Ride the High Country

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Cast & Crew

Randolph Scott
Gil Westrum

Joel McCrea
Steve Judd

Mariette Hartley
Elsa Knudsen

Ron Starr
Heck Longtree

R. G. Armstrong
Joshua Knudsen

Edgar Buchanan
Judge Tolliver at Coarse Gold

John Anderson
Elder Hammond

L.Q. Jones
Sylvus Hammond

Warren Oates
Henry Hammond

James Drury
Billy Hammond

Sam Peckinpah
Director

N. B. Stone Jr.
Writer

Richard E. Lyons
Producer

George Bassman
Original Music

Lucien Ballard
Cinematographer

Frank Santillo
Film Editor

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Critic Reviews for Ride the High Country

Audience Reviews for Ride the High Country

• Oct 07, 2019

  Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea in Peckinpah's elegiac insight as to what the end of the old Wild West might've been like for two guys who lived through the taming of it, now reduced to acting as mere security guards, expendable, protecting enough money for them to retire on - only to earn peanuts themselves. Mariette Hartley shines as the possessor of the only thing rarer than gold in the Old West: virginity.
  Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
• Jan 17, 2013

  This early effort by "Bloody Sam" is one of many elegiac westerns the lauded director helmed. Hmm, now that I think about it, pretty much every western he did was an elegy...interesting. The setting is the early 1900s: the twilight for the Old West. Joel McCrea is an ex-lawman living on the fringes of society. When he gets hired to escort a shipment of gold, he decides to enlist the help of his old pal played by Randolph Scott. Unlike McCrea's character, Scott's doesn't have much remaining integrity, and thus is easily tempted, along with his young saddle mate to convince McCrea's Steve Judd to steal the gold for themselves instead of delivering it as expected. This film come out during a transition period for the western genre. It was after the heyday of the classic era, but a few years before the revisionist epics that started in the late 60s, perhaps best exemplified by Peckinpah's own bloody masterpiece The Wild Bunch. As a result, this film is a bit of a mix between the old period, what with being a send off of sorts, as well as a forerunner for what would soon come, though the violence here, while fairly strong for the time, isn't quite to the level that it would be in the aforementioned The Wild Bunch. The leads are pretty good, and they have a nice rapport with one another. Their costars likewise do pretty decently with the material. The film is rough around the edges, and you can tell it's before Peckinpah hit his stride, but it's still got some great location shooting and decent cinematography. Give this one a watch. It's pretty solid.
  Chris W Super Reviewer
• Oct 17, 2011

  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.
  Jared H Super Reviewer
• Sep 12, 2010

  most despairing wedding scene ever? the nihilist/alcoholic come super director hasnt quite reached his full potential at his 2nd outing but he's still stamped his mighty godlike fingerprint all over it! "The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit. Him that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein."
  Sanity Assassin ! Super Reviewer

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