AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

bsmith5552 "Gunsight Ridge" is another of those entertaining little 80 minute westerns that star Joel McCrea made in the latter part of his career. This one is a low budget black and white oater that is nonetheless made more entertaining by the off beat casting of Mark Stevens as the psychopathic killer Velvet Clark.Mike Ryan (McCrea), an express undercover agent is travelling on a stagecoach along with Molly Jones (Joan Weldon), the daughter of the town sheriff and townsman Billy Daggett (I. Stanford Jolley) when they are stopped by a pair of bandits. After the stage is underway, bandit Velvet Clark (Stevens) gives his partner "both barrels" because he had been recognized. This was the first killing in a series of robberies.In town, Ryan teams up with sheriff Tom Clark (Addison Richards) to track down the murderer while at the same time, pursuing the lovely Molly. Velvet and Ryan are both staying at Mrs. Donahue's boarding house. Ryan walks in on Velvet while he is quietly and discreetly playing the piano. He reacts violently to having been seen doing so.Sheriff Jones has an obsession with catching the murderer so as to not leave a blot on his record. After leaving a poker game one evening, Velvet quietly robs the local bank. He packs the loot in a box of dynamite and rides to his modest little mine. The sheriff, having become suspicious, trails Velvet and accidentally blows up the dynamite box containing the bank loot. Velvet then shoot down the lawman and flees.Along the way Velvet witness the Lazy Heart Ranch Hands (L.Q. Jones, Morgan Woodward, Jim Foxx, Steve Mitchell) hold up a train. He then decides to take the loot for himself. Meanwhile, Ryan following the sheriff, discovers his body and sets out after Velvet.At a remote General Store, the local Justice of the Peace (Herb Vigran) and wedding guests trap the Lazy Heart bunch and hold them. Velvet rides in and tries to take the loot by posing as a detective. But then Ryan appears on the horizon and.................................Mark Stevens plays the vicious Velvet against type. Without remorse he shot guns one person and guns down two others. That extra shot he puts into the sheriff shows his coldness. Joel McCrea plays..well Joel McCrea with his usual authority and dignity, a part he had come to master over the last 15 years of his lengthy career.Addison Richards, long a recognizable character actor gets a larger than usual part as the sheriff and carries it off well. Joan Weldon was a leading actress in many 50s westerns but never went on to bigger and better things. Darlene Field plays Stevens' saloon girl friend who catches him in the act. Carolyn Craig has a nice bit as the naïve farm girl who encounter both Velvet and Ryan during Ryan's pursuit. Slim Pickens steals the opening sequence as the boozy stagecoach driver Hank. I believe he was one of a few actors who could actually drive a team of horses. Jody McCrea, Joel's son, plays the groom in the wedding sequence. And from the "blink and you'll miss him" dept., watch for Dan Blocker, of TVs "Bonanza" as the bartender.

Spikeopath Gunsight Ridge is directed by Francis Lyon and written by Talbot and Elisabeth Jennings. It stars Joel McCrea, Mark Stevens, Joan Weldon, Addison Richards, Darlene Fields and Carolyn Craig. Music is by David Raksin (title tune sung by Dean Jones) and cinematography by Ernest Laszlo. McCrea plays Mike Ryan, an undercover Stage Line agent who while investigating a series of robberies takes the job of a deputy Sheriff in a border Arizona town. Gunsight Ridge is a neat little Western, better than most of its black and white type because it rises above its formulaic story to reveal interesting characters and good strands of plotting. In the mix is the detective work as Ryan hunts stagecoach robber Velvet Clark (Stevens) whilst also enforcing law in the town. There's a gang of ruffians on the outskirts of town known as The Lazy Heart Boys, who offer a side-bar of criminal activity, while Ryan and the Sheriff's daughter (Weldon) start to build an attraction. There's cold blooded murder on show, a rampaging stagecoach sequence through the rocky terrain and a finale up in them thar rocks that satisfies greatly. It is also a film that looks and sounds terrific. Raksin's score is full of thunder and sorrow, while Laszlo's moody photography is atmospherically noirish. It's the characterisation of Velvet Clark that is the trump card though. He is shown to be a ruthless killer and thief, yet he also has a sympathetic edge. He is given some depth by the writers, shown to be a frustrated pianist, he's tortured by his artistic leanings and how he has ended up on the wrong side of the law. With McCrea doing another in his line of straight backed and stoic man of the people turns, the dual aspect of good and bad characters works beautifully. There's other little character moments of worth as well, such as Carolyn Craig playing a young farm girl romanticising herself with the outlaw Clark, and old Sheriff Jones (Richards) obsessed with catching the robber because he doesn't want his perfect record blemished. Comfortably recommended to fans of 1950s "B" Westerns. 7/10

whitec-3 Other posters are right to mention this film's formal qualities—strong acting, excellent b/w cinematography, and poignant touches like the villain's piano interludes and Carolyn Craig as the farm girl—along with the film's historical status as a late specimen of the B western film when television was chock-a-block with shoot-em-ups.This transitional historical moment gives Heartbreak Ridge a hybrid quality, as it combines the movie western's intensity and depth of character with the TV western's bare staging. The script itself could hardly offer less to work with, with the back-stories for the hero and villain being provided only by Joel McCrea's Irish affectations and Mark Stevens's 2 or 3 lines about having the talent to play the piano but not the money or leisure. "Gunsight Ridge" is a good title, but if like me you wait in westerns for at least some allusion to explain a title, for this one you have to wait until someone casually mentions a border obstruction that will provide the setting for the final showdown.The western in any medium is always fairly minimalist—the more I've watched, the more words seem only pauses in action, landscape, and music. Given such plain fare, skill matters more than brilliance: for instance, Joel McCrea could ride a horse, and the cinematographer knew how to capture his skill. Cameo bonus: the groom in the quirky border town marriage is the late Jody McCrea, who would play the comic Bonehead in early 60s surfing-beach movies with Annette and Frankie.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) There are two reasons why this western is above average: first the black and white cinematography of Ernest Laszlo. "Stalag 17", "Inherit the Wind"(where he got an Oscar), "Judgement at Nuremberg" are among his films. Second, the presence of Mark Stevens, as Velvet, a charismatic outlaw who manages to make his talent for playing the piano, the reason for all his crimes. Joel McCrea is good as always and the two women (one falls for McCrea and the other for Steven) add interest to the film, not counting the excellent Farm Girl who also falls for Stevens. In my childhood I used to love westerns where the outlaws used scarves as masks. Seeing this film makes me feel a child again, and enjoy every minute.