Hottoceame
The Age of Commercialism
Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Salubfoto
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
adrian-43767
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.
bkoganbing
Robert Ryan, Virginia Mayo, and Jeffrey Hunter star in The Proud Ones a pretty good western from 20th Century Fox. It deals with a town marshal in a town that says it wants law and order, but is more interested in the profits that being wide open can bring.The guy who is bringing in the profits and the lawlessness is saloon owner Robert Middleton and he's got history with Ryan from other towns. Who else has history is Hunter whose father Ryan killed a gunfight. What will happen is anyone's guess.And if that isn't enough Ryan who sustained a wound to the scalp in a gunfight in Middleton's saloon is having recurring bouts of blindness since the incident. A lot like John Wayne was having bouts of paralysis after being wounded in El Dorado. Ryan also takes his time seeking medical attention just hoping the bad guys don't find out about it and do him in.The Proud Ones is a nicely done adult western with a good cast giving life to characters you care about. Pay attention also to a nice performance by Walter Brennan as Ryan's deputy. With his character the producers took him and his fate from Destry Rides Again.No western action fan could possibly complain about the shootout in a stable between Ryan, Hunter and assorted miscreants. That one was taken from High Noon. One of the best staged climaxes I've ever seen in a western.And western fans should not miss The Proud Ones.
MartinHafer
Of all the genres, Westerns are among my least favorite--mostly because I just think there have been too many. So many that the same themes appear again and again and they just don't hold my interest. So, when I find a Western that's just a little different, I get pretty excited. Now THE PROUD ONES has a lot of familiar elements, but enough new ones that I liked the film and am glad I watched it.It also didn't hurt that it starred one of the best and most underrated actors of the 1950s, Robert Ryan--who played a wonderful character. This character seemed inspired, somewhat, by Gary Cooper in HIGH NOON--a sheriff who refused to back down when it came to doing his job and doing what was right. However, there were a few unique story elements, such as the back stories of both Jeffery Hunter and Ryan. Also, the villain (Robert Middleton) wasn't the usual bad guy--it's usually some power-hungry land baron or bank robber.Overall, due to a very well constructed script, good action, plenty of tension and excellent direction, this one manages to get an 8--it's really quite good.
billpollock49
The quintessential thinking western. The man wronged (Ryan), the dependable woman in his life (Mayo), the young man searching for the truth(?) (Hunter).
A good western with the normal hallmarks of this genre. Good storyline, actors who can actually act (Jeff Hunter's best acting display since "The Searchers") and importantly in any move or TV programme , great, haunting soundtrack. The whistling of this gives this western depth and feeling. The other actors, including the head villain, all play their parts with a modicum of effort, enhancing this film.The various shootouts are well handled, with Ryan's worsening disability becoming more obvious, as an example the shootout in the barn. Hunter's young man changes as the movie progresses in now not wanting to kill a semi blind man and also realising that perhaps the sherrif is right but his search for the truth of his father will out.The final confrontation in the saloon followed by the the haunting soundtrack makes for a memorable western.
