"Buchanan Rides Alone" was the fourth of seven films made between 1956-60 starring Randolph Scott and directed by famed director Budd Boetticher. As the title suggests, Scott plays yet another loner with no family ties.Tom Buchanan (Scott) is a soldier of fortune fighting in Mexico in order to earn a stake to stock his small ranch in West Texas. He arrives in the small border town of Agry Town on the U.S./ Mexican border. He is carrying with him $2,000 which he has earned in Mexico.The town is controlled by the Agry brothers. Judge Amos Agry (Tol Avery)and the sheriff Lew Agry (Barry Kelley). Amos Agry (Peter Whitney) is the simple minded brother who acts as a hotel clerk and Simon's son Roy (William Leslie) is a womanizing hot head. Carbo (Craig Stevens) is Simon's "bodyguard" who keeps a cool head midst the double dealings between Simon and Lew.Roy rides frantically into town with visible markings on his face. Tom and Roy have words just as a young Mexican Juan de la Vega (Manuel Rojas) rides in in pursuit of Roy. Juan shoots Roy and is taken by Lew's men. A scuffle ensues and Tom comes to Juan's aid. Both men are arrested and charged with Roy's murder. Tom is 'relieved of his money belt by Lew. Lew meanwhile, is ready to lynch both when Simon races in to stop the lynchings. Carbo had convinced Simon that a lynching would be bad for his political aspirations.Tom is found innocent and is sent packing, escorted by Lew's deputies Pecos (L.Q. Jones) and Lafe (Don C. Harvey), who have orders to kill Buchanan. Pecos and Tom become friendly, both coming from the same part of Texas. Pecos saves Tom's life by killing Lafe. Tom then offers the likable Pecos a piece of his ranch.Juan, meanwhile, is sentenced to hang. Before the sentence can be carried out, Carbo convinces Simon to demand a $50,000 ransom from Juan's father, a wealthy Mexican rancher (whom we never see). Courier Gomez (Joe De Santis) returns with the money and Lew plans to get the money for himself.Lew sends Juan along with his deputies led by Waldo (Robert Anderson) to an isolated shack. Unfortunately, Buchanan and Pecos are already there. They tie up the deputies and take Juan away telling him to flee to his home. However Waldo and the others manage to escape and follow. Tom believing Pecos and Juan are safe, returns to Agry. Waldo kills Pecos and re-captures Juan, bringing him back to town.Lew then begins to negotiate with Gomez for the ransom but is prevented from doing so and....................................................As in other entries in the series, there are sympathetic villains. Buchanan becomes fond of Pecos to the point of taking him on as a partner. Although more self-serving, the gunman Carbo and Buchanan develop a mutual respect for each other. And, there is no real leading lady in this one. Watch for western veterans Terry Frost and Riley Hill as members of the jury at Juan and Tom's trial.Another great little western from Scott and Boetticher..

Happy-go-lucky drifter Randolph Scott rides into a crooked border town controlled by the sleazy Agry family and steps into trouble when he saves a Mexican youth accused of murder from being beaten to death by the sheriff.As with the other Bud Boetticher directed westerns starring Randolph Scott, this is excellent storytelling with stunning Technicolor cinematography that looks like a million bucks, with perfect composition in every frame!The fast-paced, entertaining story is a nice blend of suspense, drama, and comedy, with great performances by all the actors involved, especially a young L.Q. Jones. His eulogy to a fellow hired goon is a real hoot.

Making his way home to Texas, Tom Buchanan stops off at the little town of Agry for rest and refreshments. Quickly finding that the town is run by the family Agry itself, Buchanan falls foul of one of them straight away. His problems are further compounded when he steps in to stop a young Mexican from taking a beating. Something that finds him on the end of a rope with things looking rather grim.How you fare with Buchanan Rides Alone may depend on how many (if any) Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott collaborations you have seen prior. For this adaptation of Jonas Ward's novel "The Name's Buchanan" is lighter in tone than their other well regarded pieces. Not to decry this as a standalone picture of course, but although it's part of the "Ranown" cycle, it's a long way from the more "Adult Western" richness of The Tall T, Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station for example. Conversely the other way is also true, if this is the first one you sample from the duo, and you enjoy it, well you may not take to the deeper themed, harsher other films in their cannon.Buchanan Rides Alone gets in a does a job without any fuss or boring filler play. Randolph Scott as Buchanan clearly is enjoying adding a bit of comic zip to proceedings, with Boetticher evidently happy to keep things smooth for the one hour and twenty minutes running time. Fine support comes from Barry Kelley, Tol Avery and the irrepressible L.Q. Jones, whilst Lucien Ballard was the obvious and right choice to photograph the Old Tuscon location. Not one to take too seriously, but enough drama to keep one interested, and certainly one that gives notice to what a fine and undervalued performer Randy Scott was. 6.5/10

Randolph Scott and director Budd Boetticher team up again with this average cowboy flick about loyalty and betrayal. Loner Tom Buchanan, on his way home to west Texas, stops along the California/Mexican border and is jailed falsely accused of being the parter of a young Mexican trying to avenge the rape of his sister. Buchanan is released, but led out of town minus his money belt containing $5,000. He escapes being shot in the back and returns to town to collect his stolen money. In doing so, he must start some mistrust and anger between three corrupt brothers who run the town. Buchanan ends up in the manipulation of a double-cross to keep the Mexican youth from hanging. An obvious low-budget western, but still interesting. Also in the cast of players: Craig Stevens, Manuel Rojas, Barry Kelley, Peter Whitney, L.Q. Jones, Tol Avery and Jennifer Holden.Of note: Miss Holden only appeared in three movies; the first being her better role in the Elvis Presley classic JAILHOUSE ROCK(1957).