FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
classicsoncall
'Old Ben Kane' might have been the better title for this Western flick. Just like his namesake from "High Noon", First Deputy Ben Kane (Robert Mitchum) refuses to leave town when he knows the bad guys are coming just for him. Young Billy Young (Robert Walker Jr.) valiantly intends to help out, even after Kane cold-cocked him once when he snuck up on his campfire in the middle of the night. For his trouble, Kane knocks him out again so he doesn't interfere with one man's mission to go up against a dozen outlaws. You might wonder how rational Kane himself was under the circumstances.There's a good reason Angie Dickinson used to show up in these Westerns with folks like Mitchum and Dean Martin, one look at her opening dance hall number will clue you in. As the sometime lady pal of Gaslight Saloon owner John Behan (Jack Kelly), Lily Beloit recalls her association with Kane back in Dodge City, and the reason Kane is all fired up to go against Frank Boone (John Anderson), who actually doesn't show up until the last part of the story. With Dave Carradine in the role of Jesse Boone, I was once again reminded how much the Carradine Brothers resembled John Anderson, who could have played their father, and actually did in the same year's "Heaven With a Gun" in which he and David portrayed a father and son.Except for the name of John Behan in the story, I would never have guessed this was based on a novel titled "Who Rides With Wyatt". There's really no other connection I can decipher among the principals being based on Wyatt Earp or his contemporaries, so I guess one has to take the film maker's word for it. Although Kane using his weapon to pistol whip Billy a couple of times came pretty close to resembling Wyatt Earp's style.See if you can catch a really weird error in that confrontation between Kane and Frank Boone. Riding atop Charlie's (Paul Fix) stagecoach, Kane shoots Boone and there's a quick cut to Boone lying on the ground. When the camera comes back to the coach, Kane is sitting next to Charlie, but after another quick cutaway, Kane is back on top of the coach! Talk about lightning fast, he did that almost as quick as hauling Lily off to get married!
revtg1-3
I saw this movie many, many moons ago and I thought at the time, That has to be the dumbest movie since "Pony Express" with Charlton Heston. No doubt Mitchum thought about quitting the movies after he made this one. It would not surprise me to learn he thought about slitting his wrists. I watched it again to see if I remembered it right. Reminds me of the Hush-Puppy shoe commercials. The Japanese could have made it cheaper but they could not have made it dumber. Has all the stupid clichés. Outlaws chasing a stagecoach. No one did that. Not even the Indians. Saguaro cacti in a place they never grow. Fast draw duel. Man lights a candle and a 40 watt light bulb illuminates the room. One tap on the head and a man is unconscious with no ill effects. Don't know how many more times I will be afforded the opportunity to not watch this movie but I look forward to every one.
bkoganbing
The title role of this western is played by Robert Walker, Jr. He's a young gun who with partner David Carradine gets separated after doing a contract hit on a Mexican general. In eluding their pursuers Carradine and Walker become separated. Walker comes upon the camp of lawman Robert Mitchum who takes a liking to Walker and makes him a protégé and reclamation project of sorts.This is the first of two films Robert Mitchum did with writer/director Burt Kennedy. The second was the more humorous The Good Guys and the Bad Guys. Not that Young Billy Young does not have its moments of hilarity. But it is a tripartite story involving the Walker reclamation, Mitchum's hunt for the bad who killed his son and a romantic triangle involving Mitchum, Angie Dickinson, and town boss Jack Kelly.The film abounds with nepotism. David Carradine is John's son. Dean Martin's daughter Deana is in this, Walker is the son of Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones and Mitchum's son Chris plays Mitchum's son in some silent flashbacks.Robert Mitchum got his start in westerns and always looks right at home in them. Angie Dickinson essentially repeats the role she had in Rio Bravo. Walker had a brief career playing rebellious youths and doing a good job at it. I've often wondered what happened to him. He looks hauntingly like his father. Maybe he didn't want to come to such a tragic early end like his father.And it that wasn't enough, Mitchum fans get to hear old rumple eyes sing the title song at the beginning of the film.
David Vanholsbeeck
"Young" Billy Young(Walker) is on the run after having killed a ruthless Mexican general. He runs into sheriff Mitchum, who "makes him an offer he can't refuse", i.e. to become his deputy. The young man is reluctant at first, but with bad guy Fred Boone on his way to town, he realizes that his help will be more than welcome.However, if you think that the story centres on any of these events, you are wrong. It's a bit of everything and always too little of it, if you know what I mean. For example,you hear the characters talk every now and then about the bad guy Fred Boone. However, you won't get to see him until the final gunfight, which is over before you know it. Perhaps, the film is most interesting for fans of Robert Mitchum. He has a great part as the aging sheriff and obviously has a lot of fun playing it too. In fact, he must be one of the most enjoyable characters I have ever seen in an old western.(better than most John Wayne parts)The acting is actually overall quite good. Angie Dickinson too has a nice part as a local "dancer". The story isn't too bad either, except then for the fact that it seems awfully shortened. The film as a whole lasts only a mere 89 minutes and that's just too short for the potential it has in it. So: not bad, but not better than 6/10.
