raymundjohansen

Few pairs of movies could chart the decline of American thinking through the 1960s as starkly as this film and the director's 1969 "The Wild Bunch." I admit to having been a big fan of the latter film in the old days, but having watched "Ride the High Country" with ever increasing admiration over the years, I can barely sit through William Holden's threatening that old bank teller and throwing him out in the street to certain death. Joel McCrea's Steve Judd would have sent that low-life bandit to Hades pronto. Either it was the booze, or the general 60's decadence and "cuteness" of glorifying evil-doers, but Sam Peckinpah certainly lost a great vision of honesty and decency, all beautifully embodied in this classic Western. The final scene of redemption and thanks and faith in an old friend is unforgettable. Easily one of the best of the genre.

Lee Marvin is perfectly cast as the gruff no-nonsense sergeant who while caring for his troops, recognizes that there is a job to be done, the doing of which will require that some pay with their lives. Two of the most disturbing scenes suggest that should it have come down to it, Marvin's character would have shot his own men rather than permit discipline to unravel. Remarkable for a war film in that it simultaneously reveals the commonality of the soldier's lot while refusing to fall into the trap of suggesting that neither side is right or wrong. We are left with no doubt that the Big Red One fought on the side of righteousness when we witness the scenes of the death camp liberation in Czechoslovakia. Although the narrating soldier downplays the accomplishments of he and his comrades at the end, the entire feeling of the film is one, not of waste and futility, but of sacrifice and gratitude at having survived. Looming over it all is that wooden Christ without eyes, as if not wishing to see the carnage of a world seemingly forsaken by God.

Southeast Asian freedom fighter is duped by communists and American bumbling into misidentifying his and his people's true enemies. Endlessly fascinating how this straightforward and beautifully told story is misinterpreted decade after decade. The film leaves the viewer with feelings of nostalgia for an America that was once confident of its own decency, while at the same time pointing out how that aspect of the American character (meaning our confidence) could lead to dangerous miscalculations. If you want to see a really disturbing segue, watch the last scene back-to-back with Colonel Kurtz's soliloquy on communists cutting off the arms of inoculated children.