wavers under the judge's influence. Although a star in Mexico, she was actually Czech-born, a sad suicide only two weeks prior to this film's release. A year away from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," the amiable Kevin McCarthy just isn't the right actor to play a slimy villain (all the bad guys are rather colorless). Legendary scene stealer John Carradine is in typical form, playing the tailor-made role of Colonel Buck Streeter, indeed a trial run for his Cassius Starbuckle in 1962's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," seedy Southern prosecutor aiding the judge while staying close to the Bannermans (he disappears from the film once the cross country journey begins).

Federal circuit judge Joel McCrea rides into town. Amiable and pompous John Carradine greets him, and sheriff Emile Meyer says there's no call for his service. It turns out that Kevin McCarthy, son of local land baron John McIntire has shot someone and the man died, but since it was self-defense, he isn't being held. McCrea sees things differently; that's for a jury to decide. So McCarthy is jugged, much to the displeasure of McIntire and cousin Miroslava. McCrea must investigate on his own, along with Carradine, who has gotten himself appointed prosecutor, despite turning up at McIntire's dinner table.

It's one of the standard western plots and starts out like the better remembered RIO BRAVO, but with less star power. Still, McCrea is, as always, very solid in his western roles, Carradine always watchable, and McIntire excellent in what turns out to be a very complicated character. I don't think the ending quite works, but getting there is a pleasure, especially in the third act, where they leave town and the open country around Sedona Arizona is revealed by Technicolor specialist Ray Rennahan --- who's shooting in Ansco Color.

McCrea glows as the circuit judge attempting to deliver to justice the murdering son of a wealthy cattle baron. the routine tale is uplifted by a superior cast including a rare appearance by International star, the late Miroslava, John Carradine, John McIntire, Roy Roberts, and a pre-Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Kevin McCarthy. The story moves at a rapid pace to a furious and unpredictable conclusion. This is truly a great western, and it is a shame that the only copy to make it to VHS is from film that is obviously deteriorated. C'mon Turner or AMC...this is one that deserves restoring!!!