I was surprised at how strong this film played out for one I'd never heard of before. I guess that puts me with the majority of reviewers on this board in support of "The Proud Ones". What puts the film at odds with a lot of early Westerns is the apparent age of it's star, Robert Ryan, who looks even older than his actual age of forty seven at the time of the picture's release. It isn't unusual to find Western films where the hero feels past his prime at thirty five, as in Gregory Peck's "The Gunfighter", one of my all time favorites by the way. After watching this one, I like to compare and contrast Ryan's forceful performance with the one he did in 1971's "Lawman", where he portrayed a town sheriff who knew the difference between right and wrong, but was willing to compromise in favor of the local town boss. He didn't have the lead in that picture, but he had some memorable scenes with it's star, Burt Lancaster.
Here, Ryan carries the picture all the way, with help from young Jeffrey Hunter's Thad Anderson, who see saws his way through the picture attempting to establish credibility regarding Marshal Cass Silver's (Ryan) role in the death of his father. Silver never sugar coats it for Thad, he shot the elder Anderson in a 'him or me' situation, and had no problem alluding to his victim as scum, one of the hired hands of 'Honest' John Barrett (Robert Middleton), villain of the piece. Thad hires on as a jailer, then as a deputy to help the marshal clean up Flat Rock before the final curtain comes down.
For fans of Westerns, there's no escaping the similarities to 1952's "High Noon", though without the tension of a pre-determined showdown. Cass Silver is about ready to hang up his badge, while his main squeeze Sally (Virginia Mayo) tries desperately to convince her man that it's time to leave town and start a new life elsewhere. The main theme holding the story together is the lawman's need to see the present job through, even if it means an uncertain, possibly fatal end. It's what gives the film's title it's meaning, and what drives the honorable man to an honorable conclusion.
Aside from the story, I was intrigued by a number of elements the picture had to offer, like it's apparent fixation on gunshot wounds to the head. Badman Pike (Ken Clark) got it in the head during the stable shootout, as well as jailer Jake. Which is even more unusual, considering that Walter Brennan by this time should have earned the right not to go out in such a bloody manner. Even Ryan's character took an early graze to the temple, which set up his problem with blurred vision and possible blindness. That's something I've seen only one other time, in the 1965 spaghetti Western "Minnesota Clay", where Cameron Mitchell's character begins to rely on the direction of sound when he starts to lose his sight.
One other thing, how unusual is it to see Jeffrey Hunter limping around from a leg wound instead of Walter Brennan? It's something you notice right away, if you can get beyond Brennan's oversize handlebar mustache - you think that was real?
Here, Ryan carries the picture all the way, with help from young Jeffrey Hunter's Thad Anderson, who see saws his way through the picture attempting to establish credibility regarding Marshal Cass Silver's (Ryan) role in the death of his father. Silver never sugar coats it for Thad, he shot the elder Anderson in a 'him or me' situation, and had no problem alluding to his victim as scum, one of the hired hands of 'Honest' John Barrett (Robert Middleton), villain of the piece. Thad hires on as a jailer, then as a deputy to help the marshal clean up Flat Rock before the final curtain comes down.
For fans of Westerns, there's no escaping the similarities to 1952's "High Noon", though without the tension of a pre-determined showdown. Cass Silver is about ready to hang up his badge, while his main squeeze Sally (Virginia Mayo) tries desperately to convince her man that it's time to leave town and start a new life elsewhere. The main theme holding the story together is the lawman's need to see the present job through, even if it means an uncertain, possibly fatal end. It's what gives the film's title it's meaning, and what drives the honorable man to an honorable conclusion.
Aside from the story, I was intrigued by a number of elements the picture had to offer, like it's apparent fixation on gunshot wounds to the head. Badman Pike (Ken Clark) got it in the head during the stable shootout, as well as jailer Jake. Which is even more unusual, considering that Walter Brennan by this time should have earned the right not to go out in such a bloody manner. Even Ryan's character took an early graze to the temple, which set up his problem with blurred vision and possible blindness. That's something I've seen only one other time, in the 1965 spaghetti Western "Minnesota Clay", where Cameron Mitchell's character begins to rely on the direction of sound when he starts to lose his sight.
One other thing, how unusual is it to see Jeffrey Hunter limping around from a leg wound instead of Walter Brennan? It's something you notice right away, if you can get beyond Brennan's oversize handlebar mustache - you think that was real?