Ride the High Country (1962)

93% of critics liked it
(14 reviews)
80% of users liked it
(3,795 ratings)

This Sam Peckinpah-directed feature outing was intended as the cinematic swan song for both Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea; while McCrea would unexpectedly emerge from retirement, this 1961 western serves as an excellent valedictory for both men. The time is the early 1900s, when the Old West was… More This Sam Peckinpah-directed feature outing was intended as the cinematic swan song for both Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea; while McCrea would unexpectedly emerge from retirement, this 1961 western serves as an excellent valedictory for both men. The time is the early 1900s, when the Old West was slowly and stubbornly giving way to the new. McCrea plays Steve Judd, an ex-lawman living on the fringes of poverty but maintaining his dignity and honesty. Hired to escort a gold shipment from the wide-open mining town of Coarse Gold, he engages his old pal Gil Westrum (Scott) to help him. But Gil hasn't Steve's integrity, and he and his young saddle pal Heck Longtree (Ronald Starr) hope to talk Steve into helping them steal the gold. En route to Coarse Gold, the three riders spend the night at the farm of a religious fanatic (R.G. Armstrong), whose daughter Elsa (Mariette Hartley in her film debut), chafing at her father's loud piety, is planning to elope with her boyfriend Billy (James Drury). The next day, Elsa insists on joining up with the group so she can marry Billy at Coarse Gold, leading to numerous complications and, of course, a final shoot-out that allows Steve and Gil to reconcile their differences and pave the way for the film's elegiac finale. Released at the tail end of the western genre, and virtually thrown away by MGM, Ride the High Country feels like an elegy for the western itself -- and Peckinpah himself would go on to revise western conventions with such later efforts as The Wild Bunch (1969) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Sam Peckinpah
Genres: Western, Classics

On DVD: Jan 10, 2006
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Symbols of a waning era who eventually clash over right and wrong, Messrs. McCrea and Scott mesh perfectly, with the latter getting the drollest lines -- and there are plenty.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Using everything that came before and predicting everything that came after, Ride the High Country can now be seen as the lynchpin in the history of the entire Western genre.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Peckinpah gets to play around with the ideas of loyalty, respect, codes of honor, and shades of gray between good and evil.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...great entertainment: humorous, adventurous, inventive, and enthralling.
James Plath, Reel.com
There are plenty of small details that evoke the real West rather than an imagined one, as well as subplots that recognize a shrinking frontier and a near absence of stereotypes and stock dialogue.
David Bezanson, Filmcritic.com
Ride the High Country vigorously and colorfully brings alive the Old West of cinematic myth.
Tom Block, culturevulture.net
A film of abundant visual beauty through whose heart blows a chill valedictory breeze.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A much-loved revisionist Western, director Peckinpah's second feature film proved to be a bittersweet swan song for the Old West and a classy farewell to the screen for actors Scott and -- for some years -- McCrea.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A superior Western featuring two of that genre's greats, Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott, who were both in their 60s at the time...

Read all 9 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bob S

Peckinpah's debut is one kickass western. Highlights include a stunning death scene and a truly moving "The End" final shot. Features some beautiful crane cinematography and some neat editing. Slightly marred by an occasionally intrusive score. Great memorable… More
Peckinpah's debut is one kickass western. Highlights include a stunning death scene and a truly moving "The End" final shot. Features some beautiful crane cinematography and some neat editing. Slightly marred by an occasionally intrusive score. Great memorable performances all around.
Conner R

I think this is actually a pretty cool movie and I enjoyed it as much as I possibly could. However, I'm not a big fan of Joel McCrea or Randolph Scott. Therefore, the nostalgia factor really didn't hit home to me. Even with that handicap, Sam Peckinpah's debut is pretty… More
I think this is actually a pretty cool movie and I enjoyed it as much as I possibly could. However, I'm not a big fan of Joel McCrea or Randolph Scott. Therefore, the nostalgia factor really didn't hit home to me. Even with that handicap, Sam Peckinpah's debut is pretty incredible. It's wonderfully shot, moody and fun. I think my favorite shot of the entire movie is the scene where one of the bad guys is shot in the gut and the camera just stays on him while he slowly dies.
Michael G

Ride the High Country is a great western that had so much potential to turn into just another forgettable western, but under Sam Peckinpah's incredible direction refuses to. Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea play incredibly well off of each other and wind down their careers on an… More
Ride the High Country is a great western that had so much potential to turn into just another forgettable western, but under Sam Peckinpah's incredible direction refuses to. Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea play incredibly well off of each other and wind down their careers on an incredibly high note. Peckinpah brilliantly straddles the line between a fun buddy western and also manages to get downright disturbing (the wedding and... reception at the whorehouse) while foreshadowing what would become later, darker territory for him. I almost lost my shit when McCrea called the gang redneck peckerwoods during the final showdown and Christ, how I loved this movie...!
Randy T

There's just something about watching Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea on horseback that makes me want to mosey along down yonder and punch some little doggies.
Jared H

Pretty entertaining and surprisingly funny. Doesn't stand out as one of the great Westerns that I've seen, but pretty solid. No major complaints here.
Jonny C

Great western. Old school cowboys Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott, are superb in this lesser known western. The movie is beautifully shot, with some stunning scenery on show, and cast do an excellent job, with an intelligent script. Director Sam Peckinpah later became famous for… More
Great western. Old school cowboys Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott, are superb in this lesser known western. The movie is beautifully shot, with some stunning scenery on show, and cast do an excellent job, with an intelligent script. Director Sam Peckinpah later became famous for directing The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, but I prefer this one.
MJS M

This wasn?t Sam Peckinpah?s first film, but it might as well have been, because even if he hadn?t made another movie it would have still earned him a place in the pantheon. This certainly isn?t the dramatic departure from the traditional western genre as some of his later work, in… More
This wasn?t Sam Peckinpah?s first film, but it might as well have been, because even if he hadn?t made another movie it would have still earned him a place in the pantheon. This certainly isn?t the dramatic departure from the traditional western genre as some of his later work, in many ways it may have simply been the last great traditional western in the vein of John Ford. The film?s success is rooted mainly in the great skills of Joel McCrea, whose character is an incredibly likable and honorable. His speech about wanting to ?enter my house justified,? is one of the great moments in all of cinema, one that resonates long after the movie ends. Randolph Scott, Ron Starr, and Mariette Hartley are also great. This isn?t an action driven film, and it isn?t graphic like Peckinpah?s later films, but the two scenes of action are expertly filmed and choreographed. Peckinpah would go on to make bigger grander films, but this may still be their equal, it?s a small scale masterpiece.