The just-out on DVD Budd Boetticher Box Set is not to be missed by fans (particularly those who may have come lately) of that most American of genres, the “Western.” Unlike many of the so-called “classics” in this category, Boetticher’s work is lean in every way – from length (most of the films come in at around 75 minutes) to the spare, precise visuals, dialog that manages to encapsulate complex notions with brevity, and even the hero of each of the five films in the set: Cowboys don’t come much leaner than Randolph Scott (above, left). (Most of the good guys, in fact, are rail-thin, as befits fellows who made their way in the old west; the villains – powerful and greedy – tend toward the beefier.)
On one of the many fine extras in the set, director Taylor Hackford notes that Boetticher made “thinking westerns.” You can’t watch any of his films for long without being aware of how problemed are the heroes (often out for revenge) or how ripe for redemption seem so many of the villains. These are the primary villains, that is; the subsidiary bad guys are but a step up from trash, and Boetticher and his writers (usually Burt Kennedy or Charles Lang) make the divisions clear and pointed. Women tend to be in need of rescue, and the revenge theme is often traced back to a missing or dead wife. This may be an old-fashioned view, yet neither Boetticher nor his writers treat women badly. There is a sense of chivalry to the proceedings that rightly recalls times past.
Disc One, THE TALL T offers up a robbery plot that suddenly turns to ransom, in which the Scott character faces, with the help of Maureen O'Sullivan, a trio of baddies: Richard Boone, Skip Homeier and a very young Henry Silva. The dialog features some wry humor: “It hasn’t been my day” is one of the drily funny lines. There is a plot twist or two that seems somewhat less than believable (true of many of these films) but these are not deal-breakers. There is far too much good here to overly worry about the occasional flaw.
Disc Two, DECISION AT SUNDOWN (1957), offers the milieu of a western town, rather than the outdoor settings of the majority of the Boetticher westerns. The movie may in some ways recall High Noon, made five years earlier, but revenge is the theme in this, one of Boetticher's darker numbers (offering some good, dark humor, too). Accordingly, Scott assumes an angrier mode and plays -- well -- one of his least appeaing characters. Karen Steele and Valerie French assume the distaff leads and a raft of fine character actors (Andrew Duggan, Vaughn Taylor, Richard Deacon, Noah Beery,Jr., and John Litel) make the film particularly watchable. It has a reputation for being more psychologicial than others from this director, but as far as I am concerned, this one -- as do all his films -- offers interesting psychology and suprisingly nuanced characters for a 77-minute "B" movie.
Disc Three, BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE, provides an early lesson in Anglo/Latino tolerance, as the title character (Scott, of course) finds himself in the center of a squabble among a family of greedy, power-hungry sleaze who "own" a little town near the US/Mexican border. Boetticher usually cuts away from violence; you hear the sound of a beating rather than seeing it, and he uses humor craftily. There’s a wonderfully funny deadpan eulogy to a corpse in a tree (delivered in one of his early appearances by the amazing L.Q. Jones, who now has 153 film and TV appearances to his credit!) and the line “We’re sure making progress” should draw a nice chuckle. Best of all is the finale with a saddle bag full of money, of which the director makes full iconic/ironic use. Unusual for this group of films, there is no major female character. Among the excellent cast, Craig Stevens is the stand-out as one of the Boetticher/Lang duo’s typical anti-villains.
Disc Four, RIDE LONESOME is among the director’s best, despite a miscast Karen Steele in the female role (she's better in Decision at Sundown), whose line readings are too dead by half. The actress is also too pretty by far to be believable in this setting, and having the men constantly calling attention to this does nothing to defuse it. To her credit, Ms Steele, in one powerful scene delivers a line of dialog that turns your perception neatly on its ear. The story, of vengeance shrouded in deception as a bounty hunter captures and then attempts to deliver his prey, is one of the genre’s most powerful. The filmmakers set up a moral problem, explore it from various angles, and then take it to a difficult conclusion that is both rationally and emotionally rewarding. The final image is one you’ll long remember. Among the cast, a young James Coburn makes the kind of impression that obviously led to his later sterling career.
Disc Five, COMANCHE STATION, the last of the Boetticher/Scott collaborations, maybe also be its best, as Scott sets off to rescue one of my favorite “B” actresses, the beautiful Nancy Gates, captured by Indians and apparently abandoned by her husband. Not only does this film boasts all the familiar and welcome Boetticher elements, it offers an ending that is not only a genuine surprise but is so packed with emotion yet played in beautifully taciturn fashion that any tears you shed will be guilt-free.
While each disc offers an interesting Extra or two -- usually an interview with a director such as Martin Scorsese or Taylor Hackford -- Disc One also provides the excellent made-for-TCM documentary Budd Boetticher: A Man Could Do That. While this is a wonderful film, I plead with you not to watch it until you have seen all of the Boetticher oeuvre, including some of the films not boxed here. Unfortunately, the documentary gives away the ending of several of the films, particularly Commanche Station, and this is unforgiveable. While any good film is more than its plot and finale, those things deserve to be experienced fresh upon a first viewing. It’s time that documentarians learn to use the words “Spoiler Ahead” or some such warning, as we writers often do. Play fair, filmmakers! I am sure that the man whose work you are honoring here would be the first to agree.
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