The Outriders

For other uses, see Outrider (disambiguation).

The Outriders
Film poster
Directed byRoy Rowland
Screenplay byIrving Ravetch
Story byIrving Ravetch
Produced byRichard Goldstone
StarringJoel McCrea
CinematographyCharles Schoenbaum
Edited byRobert J. Kern
Music byAndré Previn
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • March 1, 1950 (1950-03-01)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,621,000[1]
Box office$2,179,000[1]

The Outriders is a 1950 American Western film directed by Roy Rowland and starring Joel McCrea.

Plot

With the Civil War nearing an end, rebel soldiers Will Owen, Jesse Wallace, and Clint Priest escape from a Union stockade in Missouri. A bandit leader and Confederate sympathizer, Keeley, recruits them to join a wagon train run by Don Chaves that is carrying a million dollars' worth of gold bullion out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After the men join the wagon train, they are to guide it to a predetermined spot where Keeley and his men will ambush the wagon train and steal the gold, ostensibly to deliver it to Richmond and the Confederacy.

The men see it as a chance to help the South and also profit. Don Chaves is suspicious of them, but permits them to be outriders, accompanying the wagon train but staying 200 yards (182.9 m) from the others. Apaches attack and the three men help fend them off, gaining the Don's trust.

The beautiful widow Jen Gort attracts the interest of Will and Jesse, who have a falling-out. She is escorting teenaged Roy, her young brother-in-law, who is eager to prove his courage to the older men by fighting Indians by their side. The boy ends up inadvertently causing a stampede, however, then drowns while attempting to cross a raging river.

News comes that the war is over. Because of that, plus his love for Jen and admiration for the Don, the robbery no longer interests Will, but Jesse is determined to go through with it so that he and Keeley can split the money. He reveals that Keeley had planned to steal the gold for himself and his men all along. Will disarms Jesse and tells Don Chaves about the planned ambush. They go to the predetermined spot prepared to make a stand, and successfully fight off the ambush. A final gunfight ends in Jesse's death; Will and Jen can go on with their lives.

Cast

Production

Parts of the film were shot in: Duck Creek, Aspen Mirror Lake, Strawberry Valley, Paria, Long Valley and Asay Creek, in Utah.[2]: 288 

Reception

According to MGM records the movie earned $1,540,000 in the US and Canada and $639,000 elsewhere, making a loss to the studio of $497,000.[1]

Dennis Schwartz gave the film a positive review and found the film "a well-acted conventional Western directed in a workmanlike way by Roy Rowland".[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: A history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
  3. ^ Schwartz, Dennis (May 5, 2005). "OUTRIDERS, THE". Dennis Schwartz Reviews. Retrieved August 6, 2022.


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