THE PROUD ONES strikes me a Western hovering just above B rating because it has so many supporting actors of the highest quality. Robert Ryan, the lead, was supporting actor in about 80% of his movies, Walter Brennan is the only actor ever to win 3 Best Supporting Actor Oscars, Virginia Mayo never really achieved lead star status, Jeffrey Hunter was groomed to become a big actor but apparently he did not perform convincingly enough in this very movie, and his career slid downward thereafter. Robert Middleton (Honest John) and Arthur O'Connell were also well known supporting players.The screenplay and direction are also rather on the B side of things. Photography is competent enough.It is Ryan's quietly effective performance that holds the film together, helped by an uncharacteristically un-boisterous Brennan and a smilingly menacing Middleton.Hunter is particularly poor, especially in the target practice sequence where he thinks of shooting Ryan in the back, after apparently reconciling himself with the idea that Ryan is a worthy man; and even accepting the job the latter offered him. The ending seems too convenient for words. I give THE PROUD ONES a very generous 7/10 because I love Westerns, and have always enjoyed watching Ryan.

An ageing sheriff attempts to run a crooked gambling syndicate out of town but has to contend with public mistrust given his reputation as 'trigger happy' in this Old West drama starring Robert Ryan. While he looks old enough to be the father of love interest Virginia Mayo, Ryan delivers a very human performance here as he laments the fact that his trigger happy reputation is based only on his word against others and as he states confidently that his "ambition is to be oldest living marshal west of Kansas City". The film features some dialogue that simply simmers with wit too; early on, Ryan is told that "pride can kill a man faster than a bullet", to which he quickly responds "so can overconfidence". The conclusion of the movie feels a bit too neat and tidy for credibility, but this is a pretty solid movie overall with Mayo's underwritten, thankless role probably the biggest detractor; it is either that, or the repetitive whistling music at key dramatic parts. When the film focuses on Ryan though and the trust he tries to build with Jeffrey Hunter, it is top tier stuff with the highlight of the film being an incredibly intense scene in which they practise shooting. Apparently, this was one of Akira Kurosawa's favourite movies. It seems an unusual choice, but with such excellent character drama, it is certainly more notable than the average western out there.

This is a good Western, well worth watching. It has a good cast and some unique plot elements.Here are some of its good points:Robert Ryan is solid as usual. This is one of his better roles. Nice supporting cast. Interesting role by Walter Brennan. He was well prepared for his part as "Stumpy" in Rio Bravo a few years after this.Interesting portrayal of a cattle trail "boomtown". I can't recall seeing this done better, especially the economic aspects.Interesting twist on the "honest Sheriff", with the blurred vision. About time somebody got a concussion after being knocked on the head with the butt of pistol.Very different to see the "good guys" shooting men in the back, assuming they are about to turn with a hidden firearm in hand.Jeffrey Hunter's character is quite good, overcoming the resentment about his father's death. Kind of shocking when Ryan tells him bluntly that his father was a no good gun slinging bum.I love Civil War tie-ins and there is a very brief one, when Walter Brennan says the town hasn't been this busy since the boys came home from the war.Prominent Mexican character, which I also like, although he was a stereotype bandido.Here is what kept it from being better:Hot female lead Virginia Mayo is wasted as a typical Western female love interest, with nothing to do but warn her man to be careful.No locations. The whole thing was filmed in Burbank.Like I said, some interesting twists and color added to the basic "High Noon" plot, but not enough star power to make it stand out like a "Rio Bravo".

"The Proud Ones" has an extremely fine script by Edmund H. North, veteran screenwriter; its plot vastly improves on the novel on which it was ostensibly based. Robert D. Webb's direction is taut, featuring dense images, helping his actors to achieve top-notch performances. Every element of this production works, from the art direction by classy Lyle Wheeler to the memorable theme song, the music by Lionel Newman, the sets, and the costumes by Travilla. Among the outstanding performances are those given by Robert Middleton as "Honest John", villain of the piece, George Matthews as his 'segundo', Whitner Bissell and others as townsmen and henchmen; the film is far-above-average in acting. This well-remembered dramatic western stars Robert Ryan, Virginia Mayo and young Jeffrey Hunter as a youth who is befriended by an aging marshal (who has been run out of a town poisoned by the lies of a delusive gambling joint owner). Hunter acquits himself well, as does Ryan, as the younger man tries to forgive the man he begins to admire, even after he has killed the boy's father in the line of duty. Virginia Mayo achieves considerable skill and charm as the woman who loves Ryan. The story's theme of honesty set against plausible pretense is unusual and difficult to carry off; the adjective "proud" has been forced to carry two contradictory meanings for years. Here it is used correctly in a secular sense to refer to men too honest to be bought off and too brave to be scared off, the sort of men who will fight when necessary, refusing to be intimidated. All-too-rare are films that celebrate objective minds, people who can be honestly wrong but act ethically when the chips are down. Whole genres are based on the betrayal of such commitments by people who argue they "can't help being what they are".As the beleaguered marshal in this story faces a town full of profiteers with the wrongness of their selling out to be opportunistic looters of unearned wealth during a boom, the film is raised to heights of thoughtfulness and of clearly-exampled good and bad behavior seldom found in the western genre. This is a very good and a very memorable achievement of cinema. Incidentally, it is physically beautiful to watch as well.