1954's "Stranger on Horseback" was shot in Sedona AZ in the rarely used Ansco color process, rather than the far more popular Cinecolor. Joel McCrea is the star, playing circuit judge Richard Thorne, arriving in a town ruled by the Bannerman clan, investigating a shooting death where no arrests have been made. Trouble begins when Thorne learns that Tom Bannerman (Kevin McCarthy) was the shooter, his father Josiah (John McIntire) unwilling to allow any lawman to bring his offspring to trial. The beautiful Miroslava commands the screen as Amy Lee Bannerman, whose allegiance wavers under the judge's influence. Although a star in Mexico, she was actually Czech-born, a sad suicide only two weeks prior to this film's release. A year away from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," the amiable Kevin McCarthy just isn't the right actor to play a slimy villain (all the bad guys are rather colorless). Legendary scene stealer John Carradine is in typical form, playing the tailor-made role of Colonel Buck Streeter, indeed a trial run for his Cassius Starbuckle in 1962's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," seedy Southern prosecutor aiding the judge while staying close to the Bannermans (he disappears from the film once the cross country journey begins).

Stranger on Horseback (1955) ** (out of 4) Judge Thorne (Joel McCrea) arrives in a small town ran by Josiah Bannerman (John McIntire) and finds that the man pretty much owns everything and makes sure that everything is under his control. This doesn't sit too well with the Judge because he wants to bring the man's son (Kevin McCarthy) to trial for the murder of an innocent man but the Judge doesn't find too many people willing to stand with him. STRANGER ON HORSEBACK isn't a masterpiece and it's not even a good film but it's a decent little "B" Western that has an attractive cast even if the story itself is just a second-rate mix of HIGH NOON and 3:10 TO YUMA. Considering the talent involved I can't help but label this a minor disappointment because not only do you have McCrea doing a role he was born to play but you have the highly underrated Tourneur calling the shots. The most surprising thing is that there's not a single shot that will remind you of anything Tourneur had done in his career. Usually the director had a certain eye for style but none of that is to be seen here and that's a real shame because a little more spark is exactly what the familiar story needed. The story itself is pretty familiar stuff that you could trace back to the Westerns of the 1930s. A good man comes into a corrupt town and must try to battle the owner for what's right. The familiar story leads up to a finale that I won't ruin but I must admit that I found it rather weak. I don't mind too much the way the Judge character goes about doing his business but what the McIntire character does just seemed way too far-fetched and I thought it pretty much made the entire movie pointless. What makes the film worth sitting through is the terrific cast with McCrea leading the way as the good guy. Along with Randolph Scott you really couldn't find a better good guy than McCrea and he does a nice job with the part. McCarthy was fun in this early role even if his sometimes comic approach is a tad bit off. It's always fun seeing McIntire as he eats up scenes and we even get John Carradine as the corrupt prosecutor. Miroslava plays the bad man's cousin and makes for some good chemistry with McCrea. I'm not familiar with the Louis L'Amour story so I can't say how close this film follows it but the routine screenplay could have used some better stuff but if you're a fan of the cast then you might as well kill 66-minutes.

The review by Tom Slaback (tom-374) from Prescott, AZ says that he's only seen this film in black & white and wanted to know if a color version is available. Well, I rented the DVD and it IS is color, though the DVD indicates that there is no surviving negative and the copy is not optimal. In other words, while it's in color, the colors are a bit off (everybody appears sunburned because of the over-saturation of reds) and the print is a tad fuzzy.The film begins with a new federal circuit judge (Joel McCrea) arriving in a western town. The first thing he notices is that all the businesses in town are owned by a man named Bannerman. The second thing he notices is that the sheriff and prosecuting attorney in town are bought and paid for by Bannerman--and he and his family can pretty much do as they please. It's obvious that there will soon be a showdown between the judge and Bannerman--and it's a fairly typical sort of plot for a western.At times the plot is a lot like a lower budget "5:10 to Yuma" as well as "High Noon"--awfully good company in which to place any film. Despite having many familiar elements, Joel McCrea is so good in the film and the movie is made economically (not just cost but a lot of bang in such a short film), it's well worth seeing.

As usual, Joel McCrea is excellent in an underplayed role of dignity. The movie was filmed on magnificent locations surrounding Sedona, Arizona. Unfortunately I have only found black and white copies of this movie. To due the film justice it should be seen in color, which would greatly increase my rating for this movie.