Westbound

The TV is casually turned on and no one in my family has looked up or spoken for an hour. Suddenly, Virginia Mayo prostrates herself over the bannister and exclaims, "I'm not leaving you for what you aren't, I'm leaving you because of your jealousy!" Everyone's, Oo Damn!, You Tell Him Girl!, Randolph Scott Westerns Really Understand Women! ...wait what

From the very first scene this does not feel quite as polished as the collaborators' films prior. This is still enjoyable western fare with all the charm of genre cinema and the delicate touches of a genre connoisseur. I wish quite often that certain talented directors might relinquish their higher-concept stuff in favour of simpler movies - people such as Soderbergh and Villeneuve. Here's how to do that with class.

Viewed June 1, 2021. This does feel like the most ordinary of the Boetticher/Scott westerns. The Civil War setting is too specific to contain the ambiguities that make the other movies in the cycle so great. Nevertheless, it's still a pretty good time. Scott's relationship with a maimed soldier is a good plotline that also serves as a motivation for revenge different from his usual. I also like the scene where Scott gets very mad about an oversalted pie.