The Proud Ones
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Movie Reviews of The Proud Ones
Movie Review: Good Robert Ryan Western
Summary: 4 Stars
Big screen western with good cast and interesting story line. Lawman Ryan is nicked in a gun fight and starts to have vision problems that inhibits his ability to deal with the bad guys. He has to rely on the son of a man he killed in a questionable gunfight in his past to aid him when the going gets tough. Robert Ryan is fine as the town lawman, and Jeffrey Hunter gives an adequate pre Searchers performance as the offspring of the man Ryan killed. The great Walter Brennan is all but waisted in a small role as deputy as is Arthur O'Connel. Villan Robert Middleton as always, is smooth and greasy and provides the worthy evil advisary whom Ryan has had past run ins with. All in all, not a classic, but an intersting and satisfyingly entertaining western film footnote. I'd rate as 3.5 stars but will round up in deference to the release of the film on DVD. Movie Review: classic dud
Summary: 2 Stars
In the pantheon of great westerns The Proud Ones is a meager contribution! It is hard to believe that 20th Century Fox,the studio behind this just about fair offering, had the same year given us the splendid "The Last Wagon".
It is poorly written and badly directed.The weak screenplay by Edmund North and Joseph Patracca renders the cast hesitant and unconvincing. The picture's star Robert Ryan looks distinctly ill at ease as the embattled town Marshall. Ryan's forte is playing somewhat deranged characters i.e. "Crossfire", "Beware My Lovely", "Odds Against Tomorrow" etc. but here as a square jawed upright lawman in a frontier town he is not wholly accaptable. His playing lacks the buoyancy Glenn Ford or Randolph Scott could have brought to the part.The lovely Virginia Mayo has nothing to do except stand around and look er, lovely. She is nothing more than simply 'the girl' in the picture. Third billed is Jeffrey Hunter as a gunfighter out to avenge his father's death. Hunter for me always seemed a gloomy performer and here seems gloomier than usual. Perhaps the dull script could have had something to do with his on screen demeanour.
Best in it is the wonderful Walter Brennan as the jailer. His role looking every bit like a dry run for his marvellous 'Stumpy' in Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" three years later. Good too is Arthur O'Connell as the over anxious and nervous father-to-be deputy and Robert Middleton as the immaculately dressed Saloon owning baddie (how come they always manage to own the town Saloon? Hmmm.)
Ultimately though the movie isn't really up to much and "The Proud Ones" remains a vehicle that few involved in the production could feel any pride. There are no marks either for the awful DVD cover with terrible graphics and featuring a shot which doesn't even come from the movie. However I give it a two star rating for the fine Cinemascope/Colour cinematography by the great Lucien Ballard and the haunting theme tune (a minor hit in the late fifties) by Lionel Newman which is totally wasted on this potboiler of an oater.
Why don't Fox put out on DVD the far superior "Rio Conchos"? A great western with plenty of action and containing the best performance by the recently deceased Anthony Franciosa.
Movie Review: Truly Superb (but overlooked) little Western
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert Ryan made a number of Westerns during the 1950s and '60s, but always he seemed to be overshadowed by other actors in the genre. Nevertheless, who can forget THE WILD BUNCH or his magnificent portrayal of "old man Clanton" in the seriously underrated HOUR OF THE GUN (with James Garner). And his self-effacing determination is equally unforgettable in THE DAY OF THE OUTLAW. Now one of his best roles, as the straight-arrow sheriff in THE PROUD ONES is on DVD and available at a very reasonable price. Finally. THE PROUD ONES is perhaps director Robert Webb's finest picture, combining great action scenes and plot twists, taught dialogue, and a superior cast that includes not only Ryan, but Jeffrey Hunter, Walter Brennan, Virginia Mayo, and Robert Middleton. Minor roles are given attention as well, especially Arthur O'Connell (as Ryan's deputy) and, important thematically, the wonderful Paul Burns, who plays the town drunk and panhandler....Hunter, when he finally assumes the mantle of sheriff, will give alms to Burns at the finish of the movie, just as Ryan did at the beginning, when he was sheriff. This touch dramatically completes the movie and has much to say about Hunter's increased maturity. THE PROUD ONES is a superb movie, with a great story...it will repay re-viewing. Unlike some Westerns, I don't tire of watching it periodically. It is that good....Movie Review: Great Robert Ryan Western
Summary: 4 Stars
The Proud Ones is one those great Westerns that gets overlooked when the great ones are mentioned. Maybe that because it never enjoyed a wide (if any) release on VHS. But now that it's coming to DVD, one can only hope that many fans of the genre will come to appreciate it.
Robert Ryan usually played a villain or a washed up, faded man of action in westerns, but in The Proud Ones, he plays the good guy. Ryan plays Cass Silver, a marshal of a booming cow town whose enjoying a relatively quiet life with girlfriend and hotel owner Virginia Mayo when Honest John Barrett, played by perennial Western villain Robert Middleton, shows up to open a saloon/gambling parlor. Barrett and Silver have a history. In a similar situation, Silver left town rather fight it out with Barrett, who is corrupt and murderous. Barrett and Silver head for a showdown, while Silver also has to deal with Jeffrey Hunter, playing the son of a gunfighter Silver had to kill years earlier.
The Proud Ones has lots of drama, gunplay, and Western action. It should not be missed.