Comanche Station (1960)

Touches You

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

Blistering performances.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

NOTES: Filmed entirely at Lone Pine, California, this is the last of the Scott-Boetticher westerns. It was preceded by Seven Men from Now (1957), The Tall T (1957), Decision at Sundown (1957), Buchanan Rides Alone (1958), Ride Lonesome (1959), and Westbound (1959).COMMENT: Randolph Scott does justice to his perfectly tailored role and though the film is a little heavy on the dialogue side, it still has more than enough action to satisfy the fans. Nancy Gates comes across as an attractive if somewhat colorless heroine, but the real support acting is turned in by the trio of villains: Claude Akins makes a commendably successful attempt to stamp his criminality with a more rounded characterization than the conventional black hat/black heart, while Skip Homeier and Richard Rust as his equally unconventional, not over-willing accomplices also impress strongly. Boetticher has directed with his usual vigor. And though the budget is small, other credits are likewise well up to scratch.OTHER VIEWS: Hollywood's six-guns have finally got around to firing just six shots, but that is still one too many, according to Randolph Scott. "Western films today are getting more of the authentic flavor of the old West, but there are still some interesting facts that are consistently overlooked. Nearly always, there's the six-gun that never seems to need re-loading," Scott told me. "This is more or less a joke in Westerns, watching the hero or badman snap off shot after shot with apparently no concern about an empty cylinder." According to Scott, most of the famous gunfighters of the West carried only five cartridges in their Colt. The hammer always rested on the empty chamber to prevent accidental firing caused by a bump which could easily jar the hair-trigger on the gun. "If you were facing a gent like John Wesley Hardin or Clay Allison, one shot would be all you'd need anyhow," Scott insisted. "Because, if you didn't hit him with your first shot, you would wonder why in Boot Hill."

Comanche Station is a modest movie. It lacks the scope of the big Hollywood Westerns of its time and the splashy zaniness of the Spaghetti Westerns that were to burst onto the scene later in the decade. What it does have is mostly solid performances (Scott in particular does good work here), a lean, economical script and a few stand-out sequences. For instance, I particularly liked the film's opening, a nearly wordless sequence in which Scott's character interacts with a tribe of Indians. A ransomed or kidnapped wife is a recurring element in Boetticher/Scott Westerns, but this movie brings some freshness to that old storyline.Bottom Line: A better-than-average Western. Worth your time.

Gaining the release of a rich white woman being held hostage by Comanches proves to be fairly easy for Ex-Cavalry officer Randolph Scott. The hard part is getting her back home with his sleazy former subordinate Claude Akins and Akins' dim-witted partners tagging along, especially since they know what the woman's husband is willing to pay for her return, or that of her body!Another great film directed by Bud Boetticher, what strikes me most about this and others by Boetticher is the wonderful use of the widescreen image. Not only does every frame of the picture look like a master painting, they are also so perfectly balanced. Not an inch of Cinemascope is wasted.The script by Burt Kennedy bears a passing resemblance to his earlier one for Ride Lonesome. Look hard and you'll notice the burnt remains of that film's memorable "hanging tree" standing in the middle of a large pond!

This is the final film that was directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott. Like their previous collaborations, they both work together to produce Westerns that manage to rise above the mediocre norm. In this film, a fairly typical plot idea is executed very well--with a grace and style that make the film well worth seeing.Randolph Scott, as usual, plays a nice but tough guy. He's brave enough to come into a Comanche stronghold in order to negotiate for the release of a White woman kidnapped by the tribe. However, trouble is in store when three drifters come upon Scott and the woman. It seems that the leader of this group (Claude Akins) is a real rogue and plans with his men to kill Scott and the woman. It seems that the woman's husband has offered a reward for her--and it can be collected dead or alive! So what did I like about the film? First, as usual, Randolph Scott is amazing. He plays the perfect cowboy hero--tough, slow to speak and anger but also a decent man through and through. Plus, he's much more believable than the bigger than life characters John Wayne usually played. I loved Wayne's films, but he was always too tough and too in command. Scott is much more like a very capable 'everyman' character. Second, as usual, Boetticher deliberately underplays the action--producing a muted but also quite believable film. Third, the film had a really nice ending--quite the twist.You can't do a lot better than a Scott/Boetticher western. While this isn't their best, it certainly is quite good.