A rather maddening western. Apparently Paramount went all out for an oater, filming in gorgeous southwestern Colorado and Aztec ruins of northwestern New Mexico. In short, there's plenty of scenic eye candy, while if there's a studio set anywhere, I couldn't spot it. Then too, there's A-list Cagney, maybe on the aging downgrade, but still Cagney. Seems he's trying to rehabilitate young man Derek from both a leg wound and a checkered past. As the new town sheriff facing a band of outlaws, an unreliable deputy Derek, and a pack of town ruffians, he's got his work cut out.As I see it, there's a problem with the screenplay—it's too loose and lacking in focus, rambling from one incident to the next in no particular order. Thus, neither tension nor suspense builds over time nor into the rather poorly staged climax. I suspect Paramount was trying to cater to Cagney's starring presence since he's in about every scene. He's his usual commanding self. However, that's part of the problem since Derek lacks the presence needed to create chemistry with the older, compelling man. Thus, their scenes together appear lop-sided in the extreme, and the heart of the movie fails to gel.I guess the studio figured young Derek's wayward role was apt material for brilliant director Nick Ray, who's specialty was troubled youth, i.e. They Live By Night (1948), Knock On Any Door (1949). Then too, Ray would soon triumph in the following year's iconic youth film, Rebel Without A Cause (1955). Unfortunately, I don't see any of his usual brilliance here, and I suspect he was neutralized by the rambling script and an A-list star. Though myopic editing may have figured, as it does in the river swim which strangely lacks any sequential coherence.All in all, the 93-minutes amounts to a disappointment given the production values and talent involved. In my view, the best parts are those lushly vivid scenes from Colorado's Rockies and rivers.

While I would never say that "Run For Cover" is a great western, it is a lot better than you'd expect--especially with its odd cast. I think the reason it works for me is that the film is very difficult to predict and is very unusual. In other words, unlike 98% of all westerns, this is NOT formulaic nor is it predictable. For these reasons alone, it's worth seeing.As I mentioned above, the cast is odd. While Jimmy Cagney did a few westerns earlier in his career, they really weren't all that good because his brash Eastern persona just seems completely out of place in the West. However, here he isn't bad at all--and his part is much more understated than usual. As for the second lead, John Derek, he is simply pretty--and nothing like a guy you'd expect in a western. But, he's not bad in the film.The plot is very strange and I don't want to give too much of it away because it would ruin the film. It begins with Cagney and Derek meeting up on the trail. In a funny scene that turns deadly serious, the two are shooting at a hawk (I assume it was a stunt hawk) and some guys on the nearby train think they are being robbed--so they toss the money out--right into the path of Derek and Cagney! I say it's deadly serious, though, because soon a posse shows up and shoots at the two without even asking questions! Derek is hit and not surprisingly, Cagney is darned angry! The town feels a bit bad for what's happened and they offer Cagney the job of sheriff. He's mad...but eventually agrees to take the job and makes Derek his deputy. Where it all goes from there...see it for yourself. Suffice to say that Cagney and Derek both have big secrets that only come out later. Well done all around--I assumed, incorrectly, that this film was just another western--and I am thrilled I was wrong.By the way...watch the final scene between Cagney and Derek. It's incredible!

Run for Cover (1955)The first reason to see this is the simple fact it's a Nicholas Ray movie. Ray didn't direct many movies, but among those few are some of the best--or at least my favorites--in the whole history of Hollywood. "They Live by Night" and "In a Lonely Place" are moving and interesting masterpieces, and "Johnny Guitar" is completely bizarre and original and a wild ride. Only slightly less interesting to me but more iconic is "Rebel without a Cause," made the same year as this one."Run for Cover" is an awkward fit, a Western by a director of mostly urban dramas. James Cagney isn't really cast wrong, per se, because he's presented as an outsider in this typical rough frontier town, but he comes off a little superficial, using his razor fast approach as an end rather than a means. And I think this is because the story is weak. It sounds good on paper, but it unfolds a little obviously, with some filler and some seemingly requisite but boring views of beautiful landscapes. There are gunfights, a run-in with Indians, and deception. It's a story without emotional subtlety and Ray is best a peeling back layers in human interaction, not just showing the action.Even the interesting Viveca Lindfors (who originally led me to the movie after seeing her in "Backfire," is oddly stiff, doubly odd because she's a Swedish immigrant playing a Swedish immigrant. You get the feeling she was never a poor farmer back home.I don't mean to pile on criticisms, but it's worth saying that the direction isn't good, either. The filming is dull, there are a couple of odd moments like when a big log suddenly appears in the river to save someone, and sometimes the cuts don't match one to the next. I'm guessing there's a deeper story to the awkwardness here, but all we have is the awkwardness.Not that it's a disaster. I watched the whole thing, and the key theme of being honorable even when being misunderstood is good. And a really nasty deception (or plain old ingratitude) is pulled off right before our eyes, more than once.. The filming location seems to be Colorado rather than California or Arizona (as many Westerns are), and that gives it a different feel. And there is a short section (out of nowhere) shot in an ancient Indian ruin in New Mexico, with good atmospherics. Plug your ears to some of the overdone music, and let the plot ride off a little on its own and there's a good chance you'll like a lot of this movie.

A rather diverse cast was assembled for this fairly standard western. Cagney plays a loner, traveling towards a town in which he hopes to put down stakes when he runs into hotshot young 'un Derek. The two strike up a tenuous camaraderie and happen upon a passing train whose engineers mistake them for robbers. Soon the townspeople and the sheriff are of the same mind and a posse comes out to shoot Cagney and Derek for a crime they didn't commit! Cagney is grazed in the scuffle, but Derek is near death and has a badly mangled leg. Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, Cagney stays on at a farm on the outskirts of town to look after Derek. The farm, run by old-world Swede Hersholt and his single daughter Lindfors, begins to grow on Cagney and he decides to stay in town despite the mentality of the citizens and eventually rises to Sheriff. Lindfors also begins to grow on Cagney and, after Derek is well enough to limp around, they fall in love. Things get sticky, however, when the local bank is held up and Cagney must confront the same attitude from the townsfolk as he encountered when he met them (and Derek proves to be a less able Deputy than Cagney had hoped.) What is a rather typical western storyline is given a small boost by the skill of the director and the beautiful (and surprisingly lush and varied) New Mexican scenery. Cagney gives a solid performance and is well-matched by the energetic and sometimes intense Derek. (Derek is a full six inches taller than Cagney, so he's hunched over in various scenes and Cagney is elevated in order to play down the height differential. One scene in the jail, however, has Cagney looking downright diminutive in relation to the townsmen who are one small step up, yet tower over him.) The always tan and handsome Derek provides a small hint of the teen angst that director Ray would give full attention to in his later "Rebel Without a Cause". Lindfors is attractive and creative in her thankless role, with perhaps a bit too much hand-wringing and hysteria in her voice. Also, on her fourth husband in real life, she is hardly typecast as the repressed and virginal farm daughter! Folks who've been curious to know who in the world Hersholt was from his yearly humanitarian award given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences can get a healthy taste of him here. He brings a dry, but wry and understated quality to the stern, old-fashioned father. Borgnine is effective in a very small role as an outlaw. There's a very corny title song that gets the attention right off the bat, but things turn serious soon after. It's a simple, but diverting western with a mild surprise or two along the way.