The Proud Ones (1956) User Reviews

A solid Western...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 19 November 1999]

Robert Middleton was a big brutish character actor... We have seen him in "The Silver Chalice" opposite Paul Newman, in "Friendly Persuasion" opposite Gary Cooper and in "Love Me Tender" with Elvis Presley...

In "The Proud Ones", he is at his best as the smooth-faced and smooth-spoken saloon owner who tries to have the lawman relieved of his job in order for the town to be wide open for wild business...

Middleton makes a considerable impression as Honest John Barrett, distinctive in his dishonesty and insincere manners... He is a thief ready for anything in order to control his lucrative interests, hiring cheap crooks like George Mathews (Dillon) who results a fraud according to his rules... We see him hiring dangerous gunmen willing to slay at any time like Chico (Rodolfo Acosta), who swears to the Marshal that he will kill him one day...

The film arouses profound suspicion that we are pushed to ask ourselves why a suspicious man like the Marshal had to shoot someone apparently unarmed from behind and can we justify his action?! ¿Is he, by any chance, a 'trigger-happy' murderer?

Jeffrey Hunter performs the mistaken cowboy involved in a sinful act to avenge his father's death with the wrong man... He never believes the rectitude of the Marshal who has a questionable past... Hunter accuses him of killing his father... 'It was either him or me', exclaims Ryan, 'but I never shot an unarmed man in my life.'

The climax of the film proves clearly and openly the whole truth to the tormented young man when he confronts Barrett in a showdown... The film wakes up our attention in its development when we discover that the proud Marshall is losing the power of seeing, a serious problem considered suicidal for a lawman who has powerful enemies...

With the lovely Virginia Mayo, the good jailer Brennan and the timid O'Connell, "The Proud Ones" is a solid Western, which remembers me a similar one, "The Lonely Man" with Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins...

Good solid Western Action!

[Flaming_star_69 · 8/10 · 19 September 2005]

The Proud Ones is just that: A Western about the proud men of the Old West starring Robert Ryan and Virginia Mayo and a host of other good performers. The plot is simple: A lawman is trying to keep peace in town when the trail drovers arrive. One of them, a young cowboy with two sixguns on his hips, has a grudge against the lawman because the lawman killed his father a few years earlier in another town. Ryan, playing the lawman, takes the youth under his wings and trains him. Eventually, he comes around. But that is not the main problem. Ryan, suffering a wound, is having trouble with his eye-sight and it's effecting his work. That will pose a great problem before the movie ends.

Robert Ryan has always been a great actor. He plays the tough, hard character in nearly every film and does it as though it were as natural for him as eating dinner. And he comes through in amazing style in this Western as the lawman.

It's a really good Western with some solid Western action and, for those who are Western fans, it is one well worth viewing over and over. For the mainline theme is: How much will a man/woman do in order to retain their honor and pride? It's a question each of us have to face in life and this movie offers some good feedback about the answer.

I strongly recommend the movie to all.

Powerful and Memorable; Indicting Dishonesty, Celebrating Courage

[silverscreen888 · 8/10 · 15 June 2005]

"The Proud Ones" has an extremely fine script by Edmund H. North, veteran screenwriter; its plot vastly improves on the novel on which it was ostensibly based. Robert D. Webb's direction is taut, featuring dense images, helping his actors to achieve top-notch performances. Every element of this production works, from the art direction by classy Lyle Wheeler to the memorable theme song, the music by Lionel Newman, the sets, and the costumes by Travilla. Among the outstanding performances are those given by Robert Middleton as "Honest John", villain of the piece, George Matthews as his 'segundo', Whitner Bissell and others as townsmen and henchmen; the film is far-above-average in acting. This well-remembered dramatic western stars Robert Ryan, Virginia Mayo and young Jeffrey Hunter as a youth who is befriended by an aging marshal (who has been run out of a town poisoned by the lies of a delusive gambling joint owner). Hunter acquits himself well, as does Ryan, as the younger man tries to forgive the man he begins to admire, even after he has killed the boy's father in the line of duty. Virginia Mayo achieves considerable skill and charm as the woman who loves Ryan. The story's theme of honesty set against plausible pretense is unusual and difficult to carry off; the adjective "proud" has been forced to carry two contradictory meanings for years. Here it is used correctly in a secular sense to refer to men too honest to be bought off and too brave to be scared off, the sort of men who will fight when necessary, refusing to be intimidated. All-too-rare are films that celebrate objective minds, people who can be honestly wrong but act ethically when the chips are down. Whole genres are based on the betrayal of such commitments by people who argue they "can't help being what they are".As the beleaguered marshal in this story faces a town full of profiteers with the wrongness of their selling out to be opportunistic looters of unearned wealth during a boom, the film is raised to heights of thoughtfulness and of clearly-exampled good and bad behavior seldom found in the western genre. This is a very good and a very memorable achievement of cinema. Incidentally, it is physically beautiful to watch as well.

The quintessential thinking western.

[billpollock49 · 11 July 2001]

The quintessential thinking western. The man wronged (Ryan), the dependable woman in his life (Mayo), the young man searching for the truth(?) (Hunter).

A good western with the normal hallmarks of this genre. Good storyline, actors who can actually act (Jeff Hunter's best acting display since "The Searchers") and importantly in any move or TV programme , great, haunting soundtrack. The whistling of this gives this western depth and feeling. The other actors, including the head villain, all play their parts with a modicum of effort, enhancing this film.

The various shootouts are well handled, with Ryan's worsening disability becoming more obvious, as an example the shootout in the barn. Hunter's young man changes as the movie progresses in now not wanting to kill a semi blind man and also realising that perhaps the sherrif is right but his search for the truth of his father will out.

The final confrontation in the saloon followed by the the haunting soundtrack makes for a memorable western.

"You can always hire fools or drunkards to do something, but when trouble comes, men are hard to find."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 3 July 2008]

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?

THE PROUD ONES (Robert D. Webb, 1956) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 7 November 2008]

This is the best of three efforts by director Webb I watched in quick succession; like WHITE FEATHER (1955), it's a Western that – as far as I'm aware – has never been shown on Italian TV (which is how I first became familiar with a good many vintage Hollywood title).

The film revolves around one of the most popular Western themes – the tough Marshall (in this case, a typically impressive Robert Ryan) taming a lawless town. A couple of unusual twists which heighten the tension considerably concern the fact that the young man (Jeffrey Hunter) he appoints as his deputy – and on whom he comes to depend due to his gradual blindness – bears him a personal grudge; on the other hand, Ryan has his own score to settle with the apparently omnipotent boss (Robert Middleton). For the record, this was the first of three films in which Ryan and Hunter would appear together: the second was the Biblical epic KING OF KINGS (1961), in which the former portrayed John The Baptist and the latter (controversially) Jesus Christ, and the last the historical Western CUSTER OF THE WEST (1967), where both only had supporting roles.

As ever, the hero's woman (Virginia Mayo) becomes embroiled in the violent proceedings – while the eminent members in town prefer to stand aside; then again, not much help is forthcoming from Ryan's own associates either: in a role he'd perfect in RIO BRAVO (1959), Walter Brennan is the cantankerous jailer who all he seems to do is read the newspaper – whereas Arthur O'Connell brings up his wife's imminent motherhood to be excused from the inevitable showdown. The numerous shoot-outs (in a saloon, on the street at night and an all-out gunfight in a barn) denote obvious highlights; however, also notable is a town-council sequence which ends with Ryan's hardboiled comment to his peers: "If I were you, I couldn't look into a mirror without vomiting!" The evocative score by Lionel Newman includes a whistling motif which effectively comes in at particularly revealing moments in the narrative. In the long run, the film proves an underrated entry to emerge from the genre during its most prolific and mature era.

Vision Impaired

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 5 April 2012]

Robert Ryan, Virginia Mayo, and Jeffrey Hunter star in The Proud Ones a pretty good western from 20th Century Fox. It deals with a town marshal in a town that says it wants law and order, but is more interested in the profits that being wide open can bring.

The guy who is bringing in the profits and the lawlessness is saloon owner Robert Middleton and he's got history with Ryan from other towns. Who else has history is Hunter whose father Ryan killed a gunfight. What will happen is anyone's guess.

And if that isn't enough Ryan who sustained a wound to the scalp in a gunfight in Middleton's saloon is having recurring bouts of blindness since the incident. A lot like John Wayne was having bouts of paralysis after being wounded in El Dorado. Ryan also takes his time seeking medical attention just hoping the bad guys don't find out about it and do him in.

The Proud Ones is a nicely done adult western with a good cast giving life to characters you care about. Pay attention also to a nice performance by Walter Brennan as Ryan's deputy. With his character the producers took him and his fate from Destry Rides Again.

No western action fan could possibly complain about the shootout in a stable between Ryan, Hunter and assorted miscreants. That one was taken from High Noon. One of the best staged climaxes I've ever seen in a western.

And western fans should not miss The Proud Ones.

See this before you see Rio Bravo

[greenleaf60 · 9/10 · 25 September 2006]

Another great performance by the vastly underrated Robert Ryan. The entire film has a nuanced and adult tone, completely lacking from Rio Bravo, which seems to be a rip-off by Hawks. This film belongs in the company of High Noon, The Ox-bow Incident and damn few other Westerns for the intelligence and seriousness of the script. Ryan's performance alone makes this film watchable and undated, 50 years after. How many other films can say that? Also worth mentioning are the performances of Virginia Mayo as a hard headed business woman, and Walter Brennan. Brennan with hardly any lines of dialog, manages to do more with a newspaper for a prop, and with looks between him and Ryan, then most actors can do when they're chewing the scenery.

One of Ryan's Best - The Proud Ones

[arthur_tafero · 6/10 · 25 August 2021]

I like Jeffrey Hunter better as Jesus, however Ryan is a perfect fit for this film. Brennan gives good support and the romantic interest is believable. Most of these formula Westerns were pretty predictable, but this one strays from the usual formula, and so, it is not quite as predictable. The odd chip here is the Hunter character, who is torn between avenging his father and choosing a new path. Well worth viewing.

A Cinemascope reworking of "Red Skies of Montana"

[reelguy2 · 9/10 · 19 December 2004]

Twentieth-Century-Fox was second only to Warner Bros. in rehashing the plot lines of its earlier films. "The Proud Ones" was made a mere four years after "Red Skies of Montana" - but the similarities between the films are only too obvious. The newer film even features the same star, Jeffrey Hunter. Not only that, "The Proud Ones" incorporates music cues that Sol Kaplan composed for "Red Skies of Montana." The story of the Cinemascope picture is bound to evoke deja vu: a young upstart seeks vengeance on an older man he believes is responsible for the death of his father. As the young man, Jeffrey Hunter deserves credit for lending credibility to a character whose actions are anything but credible. He did the same miraculous job in "Red Skies of Montana." If anyone thinks Hunter was just a pretty face, his subtle work in these films should prove he had much more to offer.

The rest of the cast in "The Proud Ones" is also excellent, helping to make this one heck of a movie. Unlike its also good predecessor, this "remake" is a western. The genre was obviously chosen to make it seem different from the original. But make no mistake, the two movies are essentially the same. Watch them both and enjoy!

Intriguing and thrilling Western about a honest marshal has to confront a vicious saloonkeeper and his henchmen

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 28 July 2015]

The movie contains gun-play , Western noisy action , thrills , exciting spectacle and hard-biting interpretations . Offbeat Western about an almost-blind marshal with recurring bouts of blindness and taking on a nasty bandit . The rowdy ,free-spending cowboys attracted saloon keepers , gamblers , brothels and all types of frontier riff-raff , the town became notorious for its lawlessness , but there was Marshal Cass Silver (Robert Ryan) . After arrival the railway in town , Marshal Cass has to face off villains , killers and other mean people . Meanwhile , a cowboy called Thad Anderson (Jeffrey Hunter) comes to town with a cattle drive and meets Sheriff Silver , who murdered Anderson's dad when he was young . But his revengeful feelings of animosity soon change when Cass is telling the truth about his daddy . Later on , there appears his old nemesis , a corrupt gambler named John Barrett (Robert Middleton) and Cass has to deal with his hoodlums (Rodolfo Acosta , Ken Clark) . But here is a problem however , Cass is blind and he gets to hitting the dust .

The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count , it's fast moving and quite entertaining . It's a medium budget film with good actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . A good Western of the kind that was already close in the then changing climate of Hollywood , what follows result to be Westerns in which stand out the twilight style , typical of the sixties . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes ; it continues to thicken to the inevitable final showdown . As the movie displays shot'em up , frantic action , thrills and moving pieces . It's a stirring Western with breathtaking confrontation between two leading roles , Robert Ryan/Jeffrey Hunter , and their enemies , Robert Middleton , Ken Clark , Rodolfo Acosta . Robert Ryan interprets efficiently an aging marshal responsible for law and order in a frontier cattle town , Jeffrey Hunter is cool as his young colleague and Robert Middleton is nice as a ruthless saloonkeeper . Virginia Mayo more used to work in Warner Brothers Musical seems miscast as the girlfriend . Support cast is pretty good such as Ken Clark , Rodolfo Acosta as hired guns . Special mention for the latter , Rodolfo Acosta , in his ordinary role as a cruelly baddie , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . Furthermore , Arthur O'Connell , Edward Platt , Whit Bissell , Richard Deacon , Jackie Coogan and a wasted Walter Brennan as an old deputy . Enjoyable score , including a catching whistled theme tune that may stay with you for some while . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Lucien Ballard , Peckinpah's usual .

Screenplay by Petrarca and prestigious Edmund H North with interesting premise about a 'blind gunfighter' , subsequently taken by Japanese series starred by ¨Zaitochi¨, a blind swordsman from the 60s and being recently remade by Takeshi Kitano . This attractive theme about a blind gunslinger is also treated in other Westerns such as ¨The Blindman¨ by Ferdinando Baldi with Tony Anthony and Ringo Starr , ¨An eye for eye¨ by Michael Moore with Robert Lansing , ¨Minessota Clay¨ with Cameron Mitchell , directed by Sergio Corbucci and ¨Blind Justice¨ (1994) by Richard Spence with Armand Assante , Robert Davi and Elizabeth Shue .

¨The proud ones¨ was expertly staged by Robert D. Webb who carried out an exciting climax of the picture . Robert Webb makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , moving shootouts and suspenseful set pieces . Robert D Webb was the last person to win the short lived Oscar category "Best Assistant Director" . Often worked as assistant to the director Henry King . Directed Elvis Presley in his first feature film , Love Me Tender (1956) . Robert was an assistant director and director, known for Beneath the 12-mile reef , (1953), Seven Cities of Gold (1955) , Love Me Tender (1956) , this The proud ones (1956) , Pirates of Tortuga (1961) and The Cape Town affair (1967) . ¨The proud ones¨ is an outlandish , surprising and uneven story but will appeal to Western aficionados . Rating : 6.5/10 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and excitement enough

Rock Solid Western Action

[dr_foreman · 9/10 · 2 January 2007]

My brother gave me this movie for Christmas because he knows I love Robert Ryan. There's just something about middle-aged character actors from the "golden age" of Hollywood that appeals to me; they're so cool and tough in ways that modern actors just can't match.

And this movie did not disappoint me. Ryan is great in it. He's macho and wise but also vulnerable. There were times when I was genuinely worried that the bad guys would get the upper hand over him.

In fact, quite a lot of this movie is suspenseful. It has many unexpected twists, not only in terms of "surprise" action but also character development. The constantly evolving relationship between Ryan and Jeffrey Hunter is a particular source of interest.

Even the mandatory love interest - Virginia Mayo - gets a lot of solid character development, though she does disappear from the movie for somewhat long periods of time.

Best scene? When Ryan rips into the cowardly town council. It's simply awesome.

"If I were on this council, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror without vomiting!"

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 16 September 2020]

A top-billed Robert Ryan makes the most of his material, playing Cass Silver, a town marshal with a well-developed sense of responsibility. Then, into his town comes a gregarious businessman (Robert Middleton) with a variety of hired guns. Cass already bears a grudge against the man, but is willing to adopt a "wait and see" attitude in the hopes that Middleton and his men stay within the law. As we will see, he's right to have his doubts about them. Virginia Mayo (in an under-written role) is his concerned girlfriend, and the handsome Jeffrey Hunter is a young man who mistakenly believes that Cass unfairly murdered his father.

Scripted by Edmund North and Joseph Petracca, based on a novel by Verne Athanas, the story deals with a main character who could be seen as stubborn. It ruminates on the idea of the lengths people could go to, to defend their honour and pride. As it plays out, it delivers few surprises, taking predictable turns except for the fact that Cass is soon experiencing blurry vision due to a head wound he receives early in the film. Overall, "The Proud Ones" is exceptionally well made, and consistently entertaining. What makes the difference is the fact that Ryan is such a reliable presence, showing that he could play protagonists just as well as he could villains. Hunter is good at selling the anger of his character; although his father was a no-good type, he still feels a sense of injustice and suspicion towards Ryan.

It's also nice to see a cast that is stocked so well with top character actors. Middleton leads the pack as a subtle antagonist. You won't see any real scenery-chewing from him, but he does have an excellent presence. Also appearing are Walter Brennan and Arthur O'Connell as deputies, Ken Clark, Rodolfo Acosta, and George Mathews as assorted unsavoury types in Middleton's employ, Edward Platt as the local doctor, Whit Bissell as a store owner, and Jackie Coogan, Steve Darrell, Richard Deacon, Frank Gerstle, and Ken Terrell, to boot.

Nice music by Lionel Newman and fantastic widescreen photography also help make this a solid example of the genre.

Seven out of 10.

More a vent than a review.

[gordonb-59587 · 5/10 · 25 February 2023]

I realize that no one will read this, but I just have to vent. Where to start?! My wife should be so lucky as to have the clothes Sally has. In a little town, every time we see her, she is like the hottest chick in the west all gussied up like she is going the opera in London. And of course, with perfect hair and makeup. But I am sure this is typical of every other women in the ol' west.

It seems like half the men in this town dress in pretty darn nice business suits every day. Not sure what they do, but they sure look fancy.

And our hero, Cass wears clothes right off the rack from 1950. Short wasted jacket, starched shirt and nicest hat in town. It amazed me to see all the double holster rigs being worn since these weren't invented until some movie director thought they would be cool. And everybody shot the same type of Colt single action revolver. Hummm?

I also couldn't figure out where all the light was coming from inside the barn during the shootout. It was night time, but so bright, shadows appeared everywhere and visibility was no problem.

After the giant gun battle and dozens of shots being fired, apparently, no one in town bothered to come check out what was going on. The whole town was quiet, a piano could be heard still being played and life went on like normal.

Cass and his young deputy had to be the world's best marksman. Yikes! While practicing, they made six shots from the hip after a fast draw and all six were perfect hits.

I know movies are made for entertainment and tend to stretch reality, but it's amazing that audiences in the 50s would accept such examples of totally unrealistic depictions of life. Any why any director wouldn't try to put a little more realism into their movies. I really do like westerns. I've ridden horses all my life, raised cattle, I shoot single action revolvers in competition and can identify with the lifestyle. It's disappointing to watch these old westerns that are so far from reality, and see where other people have review them.

The cast and crew should be the proud ones.

[Poseidon-3 · 27 July 2007]

A very captivating and entertaining western which seems to have been misplaced in the shuffle of endless films of the genre that were churned out in the 50's, this deserves more attention than it has thus far been accorded. Ryan plays a town marshal, preparing for the inevitable boom that is about to come from men just in off a major cattle drive. His sweetheart Mayo runs a local restaurant/hotel and his heretofore-uneventful jail house is attended to by elderly Brennan and meek O'Connell. When the cattle drive has concluded, Ryan is introduced to hotheaded and confrontational Hunter, whose father was shot and killed by Ryan in a previous town. Adding to Ryan's woes is the fact that an old enemy (Middleton) from that same town has just breezed in to open up a casino. The animosity between Ryan and Middleton is anything but dormant and within minutes, they are ready to reopen the war between them. Hunter's role in this wavers frequently between the two, while Mayo just wants to see Ryan survive it all. Ryan is excellent here, displaying a strong sense of justice and vindication against tough odds (made even worse when his character begins experiencing physical afflictions caused by a recent skirmish.) He delivers his lines with great authority and/or affection, depending on what's called for. His assessment of the town elders is a highlight. Hunter, a gloriously beautiful man whose eyes alone light up the screen, is great, too. His part is difficult to handle in that his loyalties and motivations change swiftly, but he does a nice job with it. Unlike a lot of actors might have done in this time period, he continues to walk with a limp long after his leg is injured by a bullet. Many others would have considered it "healed" after a reel and reverted to their usual gait. In one amusing instance, he is being nursed for his leg and his pants are cut up to the thigh and his shirt is removed (though there is nothing whatsoever wrong with his upper half – decidedly so!) Mayo manages to get in a few good licks and benefits from a character that is spunkier and more determined than some of the ladies who were featured as window-dressing in so many other westerns of this era. Middleton is effectively slimy and self-satisfied, Brennan is enjoyably laconic and sly and O'Connell ably portrays a man in over his head and who suddenly wound up with more trouble than he bargained for. Many effective character actors dot the town. Look for "The Dick Van Dyke Show's" Deacon as the local barber (oddly, he is good in every scene except for a very awkward appearance at an impromptu town council meeting.) Former child star Coogan is reduced to one line or so as a restaurant customer. Fortunately, "The Addams Family" would come along within a decade. The use of music is very interesting in the film with a whistled theme coming up whenever the past is mentioned paired with more dramatic scoring during the, at times, suspenseful and dramatic moments. The exquisite cinematography by Ballard only adds to the other already winning ingredients.

Solid western but with TV feel about it

[Maverick1962 · 6/10 · 9 November 2020]

I'm surprised by some of the high ratings here for The Proud ones, a solid western with adult dialogue but a rather static atmosphere, a bit like a TV western, it seems studio bound. I didn't get the feeling I was in the wild west but on a film set. That said, it made a good play, as if I could be watching in a theatre so in spite of that it does have some gripping performances. Most noticeable is Robert Ryan, one of the great serious character stars of the golden age. He plays the lawman out to close down the local saloon owner and town bully played by the venomous and slick Robert Middleton so often seen in this role in westerns of the fifties. Ryan is engaged to one of my favourite actresses of any decade, the beautiful Virginia Mayo, who has some of the best scenes, although briefly as she is absent for most of the second half, but when she's on screen, she's hard to ignore. Jeffrey Hunter who I remember died way too young in real life, is the wannabe young gun who Ryan takes on as his deputy, but subsequently he has to watch his own back because Ryan's the guy responsible for the death of Hunter's father before the film has even started, so we don't see that. Arthur O'Connell is another deputy who brings some realism to a minor role of a man who's wife is expecting their first baby and it's made him lose his nerve for doing his job. The great Walter Brennan is wasted in another minor part as another deputy who spends most of the film reading his paper although he's still charismatic when he's not doing much. Some good gun fights although Hunter is a bit too flashy so unrealistic. Helped by cinemascope, this passes the time quite well but doesn't quite capture the authentic feel of a western town like High Noon did so much better. Even so, some good lines for the actors and Robert Ryan can't be faulted in the lead.

Very good western

[gkarf23 · 7/10 · 4 October 2020]

Stern sheriff facing opposition from most of town. Ryan good as always , Hunter also. Brennan slightly different character than his normal deputy role. Mayo , gorgeous as ever. And one of best cast of well known (recognized) extras I can remember. Enjoyable.

Entertaining CinemaScope Western with Memorable Theme!

[bsmith5552 · 7/10 · 29 January 2018]

"The Proud Ones" gives star Robert Ryan one of his rare chances to play the hero in a western. In this one, he plays town marshal Cass Silver a tough no nonsense lawman in a town where large herds of cattle are arriving for shipment east. He is supported by his deputy Jim Dexter (Arthur O'Connell) who is nervously awaiting the birth of his first child, and crusty old jailer Jake (Walter Brennan) .

Arriving with one of the herds is a two gun young man named Thad Anderson (Jeffrey Hunter) who has a bone to pick with Cass. It seems that Cass had killed the young man's father in a gunfight. Despite Cass's efforts to explain what happened, Thad retains his doubt of the incident.

With the town prospering, gambler "Honest" John Barrett (Robert Middleton) arrives and sets up shop in the local saloon. Along with him are his floor manager Dillon (George Matthews) and his two gun fighter pals, Pike (Ken Clark) and Chico (Rodolfo Acosta). It seems that Cass and Barrett have a history. Faithful girl friend Sally (Virginia Mayo) stands by her man Cass.

Cass is grazed by a bullet during a shoot out and begins to experience periods of blindness. Cass meanwhile, gradually wins the confidence of Thad, hiring him as a relief jailer. But when Cass is forced to shoot Chico, Thad believes that Cass gunned down an unarmed man and renews his hatred of Cass. When Dexter resigns as deputy, Cass offers the job to Thad who accepts. Gradually Thad learns the truth about his father and Chico's deaths and becomes allied with Cass in his efforts to rid the town of Barrett. Sally wants to take Cass and leave town and get help for his vision problems.

When the three of Barrett's men that Cass had arrested are broken out of jail, Cass and Thad pursue them but Cass experiences a blind spell.

Ryan as always is better than his material. His reactions to Thad, his blind spells and his confrontations with the villains are well played. Virginia Mayo does her best with a limited role and Jeffrey Hunter is convincing as the young man seeking revenge. I thought Walter Brennan's role was all too brief. Robert Middleton gives one of his best oily villain roles as the chief baddie.

Other recognizable faces in the cast include Ed Platt as the town doctor, Whit Bissell as a town councilor, Paul E. Burns as the sympathetic town drunk as well as, silent film child star Jackie Coogan, Richard Deacon as the town barber/undertaker and William Fawcett and I' Stanford Jolley in other brief roles.

While not the most ground-breaking film, it sure was well made and held my interest

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 13 January 2008]

Of all the genres, Westerns are among my least favorite--mostly because I just think there have been too many. So many that the same themes appear again and again and they just don't hold my interest. So, when I find a Western that's just a little different, I get pretty excited. Now THE PROUD ONES has a lot of familiar elements, but enough new ones that I liked the film and am glad I watched it.

It also didn't hurt that it starred one of the best and most underrated actors of the 1950s, Robert Ryan--who played a wonderful character. This character seemed inspired, somewhat, by Gary Cooper in HIGH NOON--a sheriff who refused to back down when it came to doing his job and doing what was right. However, there were a few unique story elements, such as the back stories of both Jeffery Hunter and Ryan. Also, the villain (Robert Middleton) wasn't the usual bad guy--it's usually some power-hungry land baron or bank robber.

Overall, due to a very well constructed script, good action, plenty of tension and excellent direction, this one manages to get an 8--it's really quite good.

Name with Pride

[sol- · 7/10 · 8 April 2017]

An ageing sheriff attempts to run a crooked gambling syndicate out of town but has to contend with public mistrust given his reputation as 'trigger happy' in this Old West drama starring Robert Ryan. While he looks old enough to be the father of love interest Virginia Mayo, Ryan delivers a very human performance here as he laments the fact that his trigger happy reputation is based only on his word against others and as he states confidently that his "ambition is to be oldest living marshal west of Kansas City". The film features some dialogue that simply simmers with wit too; early on, Ryan is told that "pride can kill a man faster than a bullet", to which he quickly responds "so can overconfidence". The conclusion of the movie feels a bit too neat and tidy for credibility, but this is a pretty solid movie overall with Mayo's underwritten, thankless role probably the biggest detractor; it is either that, or the repetitive whistling music at key dramatic parts. When the film focuses on Ryan though and the trust he tries to build with Jeffrey Hunter, it is top tier stuff with the highlight of the film being an incredibly intense scene in which they practise shooting. Apparently, this was one of Akira Kurosawa's favourite movies. It seems an unusual choice, but with such excellent character drama, it is certainly more notable than the average western out there.

This Raw, Rough, and Ready Western Has Been Unjustly Forgotten!

[zardoz-13 · 9/10 · 29 June 2009]

"Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" director Robert D. Webb's western shoot'em up "The Proud Ones" is a solid, well-made, and highly underrated oater that stars Robert Ryan as a leathery tough town marshal, Jeffrey Hunter as an indecisive cowhand, and Virginia Mayo as Ryan's spitfire girlfriend. "The Proud Ones" anticipated later films such as Anthony Mann's "The Tin Star" (1957), Sam Fuller's "Forty Guns," Sergio Corbucci's "Minnesota Clay" (1965), Don Siegel's "Death of a Gunfighter" (1969), and Fernando Baldi's "Blindman" (1971). Webb doesn't waste a moment in this tightly helmed western drama that deals with a familiar theme in most oaters: an older man takes a younger one under his tutelage and shows him the ropes about how to survive as a lawman and how to handle a six-gun. Predictably, the younger man doesn't trust the older man and that generates half of the drama in "The Proud Ones."

Clocking in at a minimal 94-minutes, this Twentieth Century Fox sagebrusher penned by Academy Award winner Edmund H. North of "Patton" and "Guns of the Timberlands" scenarist Joseph Petracca slights the villain and the heroine. Robert Middleton is a worthwhile villain and he poses a clear and present danger to our hero, but we don't get nearly enough scenes where he connives against the protagonist. In other words, Middleton doesn't make near enough an impression. Meantime, Virginia Mayo doesn't garner enough screen time either as our hero's headstrong girlfriend. Composer Lionel Newman contributes a richly atmospheric orchestral soundtrack that is distinguished by a pre-Ennio Morricone whistling theme. Veteran western lenser Lucian Ballard adds to the credibility with his artful widescreen compositions that give this western a quiet dignity. The supporting cast is fleshed out by many familiar faces, among them Walter Brennan in a pre-"Rio Bravo" role as a wise old deputy; Arthur O'Connell as a nervous, expectant father, Whit Bissell as a yellow livered townsperson, Ken Clark and Rudolfo Acosta as murderous killers; Edward Platt as the town doctor, George Mathews and I. Stanford Jolly as crooked card dealers.

Basically, a hard-as-nails Kansas town marshal, Cass Silver (Robert Ryan of "Flying Leathernecks"), has to keep a town tamed after his old nemesis 'Honest John' Barrett (Robert Middleton of "The Law and Jake Wade") opens a saloon/gambling house and imports a couple of trigger-happy gunslingers to raise Cass' blood pressure. The first of the cattle herds are showing up in town and the merchants are taking advantage of their future customers by raising prices on everything, including haircuts. Complications arise when Cass has to blast one of Barrett's quick-tempered men in a saloon gunfight and a bullet nicks him on the left temple so that his vision blurs at the worst moments. Meanwhile, if blurry sight is enough for our clench-jawed hero to contend with, a cowpoke, Thad Anderson (Jeffrey Hunter of "The Searchers"), rides into town with a cattle herd and keeps two guns buckled across his hips. It seems that Anderson's no-good father worked as a hired gun for Barrett in another town and Silver had to plug him. Barrett has generated a persuasive rumor that Silver gunned down Anderson' father in cold blood and Anderson wants to know the truth.

Jeffrey Hunter has the plum role as Anderson, largely because he hasn't made up his mind which side of the law that he intends to stay on. Never quite completely until the end of the action does Anderson trust Cass Silver. It is a testimony to Robert Ryan's ability as a leading man and a character actor that he comes off as a marshal who is prepared to do things that most lawmen wouldn't do. During a street showdown, he blasts a gunmen who appeared to be unarmed but had concealed a derringer in his jacket. Later, Anderson pulls the same stunt, shooting down a man at a saloon bar who appeared to all intensive purposes to be unarmed. These two scenes raise "The Proud Ones" above average. "The Proud Ones" isn't one of those westerns with unrealistic expectations. The suspicion on behalf of the townspeople that Cass Silver might be a mite unhinged in his behavior foreshadows Siegel's later western "Death of a Gunfighter." The big gundown in a barn at the end bristles with thrills, too, as Silver confronts his Achilles' heel when his sight goes bad, he loses his revolver, and he must depend on Anderson.

"The Proud Ones" is an unheralded western that deserves more positive critical recognition.

Somewhat Uninspired

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 15 September 2013]

A slightly above Average Fifties Western with Robert Ryan, Technicolor, and Cinemascope the main reasons to catch this rather uninvolving misfire. Things come alive now and then that propel the dreariness and flat handedness to an interesting level.

For example, when the Marshall lectures the Town Counsel and says..."you'd sell out for a copper penny, with your $40 Boots and your $12 Hotel Rooms...I couldn't look in the mirror without vomiting". The Movie breaks toward the edge a few times with some taut gun-play and suspicious motives, but it also lingers and has some very uninspired moments. The target practice piece and some other wasted Screen time with the Love Interest, a Family Man, and Walter Brennan who just sort of sits around.

The Script is also not very convincing with its Back Story, but this is worth a view if nothing much to make it stand out among its Betters. But is a notch above a Western Programmer or the plethora of others from the Decade that are much worse.

BE PROUD TO WATCH THIS

[Richie-67-485852 · 9/10 · 7 December 2019]

A good western with all the ingredients for us to savor plus Robert Ryan? Horses, shootings, bar scenes, whiskey, marshalling, love interest and more await the lover of the western ways. Add to this a good story well told and directed. Take note in this film how devoted the Marshall is and how greedy the towns-folk are. In those days if the law didn't take a stand then lawlessness had its way. Its one or the other and this comes through here. On greed, it attracts its own kind plus it brings its own problems for money made through greed always has a catch to it. The acting holds well, the director loves his work and so much so that your emotions will be stirred and to the viewer what more can you want? Have a decent snack of your choice plus a tasty drink handy and don't rule out beef jerky if you really want to capture the times. Enough talk...saddle up and lets ride

good story, so-so script

[RanchoTuVu · 7/10 · 7 January 2010]

A cattle drive from Texas arrives at its destination in a town in Kansas. This sets off a wave of price gouging to take as much advantage as possible of the new business. Virginia Mayo runs a restaurant and Robert Middleton is set to open a new saloon. Marshall Robert Ryan comes face to face with the past in both Middleton and the cowboy son of a gunslinger (Jeffrey Hunter) who believes that Ryan gunned down his father in cold blood in the previous town he was a marshal in. The film is pretty good at showing the avariciousness of the merchants, who are willing to let law and order slide in order to profit from the business. Do they want law and order or wild and uncivilized profiteering led by the crooked Middleton and his gunslingers? It's a good question and the film could have been a whole lot better with a script that made more sense, especially for the beautiful Mayo, who's character is trapped in a stereotype.

Robert Ryan towers as sheriff

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 11 September 2013]

"The Proud Ones" (1956) is a town-Western where practically the entire story takes place within the confines of a Western town set, like "Rio Bravo," which came out three years later. At 94 minutes, "The Proud Ones" is more streamlined than the overlong "Rio Bravo," not that it makes it better (it doesn't).

Robert Ryan plays the righteous sheriff in a thankless job, the beautiful Virginia Mayo is his babe, Robert Middleton plays the villainous saloon owner and Jeffrey Hunter the young buck who signs on as deputy at a dangerous time, even though the sheriff killed his father and the tensions thereof.

This is a decent Western with Ryan shining in the main role, but it's hampered by some "yeah, right" dramatics. For instance, Hunter's macho posturing early on (which may be the writer's fault), his character's unnecessary rough handling of Sally while he's wounded in bed (Why sure!) (I think Hunter's a stud enough to get practically any woman he wants any time he wants without resorting to nigh forcible rape), and his stubborn refusal to see evidence that Chico pulled a gun after a shootout (it just doesn't ring true).

Writing like this makes "The Proud Ones" seem more like a TV show than a theatrical film, but, then again, maybe that's just the lame way they wrote screenplays in the 50s, I don't know.

Still, it's got a lot to make it worthwhile, particularly the strong cast.

GRADE: C+