ianlouisiana Marshall McCabe(Mr J.Stewart) combines his duties as a law man with the rather less onerous task of being a pimp/entrepreneur and go - to guy.When he says "This is my town" he really means it. He is persuaded by an old friend,now a rather elderly Cavalry lieutenant (Mr R.Widmark) to assist negotiations with the Comanche for the release of prisoners captured some years earlier. He has had dealings with Chief Quannah Parker before and apparently speaks the language although all we hear is him talking in pidgin English to the chief whose vocabulary and grammar seems better than his own. A boy and a girl are returned to the settlers.The boy has totally absorbed the Comanche culture and is treated as little more than a wild animal. He stabs to death a woman who wants to believe he is her son and,despite a plot "twist" that any cinema - goer over the age of eight could have foreseen,is promptly lynched. The girl,a Mexican aristocrat,has retained her identity despite being married to warrior for five years. When her husband comes to rescue her,McCabe promptly shoots him dead,broaching an argument regarding what constitutes "rescue" and what constitutes "kidnap". McCabe has no such sensitivities. "Two rode together"is sometimes seen by critics as an apologia for the racism and misogyny they see in Mr Ford's earlier masterpiece on the same theme. Others that he rushed through it in order to start "The man who shot Liberty Vallance" where Mr Stewart seems much more at home. Personally,I think Mr Ford merely had a bad day a the office.

utgard14 Marshal James Stewart and cavalry lieutenant Richard Widmark go searching for white captives of Comanches. OK western is not among Ford's or Stewart's bests. It's watchable and enjoyable enough for western fans, however. Stewart offers the best performance in the film. His character is cynical and mercenary. Widmark is fine. Woody Strode plays a militant young Comanche warrior named Stone Calf. There are several similarities with Ford's masterpiece The Searchers. There's the plot, of course, about two men going after white people held by Comanches. The Comanche leader in the Searchers is played by Henry Brandon, who also plays a Comanche leader here. John Qualen, Olive Carey, and Harry Carey, Jr. appear in both films, although with significantly bigger parts in The Searchers. Ken Curtis plays a very similar comic relief character in this film as he did in The Searchers and even has a comedic fight over a woman as he did in that film. Obviously this movie is nowhere near the level of The Searchers. This is an OK western but nothing extraordinary. The Searchers is one of the greatest films ever made. Sadly, all of this just serves to remind you that you're watching a movie that really could have been directed by anybody. Ford only did this for the payday and hated it by all accounts. He reportedly took his frustrations out on the cast and crew, particularly Jimmy Stewart. Ford would make only one more great film in his career after this, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Jeff (actionrating.com) Skip it – Steer clear of this so-called "western." After watching it, I was literally embarrassed for Jimmy Stewart. He probably accepted the role because this movie was directed by John Ford, but this is easily Ford's worst movie. Not to mention just an all around bad western. It has absolutely no action. It attempts to be humorous but fails at that as well. Perhaps this film about white children kidnapped by Comanches was considered profound back when it was originally made. But if that was the case, it has aged horribly. Ford is not known for having heavy action scenes, but usually he can at least weave a great tale. This one has neither. Don't waste your precious time with this one. 0.5 out of 5 action rating.

vincentlynch-moonoi If you're just looking for a DECENT Western, you might try this one; it's at lest better than the average Western of the era. But, that's not saying much.If you're looking for a fine John Ford Western...well, you're going to be disappointed. Ford reportedly didn't want to do this film and thought it was not a top-rate story. And it shows. We all know what Ford was capable of, and here it almost seems as if he intentionally gave the film short shrift. Interestingly, the very next year, John Ford and Jimmy Stewart teamed together to make one of the finest Westerns of all time -- "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence". This film pales in comparison. I don't think I've ever before watched a film and thought, "This would be better in black and white." But I thought that here, simply because it looked just a little too shallow.You think the story is about buying back White captives from the Indians. And it is, but it tells that story superficially. Then you think it's about the captives' lives back in White society. And it is, but it tells that story superficially. And that's this film in a nutshell -- superficial.The casting...well, I was never a fan of Richard Widmark, although in recent years I've begun to reassess his talents. Here, however, I was not particularly impressed.Jimmy Stewart as the small-town less than stellar-minded sheriff is a tad disappointing. Stewart was long one of my favorites, with so many wonderful roles in his career...this is not one of them. Here, he's not the really good guy, nor the really bad guy...something in between...so you don't exactly like or dislike his character. And it seems as if he didn't take the film very seriously. In the film, Widmark and Stewart have a relationship that is poorly scripted -- close friends, enemies ready to kill each other...it just doesn't make sense. Shirley Jones must have been disappointed in her role. But, I feel most sorry for a character actor that was never a favorite of mine -- Andy Devine...he deserved a better part here. It almost seemed that someone felt sorry for him and tossed him in the cast just to be nice.There are a number of character actors here that you'll recognize: John McIntire as an army major, Harry Carey Jr., Ken Curtis as a "hillbilly"...another inane role to his credit, David Kent in a bizarre role as a White captive who has gone Indian, Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. John McIntire, and others.I rarely give a "6", but I will here, not because it's a bad film (although some of the dialog is more primitive than the Indians), but because with all the talent here, it should have been so much better. A definite disappointment.