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Steve (Joel McCrea) and Gill (Randolph Scott) are two former lawmen who
are definitely past their prime, and whe can't fully come to terms with
the changing West, with its automobiles and everything. Still, they decide
to go on one last trip into adventure, travelling to a mining town where
they plan to fetch a gold shipment and see it that it gets back to the
next city - about a two days' ride - safely. But while Steve wants to
play it by the rules, Gill wants to persuade his old pal to steal the gold
to enjoy retirement a little more - and to this end, he has brought young
hothead Heck (Ron Starr) along for the ride. Eventually they also pick up
young Elsa (Mariette Hartley), who wants to go to teh mining town and
marry her boyfriend Billy Hammond (James Drury), just to escape her bigot
father (R.G.Armstrong). Heck has immediately set his eyes on the girl, but
totally blows his chance ... which is why she won't think about her
decision to marry Hammond twice - well, at least not until they arrive in
the mining town and Hammond turns out to be less the gentleman he seemed
to be, so much so that he plans to share his bride with his brothers
(L.Q.Jones, John Anderson, John Davis Chandler, Warren Oates), and the
wedding almost culminates in a gangrape ... until Heck and Steve step in
and save the bride. For their way back to the city, our heroes are now
burdened with not only the gold but also the girl, and the Hammonds are in
hot pursuit. Our heroes manage to fight them off at first, but then Gill
and Heck make their move to steal the gold - but fail and become Steve's
prisoners. And while Heck is willing to reform, Gill makes an escape,
still planning to get his hands on the gold eventually. It is only when
Steve, Heck and Elsa are cornered by the Hammonds that Gill finds to his
former, righteous self again and helps shoot them out of trouble. And even
though Steve is gravely injured and might not make it back to the city
alive, Gill promises to help deliver the gold ... An
interesting concept, made into a wonderful film: The old West, seen
from a different perspective, that of two old men who are no longer able
to keep pace with the progress and change the world has undergone, in a
time when the frontier is quickly becoming a meaningless word. And
this is exactly why we have to wait about an hour for the first shoot-out,
and why the heroes and villains are not easily told apart. But that all
doesn't mean Ride the High Country lacks excitement, quite the
contrary, it's just a film that - very much like Clint Eastwood's much
later The Unforgiven - sheds a different light on a genre you think
you know by heart.
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