Back home

Man in the Saddle

23 votes

Producing House

A small rancher is being harassed by his mighty and powerful neighbor. When the neighbor even hires gunmen to intimidate him he has to defend himself and his property by means of violence.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1951-12-02

Runtime: 87 mins

Director: André de Toth

Spoken language: English

Genres: Western

Original title: Man in the Saddle

Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Scott-Brown Productions

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

G

Geronimo1967
Randolph Scott’s production company had a hand in this, but it’s still all a fairly formulaic western. He is “Owen” who is having troubles with his empire-building neighbour “Will” (Alexander Knox). This latter man has a sort of marriage of convenience with “Laurie” (Joan Leslie) who has some history with “Owen” too. Aware that his marriage is a bit of a sham, “Will” determines to make sure he grinds his erstwhile rival into the dust. With the temperature rising and the body count starting to mount, it might be down to “Laurie” to think of a solution to save the day. Will anyone listen? It’s a perfectly watchable film this, but the plot doesn’t really offer much that’s new and as usual with Scott, he seems to be just going through the motions without really imposing himself on the film. There’s also not much chemistry between him and the rather bland Leslie and even the normally reliable Knox seems out of sorts. There’s too much verbiage and though the  scenery looks good, not enough use of it is made to create much action. It passes the time fine, but is pretty unremarkable all round.
2025-06-26

J

John Chard
Rancho Skulduggery. Man in the Saddle is directed by Andre De Toth and adapted to screenplay by Kenneth Gamet from the novel written by Ernest Haycox. It stars Randolph Scott, Joan Leslie, John Russell, Ellen Drew, Alexander Knox, Richard Rober and Guinn Williams. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr. More known and rightly lauded for the series of Western films he made with Budd Boetticher, it often gets forgotten that Randolph Scott also had a long working relationship with Andre De Toth. Man in the Saddle was the first of six Western films the two men would make together, and it’s a pretty impressive start. Sometimes you see words such as routine and standard attributed to a lot of Westerns from the 1950s, and Man in the Saddle is one such film that’s unfairly tarred with that brush. Not that the narrative drive is out of the ordinary, the plot essentially sees Randy as a peaceful farmer forced to get nasty when evil land baron flexes his muscles, but the zest of the action, the stunt work, the colour photography (Lone Pine as always a Mecca for Western fans) and Scott, mark this out as a thoroughly entertaining production. Characterisations carry a bit more psychological smarts than your average “B” Western of the era. There’s a four way tug-of-love-war operating that is clearly going to spell misery, pain and death for somebody, a capitalist slant that bites hard with its egotistical bully boy overtones, while the obsessive behaviour of the principal players adds another dark cloud over this part of the West. Then there is the action scenes, of which De Toth once again shows himself to be a darn fine purveyor of such directional skills. And so, we get an ace runaway blazing wagon sequence, a stampede, a quite brilliant gunfight in a darkened saloon, a mano-mano fist fight that literally brings the house down – and then continues down a steep ravine, and the closing shoot-out played out during a dust storm doesn’t lack for adrenalin rushes. Scott is once again a bastion of Western coolness, more so when he throws off the bright attire he wears for the first half of film, to then switch to black clothes that signifies he’s going all bad ass on those who have caused him grief. Undervalued for sure, both as a Scott picture and as a Western movie in general. Don’t believe the routine and standard scare mongers, there’s good craft here and it’s a whole bunch of Oater fun. 7.5/10
2014-04-05

Recommendations

Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border Ambush
0

Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border Ambush

1954-01-01

In TV's pioneer days when kids idolized the Lone Ranger, the Texas Kid was a knight errant of the fr

A Lawless Street
2.6

A Lawless Street

1955-11-15

A Marshal must face unpleasant facts about his past when he attempts to run a criminal gang out of t

Man Without a Star
3.2

Man Without a Star

1955-03-24

A wandering cowboy gets caught up in a range war.

The Sundowners
2.5

The Sundowners

1950-02-02

Brother is pitted against brother in this tale of fueding ranchers in the old west.

Secret of Giving
3.5

Secret of Giving

1999-11-25

As Christmas approaches, a single mother struggles to raise her son and keep up the payments on her

All Hat
1.6

All Hat

2007-09-11

An ex-con returns to his rural Ontario roots and outwits a corrupt and wealthy thoroughbred owner tr

Along the Navajo Trail
0

Along the Navajo Trail

1945-09-15

U.S. Deputy Marshal Roy investigates the disappearance of a government agent who has come to Dale's

Legends of the Fall
3.7

Legends of the Fall

1994-12-23

In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons,

El Dorado
3.7

El Dorado

1966-12-17

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together

Giant
3.8

Giant

1956-11-08

Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful yo

Heaven with a Gun
2.7

Heaven with a Gun

1969-05-20

Jim Killian arrives in a small Arizona town hoping to establish a peaceful life as the local preache

Tom Horn
3.2

Tom Horn

1980-03-28

A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial f

South Pacific Trail
0

South Pacific Trail

1952-10-19

Rex, Slim and the boys are fired by a wealthy rancher but decide to help him out when his daughter i

Gun Smoke
0

Gun Smoke

1935-05-01

Parker, seeking revenge on Culverson, is bringing in a flood of sheep. Branning signs on at the Culv

The Hawk of Powder River
2.8

The Hawk of Powder River

1948-04-09

B-western starring Eddie Dean as a singing lawman who comes to the aid of a pretty rancher (June Car

Cow Country
2

Cow Country

1953-04-25

A hired hand gets caught between a noble rancher and ruthless land grabbers.

Forty Guns
3.3

Forty Guns

1957-09-10

An authoritarian rancher rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new Ma

Thundering Romance
0

Thundering Romance

1924-12-15

A cowboy sets out to help a pretty young girl who is about to lose her ranch when crooks plan to for

The Red Pony
3

The Red Pony

1949-03-08

Peter Miles stars as Tom Tiflin, the little boy at the heart of this John Steinbeck story set in Sal

Bullets and Saddles
2.5

Bullets and Saddles

1943-10-29

Hammond is after the Craig ranch and has framed Charlie Craig for murder. Mother Craig brings in the