A former sheriff relentlessly pursuing the 7 men who murdered his wife in Arizona crosses paths with a couple heading to California.
Trailer
Reviews
CinemaSerf
7
By CinemaSerf
“Stride” (Randolph Scott) is a man conflicted. His own failings had led to his wife having to work in the Wells Fargo office and that’s where she was killed when it was relieved of $20,000 in gold. Now this former sheriff has to wrestle with his own grief and guilt as well as pursue the men whom he knew perpetrated the crime. As he chases them, he encounters would-be pioneers “John” (Walter Reed) and “Annie” (Gail Russell) and so teams up to help them. Then they are joined by the scheming “Masters” (Lee Marvin) - with whom “Stride” has some previous, and his chum “Clete” (Red Barry) who are also on the trail of the robbers, but who are keeping that to themselves whilst letting “Stride” do the all donkey work. With the scene now set, there plays out a little bit of mischief - usually caused by the on-form Marvin. He manages to act as a sort of sexual agent provocateur turned lethal weapon and proves the perfect foil to both the glamorous and engaging Russell and to the stiff as a ramrod Scott whose character here is presented with a rigidity that contrasts strikingly and honourably with most of those around him. There isn’t end-to-end action, but is still plenty going on to keep us guessing and thinking as the proud and the powerful don’t quite turn out to be the people we might have expected them to be a tautly directed eighty minutes earlier. Less is definately more, here, and it's well worth a gander.
