Western

Man in the Saddle

- SIX-GUN SHOWDOWN IN THE SIERRAS

A small rancher is being harassed by his mighty and powerful neighbor. When the neighbor even hires gunmen to intimidate him he has to defend himself and his property by means of violence.

Release Date : 1951-12-02

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Columbia PicturesScott-Brown Productions

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Owen Merrit

Original Name : Randolph Scott

Gender : Male

Character Name : Laurie Bidwell Isham

Original Name : Joan Leslie

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nan Melotte

Original Name : Ellen Drew

Gender : Female

Character Name : Will Isham

Original Name : Alexander Knox

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fay Dutcher

Original Name : Richard Rober

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hugh Clagg

Original Name : John Russell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cultus Charley

Original Name : Alfonso Bedoya

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bourke Prine

Original Name : Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pay Lankershim

Original Name : Clem Bevans

Gender : Male

Character Name : George Vird

Original Name : Cameron Mitchell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Juke Vird

Original Name : Richard Crane

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lee Repp

Original Name : Frank Sully

Gender : Male

Character Name : Love Bidwell (uncredited)

Original Name : Don Beddoe

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wrangler (uncredited)

Original Name : Tennessee Ernie Ford

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ned Bale (uncredited)

Original Name : Frank Hagney

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sheriff Medary (uncredited)

Original Name : James Kirkwood

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tom Croker (uncredited)

Original Name : George Lloyd

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gunman (uncredited)

Original Name : Kermit Maynard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Townswoman (uncredited)

Original Name : Dorothy Phillips

Gender : Female

Character Name :

Original Name : Ada Adams

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Bob Burns

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Roydon Clark

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : James Dime

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Frank Ellis

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Joe Garcio

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Curley Gibson

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Herman Hack

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Al Haskell

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Reed Howes

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : James Pier Mason

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : David O. McCall

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Kansas Moehring

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : G. Raymond Nye

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Frank O'Connor

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Artie Ortego

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Carlos Rivero

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Ray Spiker

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Rosa Turich

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Peter Virgo

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : George D. Wallace

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Blackjack Ward

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Blackie Whiteford

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

Rancho Skulduggery. Man in the Saddle is directed by Andre De Toth and adapted to screenplay by Kenneth Gamet from the novel written by Ernest Haycox. It stars Randolph Scott, Joan Leslie, John Russell, Ellen Drew, Alexander Knox, Richard Rober and Guinn Williams. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr. More known and rightly lauded for the series of Western films he made with Budd Boetticher, it often gets forgotten that Randolph Scott also had a long working relationship with Andre De Toth. Man in the Saddle was the first of six Western films the two men would make together, and it’s a pretty impressive start. Sometimes you see words such as routine and standard attributed to a lot of Westerns from the 1950s, and Man in the Saddle is one such film that’s unfairly tarred with that brush. Not that the narrative drive is out of the ordinary, the plot essentially sees Randy as a peaceful farmer forced to get nasty when evil land baron flexes his muscles, but the zest of the action, the stunt work, the colour photography (Lone Pine as always a Mecca for Western fans) and Scott, mark this out as a thoroughly entertaining production. Characterisations carry a bit more psychological smarts than your average “B” Western of the era. There’s a four way tug-of-love-war operating that is clearly going to spell misery, pain and death for somebody, a capitalist slant that bites hard with its egotistical bully boy overtones, while the obsessive behaviour of the principal players adds another dark cloud over this part of the West. Then there is the action scenes, of which De Toth once again shows himself to be a darn fine purveyor of such directional skills. And so, we get an ace runaway blazing wagon sequence, a stampede, a quite brilliant gunfight in a darkened saloon, a mano-mano fist fight that literally brings the house down – and then continues down a steep ravine, and the closing shoot-out played out during a dust storm doesn’t lack for adrenalin rushes. Scott is once again a bastion of Western coolness, more so when he throws off the bright attire he wears for the first half of film, to then switch to black clothes that signifies he’s going all bad ass on those who have caused him grief. Undervalued for sure, both as a Scott picture and as a Western movie in general. Don’t believe the routine and standard scare mongers, there’s good craft here and it’s a whole bunch of Oater fun. 7.5/10