Ride the High Country
| Ride the High Country | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Sam Peckinpah |
| Produced by | Richard E. Lyons |
| Written by | N. B. Stone Jr. William Roberts (uncredited) Sam Peckinpah (uncredited) |
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| Music by | George Bassman |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Edited by | Frank Santillo |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $813,000 |
Ride the High Country (released in the UK as Guns in the Afternoon) is a 1962 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Mariette Hartley. The supporting cast includes Edgar Buchanan, James Drury, Warren Oates, and Ron Starr. The film's script, though credited solely to veteran TV screenwriter N. B. Stone, Jr., was – according to producer Richard E. Lyons – almost entirely the work of Stone's friend and colleague, William S. Roberts, and Peckinpah himself.
In 1992, Ride the High Country was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film featured Scott's final screen performance and was the last McCrea film to win any critical acclaim.
In the early years of the twentieth century, an aging ex-lawman, Steve Judd (Joel McCrea), is hired to guard a shipment of gold from a high country mining camp to the town of Hornitos, California. Six miners were recently murdered trying to transport their gold on the one trail leading down from the crest of the Sierra Nevada. In his prime, Judd was a tough and respected lawman, but now his threadbare clothes and spectacles serve as reminders that he is long past his prime. Judd enlists the help of his old friend and partner Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott) to guard the gold shipment. Gil, who makes his living passing himself off as a legendary sharpshooter named The Oregon Kid, enlists the help of his young sidekick, Heck Longtree (Ron Starr).
Judd, Gil, and Heck ride up into the mountains toward the Coarse Gold mining camp. Judd doesn't know that Gil and Heck are planning to steal the gold for themselves—preferably with Judd's help, but without it if necessary. Along the way they stop for the night at the farm of Joshua Knudsen (R. G. Armstrong) and his daughter Elsa (Mariette Hartley). Knudsen is a domineering religious man who warns against those who "traffic in gold" and trades Bible verses with Judd at the dinner table. That night, Elsa and Heck meet in the moonlight, but Knudsen interrupts their conversation. Back at the house, he admonishes and slaps her for her behavior. Unable to tolerate her domineering father any longer, Elsa leaves her home the next morning. She later joins Judd, Gil, and Heck on their ride to Coarse Gold where she intends to marry her fiancé. Along the way she and Heck flirt and he tries to force himself on her but is stopped by Judd.
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Wikipedia