June 10, 2025 • 40 mins
Randolph Scott superfan Justin McDonald joins me to review 'Riding Shotgun' and 'The Bounty Hunter,' Scott's final collaborations with director André De Toth.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome back to Tumbleweeds and TV Cowboys, a classic Western
film and TV podcast. My name is Hunter. This week,
I'm joined by new guest Justin McDonald. Justin is a
huge fan of Randolph Scott and so in this episode,
we're talking about two of his collaborations with the great
Andre did Tok. They are writing Shotgun and The Bounty Hunter.
We're going to get right into it. Here's our conversation.
(00:36):
All right, Well, Justin, thanks so much for coming on.
How's it going good?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
You're actually the first listener that I've ever interacted with
on social media, So I'm really excited to have you
on for this discussion, and I'm glad to have you on.
I know that you're a huge Randolph Scott fan, so
I think covering a Randolph Scott double feature is kind
of the perfect topic for you. But before we get
into that, can can you tell us about yourself and
(01:02):
your history with classic westerns.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah, I born in Virginia. It's kind of why I
kind of gravitated towards Randolph Scott a little bit because
he was born in Virginia and yeah, just twenty eight
years old. And I started watching movies about early twenty
ten's and it took me a while to get into
the Western genre, to say the least, But about twenty
(01:26):
nineteen is when I really started getting into him. And yeah,
here in the last year or so, I've really doved
into specifically the fifties westerns and Randolph Scott's westerns, and
it's kind of become my comfort movies of choices, these
this era of westerns.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, well, what were some of the first westerns from
the fifties that got you interested in that era?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You know? Of course high Noon is one. Some of
the other ones, it's the Searchers, you know, the big ones,
the Searchers. But of course Randolph Scott. It all comes
back to Randolf Scott for me. Is last year I
decided to watch one hundred Westerns in twenty twenty four,
(02:11):
and I had started the year with some wide movies
and then I was like, oh, I got this beautiful
Criterion box of the renowned cycle of movies, so I
just had to rewatch them. And I don't know, when
I was watching them, something like, I don't know, just
clicked with me with Randolph Scott the way he he
(02:33):
wasn't quite John Wayne, but he wasn't also quite like
James Stewart and the Anthony Mann movies where he's just
so bent on revenge. He's in some of the Burt
Kennedy and Bud Betteker westerns he's in, He's you know,
on that line of wanting revenge but also kind of
(02:55):
the hero. And it was just something with his southern
charm charmed me. So that's when I really got into
the fifties westerns and started watching him and Joel McCrae,
Audie Murphy others.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Nice. Now with Randolph Scott, I know you mentioned that,
you know, he wasn't like John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart,
But but what do you think does set him apart
from the other kind of big Western icons.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Well, I think is his age. He really, you know,
started becoming popular in the fifties when he was in
his mid fifties, and so I think he just has
this more weathered look than James Stewart and John Wayne,
where you know, John Wayne is the big popular movie star,
and so it was James Stewart, but you know, he
(03:47):
had brought a little different energy and you know style
to his westerns. But I think for me, Scott brought
the the movie star that quality that I always grab it.
It towards like what Wayne does, but think when Scott
had more of a softer side than Wayne.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, and I think one thing with Randolph Scott to me,
there there is kind of an authenticity to him. I mean,
like like when I think of of what a cowboy
should should look like, I think he is like the
first person I picture just his face and even just
kind of how weathered his his skin is. I don't know,
(04:31):
it just fits so well with the Western genre to me.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, same, same.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
All right, Well, we're going to move into our main discussion.
We're talking about writing Shotgun and The Bounty Hunter. Both
films were directed by Andre de Tath, and de Tath
made four other westerns with Scott, and the movies were
covering in this episode where their final films together, And
I did read Ditath did have some negative things to
(04:57):
say about Scott. I think he said he believed Randolph
Scott could have gone further as a performer, but he
didn't have the ambition to step up to be better
in anything except golf. And he also said that he
had a tremendous inferiority complex about his acting ability and
that made him so stiff. He creaked good actor. He
(05:20):
wasn't he was Randy Scott. I called him granite jaw.
It's kind of hard stuff considering they worked together six times.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, yeah, I read another similar quote. I wish I
had written it down, but it was very It might
have been the same quote that has been what you
just said, but a little different. But yeah, he Uh.
It's funny because I think you know what he what
detof had kind of accused Scott of being there. I
(05:52):
think he kind of when he went into the Beteker
movies that were he I think he got into that
acting a little bit, and especially in Right the High Country,
Peck and Pop's first film, I think that was really
his best performance. And I think even Scott himself realized that,
and that's why he retired after that one.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah. Oh, he's amazing in that. And and you have
to appreciate an actor who can go out on a
high note, because I mean, we see so many actors who,
you know, work years past their prime and are making
movies that are kind of ruining. I don't know about ruining.
That's kind of a strong word, but it's definitely lowering
(06:36):
the quality of their filmography. Yeah, and Writing Shotgun was
adapted from a story by Kenneth Perkins called Writing Solo,
and Thomas Blackburn wrote the script and he worked in
the Western genre quite a bit in movies and TV.
And it was shot by Bert Glennon, who shot stage
Coach and wagon Master for john Ford, and he worked
(06:58):
with A TOA a few other times. He shot House
of Wax, Crime Wave, and he shot another movie that
was a DETA Scott collaboration called Thunder Over the Planes.
And but yeah, at this point, I'm going to read
the plot synopsis on IMDb and we'll get into our
thoughts on this one. When a stagecoach guard tries to
(07:19):
warn a town of an imminent raid by a band
of outlaws, the people mistake him for one of the gang.
All right, justin so, what did you think of writing Shotgun?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
My first initial thought when I had watched this film
last year was, Man, is this this voiceover this bad?
Or is it just me? And when I had got
done watching the movie, I was like, Man, that I
really liked that movie. Man that voiceover did not need that.
There was a little two in your face for me.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, I now I thought this was okay. I really
like the premise, but it's it started to lose me
towards the end. I think it has a strong opening act.
I think the cast overall is decent. There are some
kind of B movie actors who aren't the most charismatic performers. Yeah,
(08:16):
but I will say one performance that really stood out
to me was Charles Bronson's.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I thought he was great, and this is a really
a pretty early role for him. I mean, at this
point he was still credited with his real last name,
it was Charles Buchinsky. There's some good action, but once
Scott's character is stuck in one location, I did feel
like the momentum of the movie had come to a halt.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, I agree there it. I really like the beginning
set up where you know he's on he gets off
the stage coach and he sees the movies villains, Little
Darren's your pistol, and he chases after the men, the
one the one guy, and I thought it was actually
(09:05):
a really nice shot where they followed both randolp Scott
and the guy he's chasing on horseback all the way
up through you know, the this hill. It was a
long tracking shot where they you know, just stayed on
one hill and they follow them all the way up.
I you know, I don't really expect that sometimes in
these you know, in between A and B movies. It
was kind of nice shot. But yeah, from the from
(09:27):
there and like you said, until he gets trapped in there,
it was I was I was glue. Other than the voiceover,
which on this rewatch, I actually didn't mind this much
on this rewatch, But yeah, I really liked it up
until that point where it just kind of, like I said,
fizzles out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, I will say I agree with you on especially
the first time you saw this one on the on
the voiceover. I don't think it's necessary at at all.
I don't. I don't think it really adds adds anything
to the movie. The one thing this movie does kind
of explore is a mob mentality, which is just a
(10:09):
tough thing to pull off in a movie for me, Like, yeah,
the Oxbow Incident does it to perfection.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Yeah it's perfect.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, but here it's I think it's a little obnoxious
and it it doesn't add much to the movie. I do.
I do think maybe if if the Mob, if they
had kind of pursued Scott a little more aggressively and
he was in danger more, it could have been more exciting.
But I thought the Mob was a little goofy in this.
(10:39):
You know, there's this one character walking around like with
a rope, played by Vic Parrien or Parrien who I
recognize him from? Something?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Yeah? I could. Yeah, he's got a familiar face, but
I can't. I couldn't point him to something either.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I think he's in an episode of the Twilight Zone
or maybe even multiple episodes, but I think he doesn't
fit this role. It was and it was a weird
casting choice. But but but yeah, what what did you
think of like the kind of like the portrayal of
the mob mentality and how that how how that part
of the movie was executed.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
I don't I didn't mind it, but yeah, I wish
there was a little bit more action to it. They tried,
you know, try to do something a little more instead
of having the town you know, businessman be the head
of it. I wish, you know, there is one point
whether I think Scott's rival, uh stagecoach hand, what if
(11:41):
you call him the guy he goes at he gets
talked into by Charles Bronson to try and you know,
go kill or flesh out Scott's character. I thought that
was a really cool scene, but then it kind of
just ends up like every other scene. Someone goes after him,
with the guy kind of getting scared and running away,
(12:04):
and I really, I really don't like the guy with
the rope the hangman. I really think that's just a cheesy,
borderline annoying character. The way he keeps kind of sexually
grabbing the rope and fondling it, it's really just out
(12:25):
of place and takes me out of the movie a
little bit because even he grabs the rope and one
of the saloon girls comes up to him and it's like, oh,
what's wrong with me? Or you know what's wrong with me?
I forget what she exactly says, but he's just following
(12:46):
this rope and just ignores her completely, and it's just like,
I get what you're going for, but it just comes
off cheesy and a little corny, and it's one of
my bigger complaints of the movie. It's just that kind
of sucks me out a little bit every time I
see him.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yeah, and there is some humor in the movie that
just didn't work, Like I think that there's almost like
a running gag with I think it's the deputy sheriff
character who can't stop eating, can't stop eating, and I
think it is and I think the character's name is
Tub's not too subtle. No, but yeah, some of the
(13:24):
humor I thought was kind of misplaced. And then, and
I will mention Joan Weldon, who's the love interest in
this one. She's absolutely gorgeous, Yes, and I think she
was fine in this now she she was thirty two
years younger than Randolph Scott. Yeah, but I gotta say
(13:47):
I did not actually think about their age difference while
watching this. I mean, I knew obviously he was older,
but for some reason it kind of worked well enough.
And Joan Weldon was also in The Stranger Wore a Gun,
which is another Tata Randolph Scott movie. Yeah, but yeah,
(14:08):
but both of these movies writing Shotgun and and The
Bounty Hunter, they both have a romance that don't really
need to be there. But I think here it feels
a little more tacked on than the romance and The
Bounty Hunter.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, and then that's again it's one of the watching
all these fifties westerns. It's my main issue with all
these this is the romance for the most part, always
feels tacked on. Is is they just the leads never
really full well the lead in, the main actress just
(14:46):
never fully feel like they you know, connect or anything.
It just feels, oh, here's the love interests. Got to
get them women in the theater.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, and it would be it would be one thing,
if you know, if the love interests had more to do,
then just be a love interest. But since that's all
they're bringing to it, it it just it just takes
away from the rest of the movie unfortunately.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And I think that's a thing about Scott is when
when he I think he has that charm, and I
think that's why some of his I'm a little more
lenient on his relationship with women in these movies because
he he can, he has that charm to where it
makes it just a little more believable and it doesn't
(15:34):
make me notice it as more as much I should say,
But yet here is just a little awkward.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Awkward Yeah, definitely. Now, I know this is a very
brief discussion on the movie, but I really didn't have
a whole lot else to say, Like, I didn't hate
the movie. Yeah, I just felt like it was kind
of nothing, But I didn't I think if you're a
Randolph Scott fan, I do think it's it's uh, it's
(16:05):
worth watching.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Yeah, I find it. I find it other than like
I said, I mentioned it before the voiceover, and this
time I didn't mind it. I really enjoyed. It's one
of his I think better non Beteker movies from this era.
There's some more that are I think really really good,
but this one's pretty solid and I definitely would recommend it.
It's on HBO Max. At this point in time, I
(16:31):
recommended to fans of Westerns.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, Now, did you have any other notes on writing
Shotgun that you wanted to get into.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, So, in preparation for this episode, I had gotten
Robert Notott's book on the Films of Randolph Scott, and
I had read some pages of his early life and
how he came up. But not I had done about
a good page of notes on writing Shotgun and Bounty Hunter.
(17:06):
And when Warner Brothers was in the early development of
this movie, they thought it was going to be their
answer to high noon. So the studio was really jazzed
about this, and every produce, every executive at Warner Brothers
wanted their idea or a piece of the script of
(17:30):
this movie. So I think which kind of led into
kind of the problems of the script, and the top
had a problem with that, and he had wrote a
letter to Jack Warner about in the executives changing some
ideas and they said they kind of were like yes, no, whatever,
(17:55):
And then when they were making it, the talk took
like nine takes on I think it was a scene
between the canteena owner and Scott and it was nine
takes to get the shot, and Jack Warner were and
took tok and said no more, uh, nine takes, get
(18:20):
it in one. And from there on out they was
basically one shot, one take, and they finished the movie
in seven days ahead of schedule. And the shoot was
a total of fifteen days.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Oh wow, that's really quick.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Yep. So that kind of which would lead to another
after we talked about the bounty Hunter, why kind of
the tok kinda and Scott kind of ended the relationship
with these two, gotcha and uh, well, then speaking of her,
(19:00):
she called Scott a lovely and generous actor. And she
said that he would a couple of times when they
were filming the scene, he would, you know, put her
kind of in front and him behind. And she said,
no other actor had ever really done that to her,
and she really had remembered that. And then also one
(19:23):
last little note was they went horseback riding together and
Reynold Scott taught John Weldon how to ride a horse
and watch out for gopher holes.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Oh that's awesome, all right, cool, all right, Well, yeah,
from there, we're going straight into the next feature, which
is The Bounty Hunter, and it was adapted by Winston
Miller from a story by Miller and Finley McDermott. And
McDermott doesn't have too many other credits, but he worked
(19:56):
on some Western TV shows. He wrote some episodes of
a Man, an episode of Colt forty five, and he
has a story credit on an episode of Cheyenne. And
Winston Miller was one of the writers on My Darling Clementine,
and he was also one of the writers on another
Scott to Talk movie, Carson City, which I know some
people think is their best movie together, but I don't
(20:18):
know if I've actually ever seen it. Have you seen
Carson City, Yes.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
I have, and I would say it probably. I think, yeah,
it might be their best. I really liked that one.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Cool. Yeah, and you also get.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
You Get Shirtless Randall Scott in that one too.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Oh oh my gosh. We should have covered that movie,
all right? Well it and then and then The Bounty
Hunter was shot by Edwin Dupar or Dupar and he
shot another to toath Western Springfield Rifle, which I think
Gary Cooper was a star of. And Bounty Hunter was
(20:56):
shot in three D but released in two D, which
I I do think it's kind of odd. I couldn't
find out why that decision was made. Yeah, but there
there's an intermission in this movie and the runtime is
only eighty minutes.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Yeah, I thought that was when I first watched it
last year. It kind of really caught me by surprising, like,
there's an eighty minute movie with an intermission. I never
looked into it. Why I would have that?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
But yeah, I think well, at the time, three D
movies could only be presented a for an hour. Oh okay,
and I don't really know what the technical issue was
with it. It's funny because I read about it and
in the article I read about it said that a
three D at the time, a three D movie could
(21:44):
only play for an hour for obvious reasons, and I
was like, well, it's not obvious to me. But I
didn't dig any further into it. But if someone listens
to this and knows why they can only play for
an hour, feel free to send me a message. But yeah,
and since and one thing, Yeah, since they switched it
(22:06):
to two D. That actually delayed the release of the movie,
and it made me wonder why they wouldn't just remove
the intermission. Yeah, but the Tath and Scott's The Stranger
Wore a Gun was also shot in three D, and
I believe that was released in three D. And I
know the posters say, you know three D. So this
(22:27):
was Detath and rightaw Scott's you know, final collaboration. Do
you know why they stopped working together after this?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
He was quoted as sane as he had a feeling
that he was at his at a dead end and
there was less and less left in me to give
and had to get some fresh air. Scott was nice
and brittle, old gentleman, and I couldn't get blood out
of an avacus anymore now, definitely a weird thing to
(22:55):
say about.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
About Yeah, but I mean luckily Scott, I mean he
moved on from this collaboration and just a couple of
years after this was working with a director who definitely
appreciated him more and Betiker.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Right now, I'm going to read the IMDb synopsis and
we'll share our thoughts on this one. A bounty hunter
hired by Pinkerton, trails three unknown murderous train robbers to
a town and finds a host of suspects. All right,
so justin what do you think of the bounty Hunter?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I really like this one. I like it better than
writing Shotgun, but definitely has issues. But I liked how
Scott portrays this character where he enjoys what he does
as a bounty hunter, and it's not just for the money.
He likes going and finding these guys and give them
(23:51):
the business and even potentially killing them if need be.
He likes doing that. I think that was a nice,
you know, change in character, even for Scott, you know,
even to what he would come in some of his
later movies. But I thought that, especially when I had
watched this last year. It was after a run of
(24:13):
just some really less Instellar of his movies, and this
one was a nice surprise for me.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, I gotta say this, This was way more up
my alley than writing Shotgun. On pretty much every level,
I enjoyed this more. Yeah, and I agree. Randolph Scott
is so good in this. I love how ruthless he
is at the beginning of the movie. And he's kind
of a classic like I'm the only cause I'm interested
(24:42):
in type of character.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And there's one moment where a character tells him he'd
turn in or he'd turn on his own grandmother and
on her birthday if there was a reward for her,
and Scott agrees that he would do that. But I
thought the story was tighter. There was more action and
suspense throughout, and I thought it played out a lot
(25:06):
like a Philip Marlowe mystery. Like Scott basically becomes a
detective in this, and it made me wish he had
made like a private detective noir in the forties, because
he could have been awesome in that type of role.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah. Yeah, I never thought of that, but yeah, he
would have. He would. This is very Yeah, it is
kind of noir ish in the sense.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, And then the scene in the casino where Scott
meets Marie Windsor's character for the first time and she's
like flirting with him. That feels like it could have
come straight out of The Big Sleep, the you know,
the Humphrey Bogart Marlow movie. And I think overall the
supporting characters are are much better in this than they
(25:49):
are writing Shotgun. I thought Ernest Borgnine was really good,
and he had worked with Detaf and Scott previously on
The Stranger Warwick Gun. And I thought Harry Antrim was
pretty good as the doctor. Now Dolores Dorn she plays
the doctor's daughter, and she's the love interest, and I
think she's she's probably I would consider her to be
(26:11):
the weak link, Like she's not terrible, but she doesn't
have a whole lot of personality. She is really pretty.
She's she's thirty five years younger than Scott at the
time this movie was made, so we're keeping kind of
the age difference going. And I will say she does
feel younger than Joan Weldon to me, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
She definitely comes across as I wouldn't say a kid,
but definitely someone in their twenties.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah. Yeah, But overall, I think it's really entertaining and
well paced. I thought Marie Windsor was really good, and
she was always memorable to me. She has like such
a distinct look. Yeah, and I think they gave her
a good amount to do in this which it was
nice to have a female character that was had more
(27:03):
to do than just being a love interest. Now, and
both of these movies were made by Warner Brothers, and
I couldn't find the budgets for them, but I would
think the Bounty Hunter, being shot in three D, would
have a larger budget between the two, and I think
it really shows on screen. Like the I think the
(27:26):
locations are more interesting, the action I think is staged
a little better. Yeah, And of course it's not just
confined to a location for an extended period of time
like writing Shotgun is.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
And it's not just at the corner lot right like
writing Shotgun ones. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, And now this movie does have a twist of
sorts involving the sheriff character, who it turns out, is
like one of the guilty parties involved in the crime
Scott was hired to solve. I saw it coming kind
of close to the end of the movie. But there's
a scene kind of before it gets to the climax
(28:09):
where the sheriff shoots a card dealer who is like
one of his partners in crime, and it feels actually
very organic, like it didn't feel like at that point
I didn't see that the sheriff was actually going to
be one of the villains. And I know this was
(28:30):
a rewatch for you, but on a first time watch,
do you remember what she thought of the revealed it was?
Speaker 3 (28:37):
I will say, even on rewatching now, like I remember
because I was shot like you were about the sheriff
from that when he shot the one the card dealer.
I was when I first watched it last year, I
didn't see that coming. And then even on this rewatch
I got fooled again. It had even been a year
(28:59):
since I watched it last and I really was like,
oh man, yeah, making it perfectly clear that Ernest burg
nine is the the you know, is one of the three.
And then when it got to the end and they've
you clearly see that borg nine is you know, a
decent guy, and I was like, oh man, who is
(29:21):
the third third man? And when it was real, I went,
oh my god, that's right who it is. And I'm
like it got me, It really got me. And I'm like, man,
that was its kind of ballsy for you know, a
movie from nineteen fifty four to kind of have a
woman as the kind of almost the bine henchmen and
(29:44):
mastermind of this whole deal.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, three robbers, Yeah, definitely, Yeah. And I think they
do a great job with her too, because there's the
scene where she even comes to to Randolph Scott saying
like she could give him, you know, information and uh an,
and of course you know she was you know, kind
of you know, just just lying. Yeah, and but yeah, overall,
(30:13):
I thought the mystery like unfolded really nicely, and I
like the reveal also in the end where the piece
of mail, Like Randolph Scott, there's a scene where he
tells the postmaster like he's expecting a piece of mail
and maybe he tells the doctor. I can't remember which
(30:33):
character he tells, but he's receiving something that's going to
give away the identity of maybe at least one of
the criminals. And then when you've there and.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
He tells the I think it's the telegraph guy. Okay, yeah,
who is I think also the one.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Of the three gotcha? Yeah, and then at the end,
so the there is an envelope and there's kind of
an issue where the postmaster is is either not there
or does the postmaster does his character get killed.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Yes, yes, Mary windsor after because Scott follows the postmaster
out of town to find the money, and when he's
searching for him, here's a gunshot. And when he finds
the postmaster, he's dead and the money he's gone. So
we don't know where the money is. Well, yeah, we
(31:35):
don't know where the money is and who did it.
We all assume that it.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Was the sheriff, gotcha, okay, And so the sheriff they
decide like Scott almost like forces him to actually go
through the mail. But then when it's revealed what's in
the envelope that's addressed to Scott's character, it's just like
(31:59):
a promoteotional card for something.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Nice little joke to end the movie on. Yeah, but
I really like, I really liked that. That was a
nice little Red Harring type deal.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Yeah. I just thought it was well like pretty well
written and well done and uh yeah, definitely uh uh
recommend this one. Do you have but do you have
any any kind of final notes on the Bounty Hunter.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I will say, just like writing Shotgun, it's very you know,
the mob mentality, and you know, you can this whole
you know, the fifties with you know, McCarthyism and everything.
It kind of lends hand in hand with that. And
I think I had another note here that said Joy
and Drew. You know, when she signed her contract with
(32:51):
Warner Brothers, they asked her, you know, have you ever
been a communist and you know all this? And she's,
you know, of course I know. And when she read
the script, she's like, I didn't even realize you know
it an allegory from McCarthyism.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Oh okay, yeah she didn't.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
She didn't realize that one. I guess, you know, she
was like, oh yeah, I got this Randolph Scott Western
role and she didn't even realize it. And the scene
kind of goes with Bounty Hunter. It's kind of you know,
he rides into town and he doesn't even say he
just says he's after one, you know, one outlaw. He
(33:30):
didn't say he's after three. So in the the town's
question like who is it, who is it? Who are
you after? Give us a name? And he's like, oh no,
I can't tell you that. And so then there's guys
like shreaking out, going packing up all their things and
riding hard out of town thinking it's them and uh.
(33:53):
And there's one one guy who one kid, I should say,
he's a young guy who was wanted for something. It's
blanking on me. I think it was mostly kind of
like self defense if I remember.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Yeah, yeah, And he's in.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
The early part of the movie when he first rites
when Randolph Scott first rides into town. He starts taking
shots at him, trying to kill him because he thinks
Scott's after him. And when Scott finds out who he is,
he's like, oh, yeah, I remember you. And he said
go home to your wife on your farm, which comes
back around at the end where the kid helps him,
(34:33):
right yeah, And I just I thought that was a
nice little you know, touched where you know, he affected somebody.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
So yeah, And there's also another scene that kind of
stood out to me in regards to like the effect
that Scott's character has on the town just by saying
he's looking for one person. There's a scene where he
goes in into a bar or like a saloon, and
the first time he goes it's packed, and there's people gambling,
(35:08):
and the next time he goes it's it's pretty empty.
There's just like some drunk kind of barflies there.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
And and I think what it says about that town
is he's in a town where everyone is potentially guilty
of something, and.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
I like, everyone's got something to hide.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Yeah, I And this film is also very similar, like
really similar to a nineteen fifty nine Audie Murphy film
directed by Jack Arnold called.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
New Name on the Bullet.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yeah, it's very very similar, I think, whereas I think
Audie Murphy is a hit man instead of a bounty hunter,
and he rides into a town and they know who
he is by reputation, so everybody starts freaking out and
wondering who they're after. It's them, And that one is
(36:07):
a It is probably Audie Murphy's best film. That one
I really recommend. But yeah, it's funny how similar they were.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, I remember loving No Name on the bullet Jack
Arnold is a pretty he's a pretty interesting director.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
I don't think I've seen anything off the top of
my head. I've only I think I've only seen No
Name on the Bullet from him, not off the top
my head. I can't remember, but yeah, I really really
loved it. That one really caught me by surprise. I
knew nothing about it. I just remember seeing the art
on the blue ram, like, that's a really cool looking poster.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah. Cool. Well, did you have anything else on the
Bounty Hunter?
Speaker 3 (36:48):
Yeah, it's all I got, all right.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Well, well, Justin, where can people follow you on social media?
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah? You can find me on Twitter at Mick Flick
fifty one fifty. My Twitter and Instagram is the same thing,
and a letterbox at my name Justin McDonald.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
All right, Justin, Well, thank you very much. This was
a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Yeah, thank you, thank you for having me. It was
truly an honor to be on this podcast. I found it.
I love it. I love listening to other people talk
about Western's my favorite genre, and it's truly a highlight
of my week when I can go and I hear
what movie you're going to be covering next week, and
I can that weekend I can go and watch that movie.
(37:31):
It's truly a highlight of my week when I can
watch that movie and then listen to you and your
guests talk about it. And I'm honored to be one
of those people, so thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Oh well, I'm so happy to have you on and
and well, and we'll do this again for sure.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah, I would love I mean I would again.
I would love to talk about more Randolph Scott movies.
Audi Murphy, I would love to talk about him too,
I mean, Joel McCrae. I'm more than happy to be back.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
All right, excellent, Well, thank you very much. I hope
you enjoyed this episode. It was great to have Justin
on and hopefully he'll be back soon to talk about
more Randolph Scott movies in the future. Let me know
what you thought of this week's episode, and let me
know what other Randolph Scott movies you'd like to hear
us talk about. You can reach me via email at
Tumbleweeds and Tvcowboys at gmail dot com. You can follow
(38:23):
us on Facebook, Instagram, and x All the links are
in the show notes. Next week, Zach Bryant is back
and we're talking about Paint Your Wagon, which might not
be a Clinaswood movie that many people are very enthusiastic about,
but it was next on the list, so we got
to talk about it. We're also going to talk about
the first episode of Rawhide, and Zach and I are
going to be going through at least the first season
(38:44):
of it together, which should be a lot of fun.
I'm really looking forward to getting into another TV series
until then. If you're looking for more film related podcasts,
please check out other shows on the Someone's Favorite Productions
podcast network. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
Hello. My name is Kevin Tutor, and I'm one of
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Every week, Myself, Charlie Nash, and Brighton Doyle discuss overlooked,
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(39:17):
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Speaker 1 (39:47):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome back to Tumbleweeds and TV Cowboys, a classic Western
film and TV podcast. My name is Hunter. This week,
I'm joined by new guest Justin McDonald. Justin is a
huge fan of Randolph Scott and so in this episode,
we're talking about two of his collaborations with the great
Andre did Tok. They are writing Shotgun and The Bounty Hunter.
We're going to get right into it. Here's our conversation.
(00:36):
All right, Well, Justin, thanks so much for coming on.
How's it going good?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
You're actually the first listener that I've ever interacted with
on social media, So I'm really excited to have you
on for this discussion, and I'm glad to have you on.
I know that you're a huge Randolph Scott fan, so
I think covering a Randolph Scott double feature is kind
of the perfect topic for you. But before we get
into that, can can you tell us about yourself and
(01:02):
your history with classic westerns.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah, I born in Virginia. It's kind of why I
kind of gravitated towards Randolph Scott a little bit because
he was born in Virginia and yeah, just twenty eight
years old. And I started watching movies about early twenty
ten's and it took me a while to get into
the Western genre, to say the least, But about twenty
(01:26):
nineteen is when I really started getting into him. And yeah,
here in the last year or so, I've really doved
into specifically the fifties westerns and Randolph Scott's westerns, and
it's kind of become my comfort movies of choices, these
this era of westerns.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, well, what were some of the first westerns from
the fifties that got you interested in that era?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You know? Of course high Noon is one. Some of
the other ones, it's the Searchers, you know, the big ones,
the Searchers. But of course Randolph Scott. It all comes
back to Randolf Scott for me. Is last year I
decided to watch one hundred Westerns in twenty twenty four,
(02:11):
and I had started the year with some wide movies
and then I was like, oh, I got this beautiful
Criterion box of the renowned cycle of movies, so I
just had to rewatch them. And I don't know, when
I was watching them, something like, I don't know, just
clicked with me with Randolph Scott the way he he
(02:33):
wasn't quite John Wayne, but he wasn't also quite like
James Stewart and the Anthony Mann movies where he's just
so bent on revenge. He's in some of the Burt
Kennedy and Bud Betteker westerns he's in, He's you know,
on that line of wanting revenge but also kind of
(02:55):
the hero. And it was just something with his southern
charm charmed me. So that's when I really got into
the fifties westerns and started watching him and Joel McCrae,
Audie Murphy others.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Nice. Now with Randolph Scott, I know you mentioned that,
you know, he wasn't like John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart,
But but what do you think does set him apart
from the other kind of big Western icons.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Well, I think is his age. He really, you know,
started becoming popular in the fifties when he was in
his mid fifties, and so I think he just has
this more weathered look than James Stewart and John Wayne,
where you know, John Wayne is the big popular movie star,
and so it was James Stewart, but you know, he
(03:47):
had brought a little different energy and you know style
to his westerns. But I think for me, Scott brought
the the movie star that quality that I always grab it.
It towards like what Wayne does, but think when Scott
had more of a softer side than Wayne.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, and I think one thing with Randolph Scott to me,
there there is kind of an authenticity to him. I mean,
like like when I think of of what a cowboy
should should look like, I think he is like the
first person I picture just his face and even just
kind of how weathered his his skin is. I don't know,
(04:31):
it just fits so well with the Western genre to me.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, same, same.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
All right, Well, we're going to move into our main discussion.
We're talking about writing Shotgun and The Bounty Hunter. Both
films were directed by Andre de Tath, and de Tath
made four other westerns with Scott, and the movies were
covering in this episode where their final films together, And
I did read Ditath did have some negative things to
(04:57):
say about Scott. I think he said he believed Randolph
Scott could have gone further as a performer, but he
didn't have the ambition to step up to be better
in anything except golf. And he also said that he
had a tremendous inferiority complex about his acting ability and
that made him so stiff. He creaked good actor. He
(05:20):
wasn't he was Randy Scott. I called him granite jaw.
It's kind of hard stuff considering they worked together six times.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, yeah, I read another similar quote. I wish I
had written it down, but it was very It might
have been the same quote that has been what you
just said, but a little different. But yeah, he Uh.
It's funny because I think you know what he what
detof had kind of accused Scott of being there. I
(05:52):
think he kind of when he went into the Beteker
movies that were he I think he got into that
acting a little bit, and especially in Right the High Country,
Peck and Pop's first film, I think that was really
his best performance. And I think even Scott himself realized that,
and that's why he retired after that one.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah. Oh, he's amazing in that. And and you have
to appreciate an actor who can go out on a
high note, because I mean, we see so many actors who,
you know, work years past their prime and are making
movies that are kind of ruining. I don't know about ruining.
That's kind of a strong word, but it's definitely lowering
(06:36):
the quality of their filmography. Yeah, and Writing Shotgun was
adapted from a story by Kenneth Perkins called Writing Solo,
and Thomas Blackburn wrote the script and he worked in
the Western genre quite a bit in movies and TV.
And it was shot by Bert Glennon, who shot stage
Coach and wagon Master for john Ford, and he worked
(06:58):
with A TOA a few other times. He shot House
of Wax, Crime Wave, and he shot another movie that
was a DETA Scott collaboration called Thunder Over the Planes.
And but yeah, at this point, I'm going to read
the plot synopsis on IMDb and we'll get into our
thoughts on this one. When a stagecoach guard tries to
(07:19):
warn a town of an imminent raid by a band
of outlaws, the people mistake him for one of the gang.
All right, justin so, what did you think of writing Shotgun?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
My first initial thought when I had watched this film
last year was, Man, is this this voiceover this bad?
Or is it just me? And when I had got
done watching the movie, I was like, Man, that I
really liked that movie. Man that voiceover did not need that.
There was a little two in your face for me.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, I now I thought this was okay. I really
like the premise, but it's it started to lose me
towards the end. I think it has a strong opening act.
I think the cast overall is decent. There are some
kind of B movie actors who aren't the most charismatic performers. Yeah,
(08:16):
but I will say one performance that really stood out
to me was Charles Bronson's.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I thought he was great, and this is a really
a pretty early role for him. I mean, at this
point he was still credited with his real last name,
it was Charles Buchinsky. There's some good action, but once
Scott's character is stuck in one location, I did feel
like the momentum of the movie had come to a halt.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, I agree there it. I really like the beginning
set up where you know he's on he gets off
the stage coach and he sees the movies villains, Little
Darren's your pistol, and he chases after the men, the
one the one guy, and I thought it was actually
(09:05):
a really nice shot where they followed both randolp Scott
and the guy he's chasing on horseback all the way
up through you know, the this hill. It was a
long tracking shot where they you know, just stayed on
one hill and they follow them all the way up.
I you know, I don't really expect that sometimes in
these you know, in between A and B movies. It
was kind of nice shot. But yeah, from the from
(09:27):
there and like you said, until he gets trapped in there,
it was I was I was glue. Other than the voiceover,
which on this rewatch, I actually didn't mind this much
on this rewatch, But yeah, I really liked it up
until that point where it just kind of, like I said,
fizzles out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, I will say I agree with you on especially
the first time you saw this one on the on
the voiceover. I don't think it's necessary at at all.
I don't. I don't think it really adds adds anything
to the movie. The one thing this movie does kind
of explore is a mob mentality, which is just a
(10:09):
tough thing to pull off in a movie for me, Like, yeah,
the Oxbow Incident does it to perfection.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Yeah it's perfect.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, but here it's I think it's a little obnoxious
and it it doesn't add much to the movie. I do.
I do think maybe if if the Mob, if they
had kind of pursued Scott a little more aggressively and
he was in danger more, it could have been more exciting.
But I thought the Mob was a little goofy in this.
(10:39):
You know, there's this one character walking around like with
a rope, played by Vic Parrien or Parrien who I
recognize him from? Something?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Yeah? I could. Yeah, he's got a familiar face, but
I can't. I couldn't point him to something either.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I think he's in an episode of the Twilight Zone
or maybe even multiple episodes, but I think he doesn't
fit this role. It was and it was a weird
casting choice. But but but yeah, what what did you
think of like the kind of like the portrayal of
the mob mentality and how that how how that part
of the movie was executed.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
I don't I didn't mind it, but yeah, I wish
there was a little bit more action to it. They tried,
you know, try to do something a little more instead
of having the town you know, businessman be the head
of it. I wish, you know, there is one point
whether I think Scott's rival, uh stagecoach hand, what if
(11:41):
you call him the guy he goes at he gets
talked into by Charles Bronson to try and you know,
go kill or flesh out Scott's character. I thought that
was a really cool scene, but then it kind of
just ends up like every other scene. Someone goes after him,
with the guy kind of getting scared and running away,
(12:04):
and I really, I really don't like the guy with
the rope the hangman. I really think that's just a cheesy,
borderline annoying character. The way he keeps kind of sexually
grabbing the rope and fondling it, it's really just out
(12:25):
of place and takes me out of the movie a
little bit because even he grabs the rope and one
of the saloon girls comes up to him and it's like, oh,
what's wrong with me? Or you know what's wrong with me?
I forget what she exactly says, but he's just following
(12:46):
this rope and just ignores her completely, and it's just like,
I get what you're going for, but it just comes
off cheesy and a little corny, and it's one of
my bigger complaints of the movie. It's just that kind
of sucks me out a little bit every time I
see him.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yeah, and there is some humor in the movie that
just didn't work, Like I think that there's almost like
a running gag with I think it's the deputy sheriff
character who can't stop eating, can't stop eating, and I
think it is and I think the character's name is
Tub's not too subtle. No, but yeah, some of the
(13:24):
humor I thought was kind of misplaced. And then, and
I will mention Joan Weldon, who's the love interest in
this one. She's absolutely gorgeous, Yes, and I think she
was fine in this now she she was thirty two
years younger than Randolph Scott. Yeah, but I gotta say
(13:47):
I did not actually think about their age difference while
watching this. I mean, I knew obviously he was older,
but for some reason it kind of worked well enough.
And Joan Weldon was also in The Stranger Wore a Gun,
which is another Tata Randolph Scott movie. Yeah, but yeah,
(14:08):
but both of these movies writing Shotgun and and The
Bounty Hunter, they both have a romance that don't really
need to be there. But I think here it feels
a little more tacked on than the romance and The
Bounty Hunter.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, and then that's again it's one of the watching
all these fifties westerns. It's my main issue with all
these this is the romance for the most part, always
feels tacked on. Is is they just the leads never
really full well the lead in, the main actress just
(14:46):
never fully feel like they you know, connect or anything.
It just feels, oh, here's the love interests. Got to
get them women in the theater.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, and it would be it would be one thing,
if you know, if the love interests had more to do,
then just be a love interest. But since that's all
they're bringing to it, it it just it just takes
away from the rest of the movie unfortunately.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And I think that's a thing about Scott is when
when he I think he has that charm, and I
think that's why some of his I'm a little more
lenient on his relationship with women in these movies because
he he can, he has that charm to where it
makes it just a little more believable and it doesn't
(15:34):
make me notice it as more as much I should say,
But yet here is just a little awkward.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Awkward Yeah, definitely. Now, I know this is a very
brief discussion on the movie, but I really didn't have
a whole lot else to say, Like, I didn't hate
the movie. Yeah, I just felt like it was kind
of nothing, But I didn't I think if you're a
Randolph Scott fan, I do think it's it's uh, it's
(16:05):
worth watching.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Yeah, I find it. I find it other than like
I said, I mentioned it before the voiceover, and this
time I didn't mind it. I really enjoyed. It's one
of his I think better non Beteker movies from this era.
There's some more that are I think really really good,
but this one's pretty solid and I definitely would recommend it.
It's on HBO Max. At this point in time, I
(16:31):
recommended to fans of Westerns.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, Now, did you have any other notes on writing
Shotgun that you wanted to get into.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, So, in preparation for this episode, I had gotten
Robert Notott's book on the Films of Randolph Scott, and
I had read some pages of his early life and
how he came up. But not I had done about
a good page of notes on writing Shotgun and Bounty Hunter.
(17:06):
And when Warner Brothers was in the early development of
this movie, they thought it was going to be their
answer to high noon. So the studio was really jazzed
about this, and every produce, every executive at Warner Brothers
wanted their idea or a piece of the script of
(17:30):
this movie. So I think which kind of led into
kind of the problems of the script, and the top
had a problem with that, and he had wrote a
letter to Jack Warner about in the executives changing some
ideas and they said they kind of were like yes, no, whatever,
(17:55):
And then when they were making it, the talk took
like nine takes on I think it was a scene
between the canteena owner and Scott and it was nine
takes to get the shot, and Jack Warner were and
took tok and said no more, uh, nine takes, get
(18:20):
it in one. And from there on out they was
basically one shot, one take, and they finished the movie
in seven days ahead of schedule. And the shoot was
a total of fifteen days.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Oh wow, that's really quick.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Yep. So that kind of which would lead to another
after we talked about the bounty Hunter, why kind of
the tok kinda and Scott kind of ended the relationship
with these two, gotcha and uh, well, then speaking of her,
(19:00):
she called Scott a lovely and generous actor. And she
said that he would a couple of times when they
were filming the scene, he would, you know, put her
kind of in front and him behind. And she said,
no other actor had ever really done that to her,
and she really had remembered that. And then also one
(19:23):
last little note was they went horseback riding together and
Reynold Scott taught John Weldon how to ride a horse
and watch out for gopher holes.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Oh that's awesome, all right, cool, all right, Well, yeah,
from there, we're going straight into the next feature, which
is The Bounty Hunter, and it was adapted by Winston
Miller from a story by Miller and Finley McDermott. And
McDermott doesn't have too many other credits, but he worked
(19:56):
on some Western TV shows. He wrote some episodes of
a Man, an episode of Colt forty five, and he
has a story credit on an episode of Cheyenne. And
Winston Miller was one of the writers on My Darling Clementine,
and he was also one of the writers on another
Scott to Talk movie, Carson City, which I know some
people think is their best movie together, but I don't
(20:18):
know if I've actually ever seen it. Have you seen
Carson City, Yes.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
I have, and I would say it probably. I think, yeah,
it might be their best. I really liked that one.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Cool. Yeah, and you also get.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
You Get Shirtless Randall Scott in that one too.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Oh oh my gosh. We should have covered that movie,
all right? Well it and then and then The Bounty
Hunter was shot by Edwin Dupar or Dupar and he
shot another to toath Western Springfield Rifle, which I think
Gary Cooper was a star of. And Bounty Hunter was
(20:56):
shot in three D but released in two D, which
I I do think it's kind of odd. I couldn't
find out why that decision was made. Yeah, but there
there's an intermission in this movie and the runtime is
only eighty minutes.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Yeah, I thought that was when I first watched it
last year. It kind of really caught me by surprising, like,
there's an eighty minute movie with an intermission. I never
looked into it. Why I would have that?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
But yeah, I think well, at the time, three D
movies could only be presented a for an hour. Oh okay,
and I don't really know what the technical issue was
with it. It's funny because I read about it and
in the article I read about it said that a
three D at the time, a three D movie could
(21:44):
only play for an hour for obvious reasons, and I
was like, well, it's not obvious to me. But I
didn't dig any further into it. But if someone listens
to this and knows why they can only play for
an hour, feel free to send me a message. But yeah,
and since and one thing, Yeah, since they switched it
(22:06):
to two D. That actually delayed the release of the movie,
and it made me wonder why they wouldn't just remove
the intermission. Yeah, but the Tath and Scott's The Stranger
Wore a Gun was also shot in three D, and
I believe that was released in three D. And I
know the posters say, you know three D. So this
(22:27):
was Detath and rightaw Scott's you know, final collaboration. Do
you know why they stopped working together after this?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
He was quoted as sane as he had a feeling
that he was at his at a dead end and
there was less and less left in me to give
and had to get some fresh air. Scott was nice
and brittle, old gentleman, and I couldn't get blood out
of an avacus anymore now, definitely a weird thing to
(22:55):
say about.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
About Yeah, but I mean luckily Scott, I mean he
moved on from this collaboration and just a couple of
years after this was working with a director who definitely
appreciated him more and Betiker.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Right now, I'm going to read the IMDb synopsis and
we'll share our thoughts on this one. A bounty hunter
hired by Pinkerton, trails three unknown murderous train robbers to
a town and finds a host of suspects. All right,
so justin what do you think of the bounty Hunter?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I really like this one. I like it better than
writing Shotgun, but definitely has issues. But I liked how
Scott portrays this character where he enjoys what he does
as a bounty hunter, and it's not just for the money.
He likes going and finding these guys and give them
(23:51):
the business and even potentially killing them if need be.
He likes doing that. I think that was a nice,
you know, change in character, even for Scott, you know,
even to what he would come in some of his
later movies. But I thought that, especially when I had
watched this last year. It was after a run of
(24:13):
just some really less Instellar of his movies, and this
one was a nice surprise for me.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, I gotta say this, This was way more up
my alley than writing Shotgun. On pretty much every level,
I enjoyed this more. Yeah, and I agree. Randolph Scott
is so good in this. I love how ruthless he
is at the beginning of the movie. And he's kind
of a classic like I'm the only cause I'm interested
(24:42):
in type of character.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And there's one moment where a character tells him he'd
turn in or he'd turn on his own grandmother and
on her birthday if there was a reward for her,
and Scott agrees that he would do that. But I
thought the story was tighter. There was more action and
suspense throughout, and I thought it played out a lot
(25:06):
like a Philip Marlowe mystery. Like Scott basically becomes a
detective in this, and it made me wish he had
made like a private detective noir in the forties, because
he could have been awesome in that type of role.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah. Yeah, I never thought of that, but yeah, he
would have. He would. This is very Yeah, it is
kind of noir ish in the sense.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, And then the scene in the casino where Scott
meets Marie Windsor's character for the first time and she's
like flirting with him. That feels like it could have
come straight out of The Big Sleep, the you know,
the Humphrey Bogart Marlow movie. And I think overall the
supporting characters are are much better in this than they
(25:49):
are writing Shotgun. I thought Ernest Borgnine was really good,
and he had worked with Detaf and Scott previously on
The Stranger Warwick Gun. And I thought Harry Antrim was
pretty good as the doctor. Now Dolores Dorn she plays
the doctor's daughter, and she's the love interest, and I
think she's she's probably I would consider her to be
(26:11):
the weak link, Like she's not terrible, but she doesn't
have a whole lot of personality. She is really pretty.
She's she's thirty five years younger than Scott at the
time this movie was made, so we're keeping kind of
the age difference going. And I will say she does
feel younger than Joan Weldon to me, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
She definitely comes across as I wouldn't say a kid,
but definitely someone in their twenties.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah. Yeah, But overall, I think it's really entertaining and
well paced. I thought Marie Windsor was really good, and
she was always memorable to me. She has like such
a distinct look. Yeah, and I think they gave her
a good amount to do in this which it was
nice to have a female character that was had more
(27:03):
to do than just being a love interest. Now, and
both of these movies were made by Warner Brothers, and
I couldn't find the budgets for them, but I would
think the Bounty Hunter, being shot in three D, would
have a larger budget between the two, and I think
it really shows on screen. Like the I think the
(27:26):
locations are more interesting, the action I think is staged
a little better. Yeah, And of course it's not just
confined to a location for an extended period of time
like writing Shotgun is.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
And it's not just at the corner lot right like
writing Shotgun ones. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, And now this movie does have a twist of
sorts involving the sheriff character, who it turns out, is
like one of the guilty parties involved in the crime
Scott was hired to solve. I saw it coming kind
of close to the end of the movie. But there's
a scene kind of before it gets to the climax
(28:09):
where the sheriff shoots a card dealer who is like
one of his partners in crime, and it feels actually
very organic, like it didn't feel like at that point
I didn't see that the sheriff was actually going to
be one of the villains. And I know this was
(28:30):
a rewatch for you, but on a first time watch,
do you remember what she thought of the revealed it was?
Speaker 3 (28:37):
I will say, even on rewatching now, like I remember
because I was shot like you were about the sheriff
from that when he shot the one the card dealer.
I was when I first watched it last year, I
didn't see that coming. And then even on this rewatch
I got fooled again. It had even been a year
(28:59):
since I watched it last and I really was like,
oh man, yeah, making it perfectly clear that Ernest burg
nine is the the you know, is one of the three.
And then when it got to the end and they've
you clearly see that borg nine is you know, a
decent guy, and I was like, oh man, who is
(29:21):
the third third man? And when it was real, I went,
oh my god, that's right who it is. And I'm
like it got me, It really got me. And I'm like, man,
that was its kind of ballsy for you know, a
movie from nineteen fifty four to kind of have a
woman as the kind of almost the bine henchmen and
(29:44):
mastermind of this whole deal.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, three robbers, Yeah, definitely, Yeah. And I think they
do a great job with her too, because there's the
scene where she even comes to to Randolph Scott saying
like she could give him, you know, information and uh an,
and of course you know she was you know, kind
of you know, just just lying. Yeah, and but yeah, overall,
(30:13):
I thought the mystery like unfolded really nicely, and I
like the reveal also in the end where the piece
of mail, Like Randolph Scott, there's a scene where he
tells the postmaster like he's expecting a piece of mail
and maybe he tells the doctor. I can't remember which
(30:33):
character he tells, but he's receiving something that's going to
give away the identity of maybe at least one of
the criminals. And then when you've there and.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
He tells the I think it's the telegraph guy. Okay, yeah,
who is I think also the one.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Of the three gotcha? Yeah, and then at the end,
so the there is an envelope and there's kind of
an issue where the postmaster is is either not there
or does the postmaster does his character get killed.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Yes, yes, Mary windsor after because Scott follows the postmaster
out of town to find the money, and when he's
searching for him, here's a gunshot. And when he finds
the postmaster, he's dead and the money he's gone. So
we don't know where the money is. Well, yeah, we
(31:35):
don't know where the money is and who did it.
We all assume that it.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Was the sheriff, gotcha, okay, And so the sheriff they
decide like Scott almost like forces him to actually go
through the mail. But then when it's revealed what's in
the envelope that's addressed to Scott's character, it's just like
(31:59):
a promoteotional card for something.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Nice little joke to end the movie on. Yeah, but
I really like, I really liked that. That was a
nice little Red Harring type deal.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Yeah. I just thought it was well like pretty well
written and well done and uh yeah, definitely uh uh
recommend this one. Do you have but do you have
any any kind of final notes on the Bounty Hunter.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I will say, just like writing Shotgun, it's very you know,
the mob mentality, and you know, you can this whole
you know, the fifties with you know, McCarthyism and everything.
It kind of lends hand in hand with that. And
I think I had another note here that said Joy
and Drew. You know, when she signed her contract with
(32:51):
Warner Brothers, they asked her, you know, have you ever
been a communist and you know all this? And she's,
you know, of course I know. And when she read
the script, she's like, I didn't even realize you know
it an allegory from McCarthyism.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Oh okay, yeah she didn't.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
She didn't realize that one. I guess, you know, she
was like, oh yeah, I got this Randolph Scott Western
role and she didn't even realize it. And the scene
kind of goes with Bounty Hunter. It's kind of you know,
he rides into town and he doesn't even say he
just says he's after one, you know, one outlaw. He
(33:30):
didn't say he's after three. So in the the town's
question like who is it, who is it? Who are
you after? Give us a name? And he's like, oh no,
I can't tell you that. And so then there's guys
like shreaking out, going packing up all their things and
riding hard out of town thinking it's them and uh.
(33:53):
And there's one one guy who one kid, I should say,
he's a young guy who was wanted for something. It's
blanking on me. I think it was mostly kind of
like self defense if I remember.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Yeah, yeah, And he's in.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
The early part of the movie when he first rites
when Randolph Scott first rides into town. He starts taking
shots at him, trying to kill him because he thinks
Scott's after him. And when Scott finds out who he is,
he's like, oh, yeah, I remember you. And he said
go home to your wife on your farm, which comes
back around at the end where the kid helps him,
(34:33):
right yeah, And I just I thought that was a
nice little you know, touched where you know, he affected somebody.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
So yeah, And there's also another scene that kind of
stood out to me in regards to like the effect
that Scott's character has on the town just by saying
he's looking for one person. There's a scene where he
goes in into a bar or like a saloon, and
the first time he goes it's packed, and there's people gambling,
(35:08):
and the next time he goes it's it's pretty empty.
There's just like some drunk kind of barflies there.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
And and I think what it says about that town
is he's in a town where everyone is potentially guilty
of something, and.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
I like, everyone's got something to hide.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Yeah, I And this film is also very similar, like
really similar to a nineteen fifty nine Audie Murphy film
directed by Jack Arnold called.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
New Name on the Bullet.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yeah, it's very very similar, I think, whereas I think
Audie Murphy is a hit man instead of a bounty hunter,
and he rides into a town and they know who
he is by reputation, so everybody starts freaking out and
wondering who they're after. It's them, And that one is
(36:07):
a It is probably Audie Murphy's best film. That one
I really recommend. But yeah, it's funny how similar they were.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, I remember loving No Name on the bullet Jack
Arnold is a pretty he's a pretty interesting director.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
I don't think I've seen anything off the top of
my head. I've only I think I've only seen No
Name on the Bullet from him, not off the top
my head. I can't remember, but yeah, I really really
loved it. That one really caught me by surprise. I
knew nothing about it. I just remember seeing the art
on the blue ram, like, that's a really cool looking poster.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah. Cool. Well, did you have anything else on the
Bounty Hunter?
Speaker 3 (36:48):
Yeah, it's all I got, all right.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Well, well, Justin, where can people follow you on social media?
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah? You can find me on Twitter at Mick Flick
fifty one fifty. My Twitter and Instagram is the same thing,
and a letterbox at my name Justin McDonald.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
All right, Justin, Well, thank you very much. This was
a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Yeah, thank you, thank you for having me. It was
truly an honor to be on this podcast. I found it.
I love it. I love listening to other people talk
about Western's my favorite genre, and it's truly a highlight
of my week when I can go and I hear
what movie you're going to be covering next week, and
I can that weekend I can go and watch that movie.
(37:31):
It's truly a highlight of my week when I can
watch that movie and then listen to you and your
guests talk about it. And I'm honored to be one
of those people, so thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Oh well, I'm so happy to have you on and
and well, and we'll do this again for sure.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah, I would love I mean I would again.
I would love to talk about more Randolph Scott movies.
Audi Murphy, I would love to talk about him too,
I mean, Joel McCrae. I'm more than happy to be back.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
All right, excellent, Well, thank you very much. I hope
you enjoyed this episode. It was great to have Justin
on and hopefully he'll be back soon to talk about
more Randolph Scott movies in the future. Let me know
what you thought of this week's episode, and let me
know what other Randolph Scott movies you'd like to hear
us talk about. You can reach me via email at
Tumbleweeds and Tvcowboys at gmail dot com. You can follow
(38:23):
us on Facebook, Instagram, and x All the links are
in the show notes. Next week, Zach Bryant is back
and we're talking about Paint Your Wagon, which might not
be a Clinaswood movie that many people are very enthusiastic about,
but it was next on the list, so we got
to talk about it. We're also going to talk about
the first episode of Rawhide, and Zach and I are
going to be going through at least the first season
(38:44):
of it together, which should be a lot of fun.
I'm really looking forward to getting into another TV series
until then. If you're looking for more film related podcasts,
please check out other shows on the Someone's Favorite Productions
podcast network. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
Hello. My name is Kevin Tutor, and I'm one of
the three hosts of All My Host Major Film podcast,
dissecting many major indie studios in the films they release.
Every week, Myself, Charlie Nash, and Brighton Doyle discuss overlooked,
forgotten or bona fide classic indie films via studio specific
mini series. We've previously covered numerous films from Artists and Entertainment,
(39:17):
Lionsgate Films and New Line Cinema titles, including The Blair
Witch Project, American Psycho, Dogville, But I'm a Cheerleader, Saw
Recording for a Dream, and Ringmaster you know the Jerry
Springer film. Anyways, we have a fun time every week
and we hope you will join us. Subscribe to almost
major wherever you get your podcasts. Now proudly a part
of the Someone's Favorite Productions Podcast Network.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Thank you for listening to hear more shows from the
Someone's Favorite Productions Podcast Network. Please select the link in
the description.
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