Westbound (1959)

Director: Budd Boetticher

Writers: Berne Giler, Albert S. Le Vino

Composer: David Buttolph

Starring: Randolph Scott, Virginia Mayo, Karen Steele, Michael Dante, Andrew Duggan, Michael Pate, Wally Brown, John Daheim, Walter Barnes

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Hellbound for Vengeance for the Flaming Redhead Who Betrayed Him!

Plot: In 1864 Cavalry Captain John Hayes reluctantly follows orders to become the civilian boss of the Overland Stage Line, which keeps the flow of Western gold to the Union and will help it win the Civil War. Headquarters for the stage line is a small Colorado town with Southern sympathizers who will do anything they can to sabotage his mission. Resistance to his efforts is led by former friend ad colleague Clay Putnam, who has taken advantage of Hayes' absence and married his former sweetheart.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I've seen some Randolph Scott Westerns over the years and they're pretty entertaining. This one is no exception.  There's a lot of gunplay in this one which is a good thing. It's also only 72 minutes so you're not giving up a huge chunk of time to digest it.  What you get is a good, better than average B-Western with a good cast, nasty villains and a little romance (but not much so as not to scare off the men folk from watching it).  I did find it curious as to how quickly a certain gal got over her man and throw her attention toward a certain dude at the end of the picture.  That just added to the fun.  Oh, when you watch it, did this scene strike you like it did me?  Hmmmmmmm.

 

OH, YEAH!!!