Comanche Station
Directed by Budd Boetticher
Written by Burt Kennedy
1960/USA
Columbia Pictures Corp./Ranown Pictures Corp.
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Ben Lane: A lot of money has a way of making a man all greed inside….It can get him to thinking of doing things he might not otherwise do. … It wouldn’t surprise me if somebody didn’t try to take that woman away from you.
Jefferson Cody: Like you, for instance?
Ben Lane: Like me, in particular. [/box]
This was the last of the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott Westerns I will come across in my journey through the years. It was a good ride and this is a fitting swan song.
Scott plays Jefferson Cody, another in the series of his strong, silent, loners. When he hears of a white woman some Comanche are willing to trade for store goods, he sets off to buy her. He soon realizes that she is Mrs. Nancy Lowe who was kidnapped from a stagecoach awhile back. He sets forth to return her to her family.
While waiting for a stage coach at Comanche Station, the pair meet up with bad guy Ben Lane (Claude Akins) and his two hired guns/flunkies. Ben knows that Nancy’s husband has put up a $5,000 reward for her return and intends to stay with Cody and his charge every step of the way. He knows he will not be able to get Cody to give up Nancy without killing him and has a plan for doing just that. On the way, the party have a couple of run-ins with Comanches.
It’s funny. The stories of these all have basically the same formula but never feel formulaic. It’s the writing that keeps them fresh I think. There are always a lot of pithy zingers to enjoy. The direction, as always, is solid and makes wonderful use of the Western scenery. Boetticher keeps us begging for more. These are the rare films I always wish were longer.
Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQbVEYJQVE
Clint Eastwood discusses Budd Boetticher and the film
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I have to return to Las Vegas to deal with some family issues. Will be back February 13.
