weezeralfalfa
Although Joel McCrea, as Ross McEwen, plays a small town bank robber in NM, this is not a shoot 'em up type western. As others have noted, no bullets nor arrows are fired, nor brawls instigated. Also,there's no cattle stampede or drive. It's a remarkably peaceable story, although there are a couple of stick ups. It was shot in crisp B&W, and the mostly rocky or sandy terrain is photogenic. It was shot mostly in several NM locations, including Inscription Rock, or in Red Rock Canyon, CA.Joel is his usual laconic self. So, what does this screenplay offer that's of interest? It tells the story of an atypical bank robbery by a lone gunman, in broad daylight, with lots of people gathered in the street to welcome the new Federal marshal, Pat Garret(Charles Bickford), of Billy the Kid fame. Initially, Joel asked for a $2000.loan,but when he needed collateral to secure this, he pulled out his gun and demanded the $2000., backed by an IOU signed by Jefferson Davis. He wanted to take or send this money to his father, who needed it soon. Joel left the banker out in the desert with no horse and no shoes. He was hopping mad and slapped a $3000. reward for Joel's capture or corpse. As one companion said, "It's more profitable to catch a thief than to be a thief"(at least in this case).There's a mysterious man dressed in all black, including hat. We meet him on the train when Joel hops on after ditching his horse and saddle. This man, whom we later discover is the famous Mexican gambler Monte, takes an inordinate interest in Joel. In fact, he seems to end up wherever Joel wanders throughout the film, sometimes helping Joel. Eventually, he figures out that Joel must be the bank robber the wanted flier talks about. However, he makes no move to try to collect the $3000. reward. He even throws away the stack of reward fliers remaining for the next town on the mail buckboard. He gets a horse for Joel at one point, and agrees to win some gambling money to start Joel's payback of his 'loan'. We never do discover an apparent motivation for Monte's favoring of Joel. It appears he just decided to like him.Joel also meets a nurse, Fay,(she claims the train nurse?) on the train, who looks after his rattlesnake bite wound.(Don't know how she could help?). She also is destined to keep bumping into Joel, wherever he wanders. She too eventually guesses that he is the bank robber, but he seems like too nice a guy to be a badman. In fact, they kiss and hug a couple of times, and she rides with him for a stretch when he's trying to lose Garrett and Deputy. Joel claims he plans to pay the 'loan' back gradually. But, at a cowhand's wages, that will take years.Still trying to evade Garrett, at one point, Joel takes the saddle off his horse, sending it on it's way, and puts it on a steer to confuse Garrett. He eventually comes across a cabin containing Mexicans, who are all sick, apparently of diphtheria. He decides to stay and do what he can to help them, like feeding them. He tears strips of cloth and soak them in fuel for the lantern(probably, kerosene!), then stuff this in their mouths! Well, a doctor and nurse eventually show up and do what they can(probably, essentially nothing, as no modern antibiotics or anti-toxin was then available.) Guess who the nurse turns out to be? Yep, Fay, played by Joel's real wife: Frances Dee. Garrett wasn't fooled by Joel's steer act, and arrives at the cabin, seeing what Joel is doing to help. He acts rather friendly, but later he and Fay finally convince Joel that he should turn himself in, and probably the judge will be lenient, given his subsequent behavior.See it on YouTube
JeffersonCody
Warning: Possible spoilers. An absolute gem, this wonderful western - shot in black and white on rugged, interesting locations, is a sheer pleasure from beginning to end. It is something to cherish. The quiet, handsome Joel McCrea - playing the most thoroughly decent outlaw I've ever come across in a western, has never been more appealing as the bank robber on the run.Using his pointed gun as collateral, Ross McEwan (McCrea) makes a $2000 "loan" from a bank - right under Pat Garrett's (Bickford) nose. The furious bank manager puts up a reward of $3000 for his capture: dead or alive. So Garrett - a pretty good guy who is going to make damn sure no one shoots Ross in the back, and a posse set off in hot pursuit. The crafty McEwan jumps on a train and evades capture with a help of a baby and a blanket. He meets the honest, attractive railway nurse Fay Hollister (Frances Dee) and the mysterious Mexican gambler Monte Marquez (Joseph Calleia) while on the train. Fay realizes that Ross has broken the law and is a wanted man, but she falls in love with him anyway - hell, she's ready to sacrifice her job and follow him to the ends of the earth. Of course, every bounty hunter in the territory is now also searching for Ross. With Monte's help, Ross continues to evade the determined Garrett and eventually travels across the desert - on a bull. On the way, however, Ross stops to find a horse and comes across a poor, sick Mexican family at their little homestead. The father, his wife and their two small boys are desperately ill. They will all surely die if Ross doesn't stop to help. But if he stays and tries to save them, the law will catch up with him and he won't make it across the border... Seeing Joel McCrea and his wife Frances Dee romantically paired is rather lovely; they have real chemistry (it's no surprise their marriage lasted for over 50 years). The four leads are all pitch perfect in their roles, but a marvelous Joseph Calleia deserves a special mention. If this exciting, unusual, uplifting and richly romantic western (in which not one shot is fired or a single punch thrown) doesn't touch you, you have an ice-cold, cynical heart of stone. Based on a story by Eugene Manlove Rhodes called "Paso por Aqui" ("They Passed This Way"). Highly recommended.
alexandre michel liberman (tmwest)
There is an incredible chemistry between McCrea and his real wife Frances Dee. They meet on a train, as McCrea is running from a posse, she takes care of his arm which was bitten by a rattlesnake and soon they are riding together among other people on a carriage and he has his arms around her. A little later they fall in each other's arms and kiss and that may seem too soon with another couple, but with them it could even have been sooner. There is this nice place (a rock?) where it is written "they passed this way" in Spanish (paso por aqui) and it seems only special people deserve to write their name there. McCrea robbed a bank and there is a high reward for his capture, but all through the film you feel he is a great guy.
