ellenirishellen-62962 Agree with Ashew,Macready unfairly discounted in Westerns.He was definitely equal to a star like Randy Scott,and he was convincing as a Western heavy.Who else could direct a bunch of dopes to do his bidding?That he had good manners,dressed well,spoke with a commanding voice only made him more convincing as a brilliant man gone bad,perfect for any Western.This is his third movie opposite Scott,Coroner Creek when he's nastier to his wife than here,Doolins Of Oklahoma as a good lawman and the narrator,and The Stranger Wore A Gun.There's plenty of action and Dorothy Malone as Galt's daughter (pre Peyton Place for Malone and Macready)comedy with Faylen and Corey,additional menace from Tucker.I liked it!

Gary R. Peterson A fun and exciting Western that entertains as much today as it did in wintry early 1950 when it was first released.After enjoying the film on a Saturday morning, which is the best time to enjoy films like THE NEVADAN, I read all 15 reviews posted here. Many are eager to point out how this humble film pales in comparison to the Westerns of Boetticher, Mann, and Peckinpah, lacking as it does deep psychological themes and Method actors wringing their hands and contorting their faces in painful introspection. There's an unwillingness or perhaps an inability to consider THE NEVADAN on its own merits. It's only aspiration was to entertain--and it succeeded.Now I'm not casting stones or even aspersions. I count myself among the guilty, admitting I too am unable to see this film wholly on its own. Each of us brings to the movie-going experience all we've already seen, and most people watching a 1950 Western are aging cinephiles bringing a LOT to the experience. For me, Forrest Tucker will always stir up fond memories of Sgt. Morgan O'Rourke. And when Jeff's dimwitted brother Bart pulled another boner, I was just waiting for Frank Faylen to look into the camera and mutter, "I gotta kill that boy; I just gotta" like he would a decade later on DOBIE GILLIS. Those associations added to my enjoyment.Speaking of Faylen and Jeff Corey as brothers Jeff and Bart, I suspect they were loosely based on brothers George and Lennie from John Steinbeck's 1937 novella Of Mice and Men. The script and the actors elevated Jeff and Bart far above the expendable and disposable "red shirt" henchmen of lesser Westerns. I can also see in them a foreshadowing of the memorable and scene-stealing Sam and Whit, the duo played by Pernell Roberts and James Coburn in RIDE LONESOME.The closing gunfight with Andy and Tom against Galt, Jeff, and Bart was a highlight, topped only by Andy and Tom's brawl to end it all in the collapsing mine. Karen's appearance added to the excitement, even as it allowed Tom to remind us he's the bad guy when he shoots Galt in the back. Jeff's ruthlessly shooting the mules and canteens showed the depth of his depravity, and lessened the regret I felt when he took a bullet to the brain (a surprisingly graphic scene for 1950, I thought).The grimness is balanced by lighthearted moments. An uncredited Nacho Galindo is funny as an apoplectic stagecoach driver. Also unbilled are Olin Howard and Lewis Mason as Rusty and Wilbur, two cowpokes straight out of a 1930's programmer who look for a laugh from supposed greenhorn Andy and get egg on their faces. It's a funny scene, but also serves as good character development as the audience is made aware that Andy is not the dapper tenderfoot he initially appeared to be.I saw THE NEVADAN as one of six films on Mill Creek's second Randolph Scott Round-Up DVD collection. The print is beautiful, the colors rich, and the price right--only about ten bucks! Slip it in on a Saturday morning and "forget about life for awhile," as Billy "the Kid" Joel once sang.PS: The gold fever that drove Galt to greed-driven madness and violence is a recurring theme in Westerns. No film captures it as well as A MAN CALLED SLEDGE, an under-appreciated 1970 film directed by Vic Morrow and starring James Garner, Dennis Weaver, and Claude Akins among others familiar faces to film and TV fans.

MartinHafer I love Randolph Scott westerns. In this genre, his films usually stand out from the rest because of his laid back but likable characters as well as the usually better than average scripts. His films he made with Bud Boetticher and Sam Peckinpah are true classics. However, it was inevitable that he also made quite a few very ordinary films and THE NEVADAN is about as ordinary as you can get. Now I am NOT saying it's a bad film--it's just that there are way too many familiar plot points--to the point where they seem more like clichés than anything else.The film begins with prisoner Forrest Tucker escaping while on his way to another prison. When he met up with "ordinary guy" Scott, I knew that it would turn out in the end that Scott was a lawman--rarely did Scott ever play the villain and there have been quite a few other films where a lawman makes friends with a robber to find out where he stashed the missing loot. And, surprise, surprise, that's exactly where the film ended up by the end. In addition, there must be a clichéd "big bad boss" (George Macready) who also wants to get the gold and, as usual, he'll stop at nothing to get it.I can't tell you how many other films reminded me of THE NEVADAN, but because it had all been seen before, there were absolutely no surprises. However, given Scott's likable persona, at least the journey to the all-too-predictable finale was pleasant.Oh, and did I mention...there also was a love interest for Scott--and it was Macready's daughter! Again, been there, done that--though often it's a wife, not a daughter.

raskimono In an era of overbearing deep, so deep, psychological westerns, it's nice to know Hollywood still knew how to put together these shoot 'em ups. This A-grade production with the very good direction by Gordon Douglas behind it is not much, if not entertaining. Randolph Scott who was to begin an era of a-b grade westerns and make some so-called classic westerns with Budd Boetticher shows his interpretation of the gun-man with few words that he would use effectively later on to good effect. The plot has something to do with Scott being an Undercover marshall, gold and yes, bad guys who need to be gunned down. Anyway, it's all a mcguffin for a final sequence in a mine shaft that is breath-taking. Nice entertainment, at the least.