Ten Wanted Men

"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.

This is just pure mindless Western fun. It has some big stars, including the most fun Western actor of all time, Randoph Scott. You always had to like him, even when he plays a...well, a jerk, like in this film. His character is, frankly, something that rhymes with glass hole. But he manages to pull it off with the aplomb that very few could do (Cary Grant, Morgan Freeman, people like that). There are supposedly ten wanted men, but don't go looking for them. They're never explained, but the title insinuates that these are the thugs hired by bad guy Richard Boone, who plays more of a moneybags bad guy than his usual rough neck. Still, he has a lot of guts, even trying to face down the ten wanted men at one point. The action and gun play, along with some big name stars, make this an enjoyable movie. The plot is very thin and basic. So if you're looking for depth, this isn't the time to watch the movie. It's just plain old fashioned Western fun. Not Scott's best, but has quality action.

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.

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")

Exceptionally fine cast from top to bottom, from Boone and Gordon at the top to Pyle and Louis-Jean Heydt in support, and of course in the starring role, the great Randolph Scott. Then too, the color photography is unusually pleasing and picturesque. And the fact that Harry Joe Brown produced suggests that this is a 1955 warm-up for the classic Boetticher-Ranown Western cycle that was soon to follow.

So, with these kinds of ingredients, why isn't the movie better than I think it is. For one thing, the direction appears pretty slack. The scenes simply follow one another without building into the kind of intensities expected from the rivalries involved. It's like Humberstone shot each scene without considering its dramatic significance to the narrative as a whole. So, for example, when gunsel Gordon takes over the town from Boone, there's no real sense of displacement, no real dramatic impact. Similarly, the dynamite sticks that act like grenades simply appear and also produce little dramatic impact. Yet both episodes are clever plot wrinkles, and with the right development could have helped lift the movie beyond the merely routine.

Also, too many times-- especially in standing conversation-- the actors speak their lines with perfect enunciation, as if they're performing from center stage. I expect that's also Humberstone's doing, but it comes across as stagey and inappropriate for a Western. And, of course, there's poor Donna Martell who looks great but is rather painfully no actress.

Still and all, it's an interesting, if somewhat convoluted, story and a treat for the eyes. And seeing all those familiar faces from other films almost looks like a reunion of sorts. I expect some good-hearted soul in production decided on a payday for a number of veteran performers. Also, it's a good chance to catch Skip Homeier in a rare sympathetic role, and Dennis Weaver shortly before his slow-talking, slow thinking deputy on the classic series Gunsmoke. Anyway, disappointing or not, no Western starring the granite-jawed Scott can afford to be overlooked.