Ride Beyond Vengeance
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DVD details
Actor: Chuck Connors, Gloria Grahame, Joan Blondell, Kathryn Hays, Michael RennieDVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); Japanese (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Ride Beyond Vengeance
DVD Review: "I just rode up from hell with my hair on fire."
Summary: 2 Stars
Through the 1960s, the American western genre, overall, was in decline, suffering mainly from low production values and a lack of originality as hackneyed plots and themes were recycled ad nauseum, as illustrated in this film titled Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966), the result of those mainly involved in television productions trying to make a feature length movie. Actually, many believe the American western achieved near perfection with such films as High Noon (1952) and/or The Searchers (1956)...that's not to say there weren't any good westerns after this murky period, but what followed tended to fall into the category known as `revisionist' western, stories where the line between good and bad wasn't entirely clear, spurred on by the popularity of the `spaghetti' westerns coming out of Italy, most notably The Good, the Bad, the Ugly (1966). Written and produced by Andrew J. Fenady (Chisum, Terror in the Wax Museum), and directed by Bernard McEveety, veteran television director of such series as "The Virginian", "The Wild Wild West", "The Waltons", and "The Incredible Hulk", to name a few, the film stars Chuck Connors, former baseball player turned actor, probably best known for his roles in television's "The Rifleman" and films like Old Yeller (1957) and The Big Country (1958). Also appearing is Michael Rennie (The Day the Earth Stood Still), Kathryn Hays (Ladybug Ladybug), Joan Blondell (Nightmare Alley), Bill Bixby ("The Incredible Hulk"), Frank Gorshin ("Batman"), James MacArthur (Swiss Family Robinson), Marissa Mathes (Blood Bath), Arthur O'Connell (Operation Petticoat), and Claude Akins (The Defiant Ones).
The film opens in the present day, as we see a census taker (MacArthur) touring a small Texas town called Coldiron, all while some goofy song talking about how you `can't ever go home again' warbles in the background. Seems every town has a story, and Coldiron's no different, as the census taker settles in the local watering hole to hear all about how Jonas Trap (Connors), also known as `el tigre', initiated `the night of the reprisals' some number of years ago, taking us into our initial flashback. Seems Jonas Trap, buffalo hunter by trade, has been away for some eleven years, and is finally returning home to his wife Jessie (Hays) with a wad of dough ($17,000, to be exact), and gets beaten severely by a trio of men mistaking him for a cattle rustler. Not only that, but one of them also stole his money...which takes us into another flashback, where we see how Jonas, a humble dirt farmer, wooed Jessie, a woman from a well to do family, eventually marrying her. Jonas, not inclined to subsist off his wife's wealth tries desperately to get work (there's nothing in town but odd jobs), decides on going off to hunt buffalo, but Jessie can't/won't leave as her aunt it sick, and Jessie has little desire to meek out a surely squalor filled life on the open range. Returning to our initial flashback, Jonas, who barely survived the attack, now rides into town seeking revenge (along with his dough) on those who done him wrong.
Overall I didn't care much for this film as it felt like an overblown, overwrought television feature with lack luster production values, a muddled, plot, hammy performances, and featured some of the most unnatural dialog I've heard in a long time. Here's an example, as issued by the narrator while we see a tired and weary Jonas returning home after an eleven year absence..."He was juiced-out by the sun and gut lonesome for his wife." I got the meaning well enough, but it just sounded so odd, as does a lot of the dialog, written in much the same way. I was willing to buy off on this for the narration, but when the characters started spewing forth this histrionic and stagy junk, I lost all hope for an entertaining and engaging feature. I'm unsure any actor could have performed the lines in this film and made them sound realistic. It just sounded like someone writing a western that hadn't quite got the hang of it, throwing in a bunch of colorful euphemisms that looked good on paper, but ultimately failed during execution. Also, the film tended to put too much focus on unnecessary aspects of the story, while slighting the parts one would normally expect to be highlighted. I had a hard time understanding Connors' character, and honestly, I really didn't like him. After a difference of opinion with his new wife, he up and ditches her for eleven years, without so much as a howdy do? What the hell was that? Not only that, but then he returns after a long absence, with a saddlebag full of money, expecting to be able to pick up where they left off...only thing is she's since moved on and is engaged to a wealthy banker, but it's not about the money...yeah, sure it isn't. By the way, I loved how the passage of time was marked in Jessie by a cheap and obviously fake looking gray streak in her hair. Upon returning to town, Jonas steals a bottle of whiskey, beats a saloon bouncer within an inch of his life (the guy was only trying to collect the money owed for the whiskey), and trashes the local saloon a couple of times in barroom brawls, yet nothing is done as apparently the law is fairly lenient in Coldiron. As far as the other characters, we have Bixby playing a sleazy, duded up dandy of a hustler named Johnsy Boy Hood, with a penchant for the over dramatics, Akins as Elwood Coates, a miserable, sadistic drunkard with bad teeth who talks to an imaginary friend named `Whisky Man', Rennie as a bad guy banker character named Brooks (who's barely even there), who's actually a good guy (these were the three involved in the thrashing Jonas received early on), and finally Hays as the overwrought Jessie, torn between Jonas and Brooks, her financially secure fiancé. Probably the most annoying thing about this movie was the fact it had such a strong, capable, and experienced cast, but failed completely to utilize it, offering up ridiculously cliché, transparent characterizations. As far as the sets, the film was obviously shot on a low rent, well-worn, tired looking back lot, one probably used in any number of television productions. Also, the film, with a running time of 101 minutes, drags on about fifteen to twenty minutes longer than it should have, cluttered with pointless sequences (that whole census taker business at the beginning and end had no, real value), along with goofy plot devices (a flashback within a flashback?). With so many better westerns out there, I'd be hard pressed to recommend this dud to anyone. Had the story been played more straightforward, and the writer and director (both of whom probably should have stuck to a medium they were more suited to, that being television) tried to get less cutesy with the material, I probably would have liked it better...sure, I might have commented on the fact that it offered nothing new, but I would have enjoyed it more. One bright spot, it did have a pretty spectacular fight sequence between Connors and Akins near the end.
The picture, presented in widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1) looks very good, and the audio comes through well. There really aren't any extras, other than some previews for other Columbia Tristar releases like Glory (1989), Major Dundee (1965), Silverado (1985), The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), and The Professionals (1966).
Cookieman108
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