Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

Better Late Then Never

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's a Western and those are so enjoyable especially since the formula was well known but the stories always changed using of course the old reliable mix of saloons, drinking, whiskey, sheriffs, bad guys, good guys, love interest and scenery, Indians and music. This movie throws in a nice round-up of horses that I do believe I have never seen to this degree in any movie I have watched. It appears they went all out making this as real as it gets. Scott makes for a good actor in Westerns but here he doesn't grab the center spot but only adds to the movie plot. Glen ford makes an appearance along with some other known faces too. I always enjoy when they mention large sums of money in these old Westerns. Why? Thousands of dollar back then is a fortune and we tend to forget this while watching. It could buy a town, large spreads of land, cattle and all the help you needed to live a comfortable life for the rest of your life. Consider that you can make it honestly or do what many did because they could i.e. steal it! Imagine one good theft and you are set-up for life with the usual catch; Don't get caught and don't do it again something thieves ended up doing. Nice little ride-along here with a decent ending too. Watch this with a sandwich, beef jerky or some ribs with a tasty drink. Favorite candy on standby. Mount-up and let's ride into town! I'm buying

This movie's best assets are the shots of Randolph Scott sitting, almost motionlessly, astride a galloping horse. He was simply poetry in motion, along with Joel McCrea, Gary Cooper, and young Johnny Crawford. These four were the best horseback riders in filmed entertainment. You can stop reading right...HERE!Since I have to include a minimum of 10 lines, let me continue by saying the worst horseback riders, IMHO, were John Wayne (ouch!) and Chuck Connors.Coop's best scenes, I think, were in The Westerner and Northwest Mounted Police (both 1940). McCrea's were in Cattle Drive (1951), Wichita (1955), and Cattle Empire (1958). Scott's were in The Desperadoes (1943), Ft. Worth (1951), and one other I cannot recall. Strangely, none of his Boetticher pictures.Connors was at his worst anytime his scenes in The Rifleman called for him to ride hell-for-leather for the ranch. Duke's were just about anytime he had to ride (oh, it hurts to say that - I just love John Wayne). There, I'm over the 10-line minimum.

Ladies and gentlemen, is the daily grind getting you down? Do you want a good, old-fashioned oater to fill in the early evening hours? Well, it's all here for you folks in Charles Vidor's 1943 production "The Desperadoes".You've got your stalwart lawman (Randolph Scott), your good bad guy (Glenn Ford), the spunky romantic interest (Evelyn Keyes), the tough but tender saloon hostess (Claire Trevor) and the not-too-bright sidekick (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams). You've got gorgeous Technicolor, stampedes, bronco riding, shady businessmen and an explosion or two! So, pop that corn and melt that butter. What's that? You want more, folks? You want scene stealers? Well, seeing as it's you, we have two of the greatest. Mr. Edgar Buchanan and Mr. Raymond Walburn will commit grand larceny before your very eyes.So, sit back and relax, ladies and gentlemen. It's all here!

This is simply a good ole fashioned western..not overly complex or long. It doesn't deceive itself in thinking that it was made but for entertainment. Still, it is one of those westerns you can watch once and be done with without returning. It features former partners Randolph Scott and Glenn Ford whose friendship is strong despite the fact that Ford's Cheyenne Rogers has been part of bank robbing(he even steals Scott's Sheriff Steve Upton's horse without knowing it his good friend for which he is thieving). In Red valley, Upton is under heavy scrutiny for a bank robbing that ended with several dead. Claire Trvor portrays Countess Maletta, a friend of Cheyenne's who gives he and buddy "Nitro"(Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams)a place to stay for the time being. Cheyenne desires to go straight, but finds that hard when Jack Lester(Bernard Nedell)and his bad bunch want to rob Red Valley's bank. It is actually Jack who is behind the murders, but Cheyenne's troubled past is hard to get away from. He and Nitro will be charged with the murders they didn't commit(the robbery was one Cheyenne didn't commit)and it will be Upton who must somehow save the day before Lester gets away with murder. There are sub-plots which include Cheyenne's falling in love with Alison McLeod{Evelyn Keyes;the irony of the story is that Alison's father, Uncle Willie, is actually in cahoots with Banker Stanley Clanton(Porter Hall)in a planned united theft with Lester to steal the town of Red Valley's loot}. Will Upton uncover Uncle Willie and Banker Clanton's treacherous scheme? Will Uncle Willie be able to go through it without his conscience always bothering him? This film has a terrific barroom brawl and a dandy of a climactic shootout. Columbia couldn't have picked a better genre to begin the coloring process as this film has some fine mountainous shots as men give chase on horseback and such. Don't expect to get your socks blown off, but the film is simple and well paced.