Man in the Saddle (1951)

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Mr. Arkadin
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Man in the Saddle (1951)

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Anyone have insight to this Andre De Toth directed western?
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ChiO
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Post by ChiO »

I haven't seen it, but plan to today. It's the first of the six Westerns Andre de Toth made with Randolph Scott. De Toth has little to say about those movies themselves in De Toth on De Toth: Putting the Drama in Front of the Camera.

Scott drank a lot, too -- sasparilla -- and they [Scott & Harry Joe Brown] understood each other because instead of reading scripts, they read the Wall Street Journal.

Responding to the comment that Scott's Warner Bros. Westerns had higher production values than the ones Scott's company produced: It's very interesting. That's Hollywood again; the PR-image made you think so, but it was Warner Bros. or Columbia who called the tune and shelled out the ready cash, not Scott's company. Making those epics, I felt no difference whether Scott-Brown, or Warner Bros., or Columbia "produced" them. The lid was set by the studios and, within that limit, I got pretty well the minimum of what I thought was needed. These were the facts, but films are mostly delusions.

I believe Randolph Scott could have gone further as a performer. But he did not have the ambition to step up, to be better in anything except golf.

Good actor, he wasn't. He was Randy Scott. Which had advantages, but no surprises.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

Oddly enough I just watched this the other day courtesy of Netflix. I would say it is a fairly typical western. Big land baron is marrying former Scott flame. He wants to buy up the valley and Scott is the last guy he needs to convince to leave. Scott's other neighbor is also a woman.

Lots of fights and some good scenery. Knox is good as the villain. The ladies are ok. That pretty much sums up the movie for me, OK. It's as good as the other films with de Toth but falls short of those with Boetticher.

Speaking of production values they used the backlot that most will recognize from other westerns. Scott used it at least one more time and Audie Murphy used it a time or two. This may have been the first use.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Ayres
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Post by Ayres »

Sure was lovely seeing Joan Leslie in color, though! An interesting role for her, too--she was convincingly playing a rather hardened person, in contrast to the sweet young roles she usually played (beautifully) at Warners.
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Vienna
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Re: Man in the Saddle (1951)

Post by Vienna »

Yes, interesting to see Joan Leslie playing a character quite different from her usual roles.She loves Randolph Scott but marries Alexander Knox for his money. Ellen Drew is so beautiful in this and John Russell is very good too.
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movieman1957
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Re: Man in the Saddle (1951)

Post by movieman1957 »

Five years later I've seen it again having not remembered much about it. (This reflects more on me than the film.)

One thing that bothered me more this time was Scott's pining after the woman who ditched him for the land baron. She doesn't love the guy but she's going to marry him anyway. Scott's character's are so strong that his inability to tell himself that he is really better off without her (at least at the start) kind of bothered me.

I did get two days in a row of Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. I watched 'Virginia City" yesterday. He doesn't strike me as being that much of a "Big Boy" but he sure is fun - and loyal.

Overall, I still like the film.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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