Secret Mitchell #11 - For Jalen
Ride Lonesome follows the High Noon formula; two subplots back-dropped against a terse, economical script with a small handful of characters. It's also much akin to Rawhide in its narrative minimalism, but lacking most of the intensity. The revenge plot has a small spark though we see more smoke on screen than anything else. What’s interesting is while Bud Boetticher has a keen eye for westerns his mistakes stem from studio trends. Randolph Scott seems to be appeasing a pay check, Karen Steele (with her 50s brassiere) is clearly cast as eye candy, and Lee Van Cleef ain’t no Lee Marvin or Burl Ives. Ms. Steele is especially miscast (or rather, mischaracterized) as she embodies a shell of the western female archetype. The Burt Kennedy script is stilted...
