Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Cristi_Ciopron A western drama with Scott as a federal agent, Tucker, Dorothy Malone, Macready as the insatiable rich man, wounded and obtuse (who has an otherwise austere life), Faylen and Corey as the henchmen, and Kemper in a supporting part as the dentist; all of it was shot in … California. The younger actors provide refreshing roles, Dorothy Malone has a glow of romance; one feels that the young woman is a great person.The movie has a delicious brio, the acting, the direction, the cinematography, the script make up an exciting yarn, each player's performance stands the expectation; the plot works with relatively few characters, no townspeople, no barroom fistfights …. It's a stylish action drama, unsentimental, with a strong psychological core, mostly delving into familial relations, and each role is nicely crafted; Tucker reminded me of Stewart more than of McQueen. Some of the things which made the quirk of the adult westerns of the '50s are already here, including the scenes of violence (done to the marshal by the henchmen, or to a henchman by the ruler) or the undertones of mischief (the precocious girl).These are plasticine characters.Kemper was a dependable character actor, deft, experienced. Tucker's role is intriguing, being simultaneously more and less likable than it could of been, as the player was indeed very likable, but despite his style here (his idea of the character seems to have been mediocre, or maybe even lacking, given that the role he got was a leading one); like he underplays the outlaw. Physically, Tucker aged quickly; like Chaney the 2nd, he also got ugly, of an expressive ugliness. Here, he was 30, he's effective, but doesn't care much about crafting his performance.There is a possibility he has been inhibited by the fact that he co-starred with a western lead, he was overwhelmed by the chance he got, he may have been taken aback, perplexed, so here he is perhaps a reluctant 2nd lead …. Scott's overall reputation today seems fair; he never made it to the hallmark of the greatest western players. Scott plays a quiet and self-controlled marshal; he cheats his partner, and has no prior life to be mentioned. The actor was unglamorous and workmanlike.Think of the westerns as of an exciting almanac.Also, think of this movie thus: its release year means to us now what 1884 could of meant then; today, its birthday is what then, by the year of its release, was 1884.

whitec-3 The Nevadan is too short and formulaic to work through all its possibilities, but if plots are the hardest parts of writing, this film had some story features that were interesting at least.First, Randolph Scott's role as an undercover marshal is carefully set up to be convincing to the characters on screen but also to tip the audience off--Tom escapes from his lawman escort and the lawman acts chastened till everyone is out of sight, then smiles. Forrest Tucker's bad-boy Tom is off for hidden gold, but Scott shows up to hang close with him, advising yet protecting Tom--if something happens to Tom, the gold's lost forever. Later, Scott strategically shares his identity with his love-interest, who blurts it to her villainous dad; then when bad dad comes after Scott and Tom, Scott informs Tom and keeps the young outlaw on his side. That had to be tough dialogue to write!Another interesting plot-feature is that all the honest characters seem to like bad-boy Tom. (I too am automatically on Forrest Tucker's side if only b/c he would later carry F Troop with Larry Storch for, what, 3 seasons?) By the end of the story, Scott has helped him survive and sent him back to a few more years of prison, but everyone acts like the busted bad boy has a future. Compared to most westerns, there's something seriously moral going on here between the hero and villain, and I don't mean the usual hero-turning-villain that later 50s westerns develop--in this case, the hero's virtue and competence somewhat redeem the villain.Third place in the story's redeeming features is the relationship between brother henchmen well played by Frank Faylen (Dobie's dad!) and Jeff Corey. The screenplay can't resolve the complicated relationships between the brothers and others, but families are like that, and both actors remain convincing.As long as the subject is acting, though, I agree with other contributors who found Dorothy Malone a radiant young actress. The film's only (inadvertently) funny moment occurs when another character addresses her love interest, the 50-something Scott, as "young man."

kidsmah Probably not enough excitement for today's kids because of the lack of explosions, etc; but it is the type of movie that is well suited for the entire family so if you you can hogtie the kids, do it!. Randolph Scott is, as always perfectly cast in the role he plays in the movie. Seeing him change from Eastern Dude to Western cowboy was surprising to say the least. Dorothy Malone plays the heroine and it was refreshing to see her play the type of girl that would definitely interest any man of good character. I was surprised to see Jock Mahoney who plays a minor role as one of the villains. He was a cowboy on a television series way back in 1951 called the Range Rider which ran for 78 episodes.

Robert J. Maxwell Unexceptional Westerns like this one almost always followed certain well-worn conventions. A few clips on the jaw and a man was unconscious. Men wore nondescript generic Western clothing, usually including a vest. The capo may have a string tie, possibly a suit, but most of the men wore neckerchiefs which were never used, as well as guns, which were. The girl friend was pure, although maybe mixed up. There was little in the way of character development and motivations were usually simple, as Galt's is here -- "gold fever", someone calls it. They were usually shot at a studio ranch or at Lone Pine or, as in this case, in both.Later in the 1950s ambitious directors like Anthony Mann introduced some life into the increasingly tired comic-book stories by giving us heroes who were neurotic and subsidiary characters with complicated motives. Other directors simply gave up trying and turned the cartoon into a parody, like one of those Steig cartoons in which a hand is seen drawing itself. Budd Boetticher was a director who gave up and reveled in the primitivism of the form.That's when Randolph Scott made the Westerns he's best known for, like "Ride Lonesome." Great title there. Scott's character was reduced to a prig, as morally upright as a gastropod on its poduncle, always putting temptation behind him, never telling a lie, rejecting offers of warmth and comfort from women -- a total bore, in other words. "The Nevadan" had the same producers as the later Boetticher films but Scott's character hadn't quite hardened into the inflexible clunk yet. He smiles here. He fibs too. He only shoots one guy, and not by outdrawing him either. It's an improvement over his later persona. But the villains aren't. Boetticher's villains were great -- Lee Marvin, Richard Boone, Pernell Roberts, James Coburn. The heavies here are not nearly as much fun. How can anyone take George MacReady seriously as a Western head heavy? He belongs in a corporation as part of a conspiracy. Faylen still sounds like the taxi driver in "Dark Passage." Ray Corey is supposed to have been a well-regarded drama teacher later on, and he gave a flawless performance in "In Cold Blood," but he brings nothing to the party here as a dull-witted joke. But the woman, Dorothy Malone, has never looked better, fresh faced, young, and innocent, as MacReady's daughter. Hollywood had a habit of glamorizing her to the point of unrecognizability. They gave her glossy hairdos, slick lips, two tons of pancake or waffle makeup, and false eyelashes the size of those canvas tarps you put up as extensions of your mobile home. She's a surprise. Nobody else in this movie is. But it's also worth mentioning Jock Mahoney as "Sandy," one of the bad guys. He was as homely as they come, but the man's physical presence was magnetic. I'm sure he didn't deliberately try for the effect but every swift movement was as graceful as a dancer's, the opposite of John Wayne who seemed to move by putting one or two limbs in motion and letting his torso follow them sometime later on. One example: watch the scene in which Malone gives Mahoney's horse a kick in the hindquarters and Mahoney finds himself splashing down into a creek, then spins the horse around and climbs the bank as if man and animal were one being, just as the Aztecs thought.