A cattleman fights to establish a ranch in the middle of gold country.
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Reviews
Best movie of this year hands down!
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
A reasonably exciting Randolph Scott western, supposedly taking place in the interior plateau country of British Columbia, where caribou used to graze the abundant grass. Scott and his partners hope to establish a cattle ranch in this virgin grazing region, along with some gold prospecting to help establish their ranch, as they have little money. They are joined by Grizzly(Gabby Hayes): an old prospector, down on his luck, who will soon help them get started in panning for gold, after they lose their herd, as well as gear, to a nocturnal stampede engineered by a gang of larcenous cutthroats, headed by Frank Walsh, headquartered in the little town of Carson Creek, up ahead. A later run-in with the Blackfoot Indians, while prospecting for gold, nearly ends their lives, except for a lucky turn of events. Walsh would later engineer yet another nocturnal cattle stampede, this time via the Blackfoot, who became allies of the Walsh gang. Fortunately, most of their gear was undamaged this time. Scott had thrown in with Grizzly and his kin, who had brought this cattle herd up the Cariboo Trail. Presumably, after rounding up most of their cattle, they continued on to their promised land. The film is actually considerably more exciting than what my summary suggests. ....There are some questionable events in the screenplay. Perhaps most glaring is the manner in which the 3 prospectors escape from the Blackfoot. Supposedly, their pack mule started kicking up a storm, thus freaking out the Indians, who were mostly gathered in a bunch. Scott, and presumably the others, got away by stealing an Indian pony, along with a rifle(Yea, right!). They didn't consider that they might have similar ruins with the Indians when they brought in their cattle. After escaping the Indians, Grizzly made it to Montana and brought back that new cattle heard, with his relatives mighty quickly. Simultaneously, Scott was panning for gold, presumably without proper equipment or survival equipment and supplies! Presumably, he spent the better part of the snowless season collecting his gold, so that he would meet up with Grizzly and kin. The final stampede involved the Blackfoot, Scott and bunch, Walsh and gang, and a citizen group headed by Mike Evans, who had recently defected from the larcenous Walsh. Along with the cattle, in semi- darkness, this made for a very confusing several minutes, as shadowy forms raced back and forth on the screen. Nothing is said about the task of rounding up most of their cattle, which they had failed to do with their first herd. ...This was Gabby Hayes' last role in a feature film, having been a beloved sidekick for many a western hero over the past 15 years....Unlike some reviewers, I didn't notice a problem with the Cinecolor cinematography. The copy I saw said it was an upgraded version. See it at YouTube.
This film marked the end of George "Gabby" Hayes screen career.He is shown as having made 190 screen appearances in Westerns between 1929 and 1950.Although in the quotes section he is quoted as saying that he hated westerns.He has always been my favourite western sidekick.He was just so good at it.He looks quite old in this film though in actual fact he is only about 68.One supposes that with the advent of TV he foresaw the end of his type of Westerns.I have to say that I consider that he is the best sidekick of all.He has a very good role in this his final film.Otherwise it is just run of the mill.As has been mentioned elsewhere the cinecolor is truly awful and was clearly used for the sake of economy.
RANDOLPH SCOTT and BILL WILLIAMS share the co-starring credits in this rather weak western, nicely photographed in Cinecolor against some gorgeous western backgrounds in Canada. Unfortunately, the story of ranchers vs. gold prospectors has been done before with better results and it's not one of Scott's more memorable western roles.Among the bad guys, it's interesting to note a young JIM DAVIS who would later make it big on "Dallas" TV. GEORGE 'GABBY' HAYES plays his usual rustic character, usually a sidekick for Gene Autrey or Roy Rogers. He has the sort of role as a grizzly old-timer usually played by Walter Brennan, calling all the other men "young fellas".All of the ingredients usually found in a western of this kind--including shootouts and cattle stampedes--are here, but the results are pretty ordinary.Summing up: Not recommended unless you're a die-hard western fan with time on your hands.
Randolph Scott is leaving the USA for the greener pastures of Canada's British Columbia. He wants to start a cattle ranch there with partner Bill Williams and cook Lee Tung Foo. They stampede their small herd over a toll bridge erected by Victor Jory. Later Jory rustles their cattle and Williams loses his left arm during the fracas.From 1945 until 1962 when he retired, Randolph Scott made a series of good adult themed westerns, some of them considered real classics. Unfortunately the Cariboo Trail will never be listed among his best westerns. It's more like the material that Roy Rogers or Gene Autry might use. The story is downright silly at times. Williams who was along for the ride with Scott, he wanted to go prospect for gold as there was a big strike at the time. He doesn't blame the rustlers, he blames Scott for convincing him to make the trip for the loss of his arm. Also there's a scene in the film when Scott, Lee Tung Foo, and Gabby Hayes are captured by Indians. They escape because Gabby's mule has been taught to kick on command and he kicks away at the Indians allowing our heroes to escape. I'm not sure that would have played in a Rogers film.Furthermore the story actually wants you to believe that tyro prospector Randolph Scott accidentally stumbles on a gold strike after just a few lessons from prospector Gabby Hayes on how to find gold. This was Gabby Hayes's farewell feature film part. It would have been better had he gone out in a good western and in fact he had done a couple of better ones with Randolph Scott before this.I will say this, though no Caribou made any appearance in the film, this is one of the few Canadian locale films from the past that did NOT have any Mounties. But if I were you unless you are a big fan of Randolph Scott or Gabby Hayes, take the next detour off The Cariboo Trail.