''The Ride Back'' is a 1957 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Allen H. Miner and written by

Antony Ellis Antony "Tony" Ellis (March 1, 1920 – September 26, 1967), born Antony Ellis Jacobs, was a writer, director, and producer of radio and television shows. Biography Ellis was born in England on March 1, 1920. He later moved to the United States a ...

. The film stars

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 ...

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

, Lita Milan,

Victor Millan Joseph Brown (August 1, 1920 – April 3, 2009), known professionally as Victor Millan, was an American actor, academic and former dean of the theatre arts department at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California. Early life Brown was b ...

and Jorge Trevino and was produced by Conrad. It was released on April 29, 1957, by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. It was partially filmed in

Wildwood Regional Park Wildwood Regional Park is a suburban regional park in the western Simi Hills and Conejo Valley, in Ventura County, California. It is located in western Thousand Oaks, northern Newbury Park, and southern Moorpark. Wildwood is home to over 27 ...

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

. It was produced by

Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. An iconoclastic and maverick '' auteur'' working in many genres during the Golden Age of Hollywood, he directed main ...

who called it "a good Western with psychological overtones".

Plot

Lawman Chris Hamish is recruited to bring gunfighter Bob Kallen back for trial on unspecified charges. Hamish is a brooding haunted man who has been a failure at everything he has done and even his own wife scorns him. Kallen, on the other hand, is very confident, charismatic and decent at heart. This Western was rather novel because it was an intense character study of the two protagonists as they embark on their odyssey. Along the way, Hamish admits to his prisoner that he wants to bring him in not so much in the name of justice, but for his own self redemption. Stalked by blood-thirsty Apaches and picking up an orphaned child whose family the Apaches have murdered, the lawman and the outlaw are forced to rely upon each other for survival and in the end develop a bond of admiration and respect.

Cast

as ''Bob Kallen'' *

as ''Sheriff Chris Hamish'' * Lita Milan as ''Elena'' *

as ''Father Ignatius'' *Jorge Treviño as ''Border Guard'' *Ellen Hope Monroe as ''Little Girl'' *Joe Dominguez as ''Luis'' *Louis Towers as ''Boy''

Production

Aldrich had admired a documentary on tuna fishing directed by Miner. The basis of the storyline was the June 28, 1952 episode of the radio version of ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'' with the same title also written by Ellis.Jack French, David S. Siegel, editors. ''Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967''. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Co., 2014. p.71.

References

External links

* 1957 films 1957 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films scored by Frank De Vol United Artists films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films {{1950s-US-Western-film-stub