Ride the High Country (1962)

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writer:

N.B. Stone Jr. (written by)

Release Date:

28 July 1962 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Western

Plot:

An ex-lawman is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Partner | Gold Shipment | Bank | Friend

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Gil Westrum
Joel McCrea	...	Steve Judd
Mariette Hartley	...	Elsa Knudsen
Ron Starr	...	Heck Longtree
Edgar Buchanan	...	Judge Tolliver
R.G. Armstrong	...	Joshua Knudsen
Jenie Jackson	...	Kate
James Drury	...	Billy Hammond
L.Q. Jones	...	Sylvus Hammond
John Anderson	...	Elder Hammond
John Davis Chandler	...	Jimmy Hammond
Warren Oates	...	Henry Hammond

Also Known As:

Guns in the Afternoon (UK)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Chinese

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:PG | West Germany:16 | Australia:PG | UK:A (1962) (cut) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (certificate #20105)

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In the late 1980s Charlton Heston considered starring in a remake with Clint Eastwood. Heston accepted the title role in Major Dundee (1965) after seeing this film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: There are a number of indications that this film is set no later than the late 1890s or early 1900s - for example, the date of Elsa's mother death on her tombstone and the open automobile (characteristic of early twentieth century models). The heavily-worn dime that Judd (Joel McCrea) bets in the booth run by Westrum (Randolph Scott) in the opening scenes, however, is a "Mercury" (Winged Liberty) dime, first coined in 1916. The dime shown, moreover, could not have become so worn without several more years in circulation.

Quotes:

Billy Hammond: You know, Elder, I hate to get married with one of my brothers smellin' bad enough to gag a dog off a Gut Wagon.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)

Early Peckingpaugh & Hartley, late McCrea & Scott

>What a winning combination! Peckingpaugh's unerring eye for character >development, an uncompromising script, great valedictory performances by >Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea all add up to the best western I have ever >seen. Mariette Hartley has said that she has never been able to equal her >first movie performance, and it's easy to see why -- she is perfection >itself as catalyst for all that happens around her. John Anderson and >Warren Oates are also excellent. A very insightful poem of human behavior >on the frontier. See it if you haven't already.