The Outriders

The Outriders
The Outriders
	Film poster
Directed by	Roy Rowland
Screenplay by	Irving Ravetch
Story by	Irving Ravetch
Produced by	Richard Goldstone
Starring	Joel McCrea
Cinematography	Charles Schoenbaum
Edited by	Robert J. Kern
Music by	André Previn
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	March 1, 1950;
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,621,000
Box office	$2,179,000

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

Joel McCrea as Will Owen
Arlene Dahl as Jen Gort
Barry Sullivan as Jesse Wallace
Claude Jarman, Jr. as Roy Gort
James Whitmore as Clint Priest
Ramon Novarro as Don Antonio Chaves
Jeff Corey as Keeley
Ted de Corsia as Bye
Martin Garralaga as Father Damasco
Harry Tenbrook as Prisoner (uncredited)

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]

References

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