Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

gordonl56 WESTBOUND 1959This western was produced by Warner Brothers and stars, Randolph Scott. The rest of the cast includes, Andrew Duggan, Virginia Mayo, Karen Steele, Michael Dante and Michael Pate.The film, set in 1864 during the US Civil War, has Union Officer Scott being sent west to Colorado. Scott is to supervise the running of "The Overland Stage" company. The government uses the stage line to ship the gold from California needed to finance the war effort.Needless to say there are some Confederate types out to disrupt the plan. The group is controlled by former Overland manager, Andrew Duggan. Duggan has a gang of most unsavoury types doing his dirty work. The gang is led by a top gun-hand, played by Michael Pate. Pate and his mob burn stage way stations, run off the stock etc. Also in the mix here is a former squeeze of Scott, Virginia Mayo. Mayo is now married to Duggan.Getting involved with helping Scott set things up is one-armed Union veteran, Michael Dante, and his wife, the drop dead gorgeous, Karen Steele. There is a series back and forth raids on both camps horses etc. Matters really turn nasty when young Dante is killed by one of Pate's hired guns. Then, Pate and mob run a stage off a hill killing the passengers including a little girl, so they could grab the gold shipment.Duggan is having second thoughts about Pate's methods. He wants to stop the gold shipments, but killing women and children is going too far. There is now a big showdown in the local burg between Scott and Pate's bunch. The townsfolk join in to help Scott. Duggan, Pate and the rest soon end up ready for Boot Hill.This was the sixth of seven films made by Scott and director, Budd Boetticher. It is also only one not made by Scott and Harry Joe Brown's production company, Ranown. Scott it seemed owed Warner Brothers a film from an earlier contract and this was it. Boetticher volunteered to direct and Warner Bros agreed hoping to continue the box office streak of Scott and the director. At 72 minutes the film moves well enough, but is the weakest of the pair's collaborations.The story is a bit shopworn and has all been seen before. The Miss Mayo part could have been left out and no one would have noticed. Michael Pate though is particularly good as the kill happy gunman. As for Karen Steele, this is one hot looking bit of womanhood.The director of photography was the twice Oscar nominated, J. Peverell Marley. The talented Marley lensed films like, THE SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS, SUEZ, LIFE WITH FATHER, PRIDE OF THE MARINES, KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE and DRUM BEAT.The score by David Buttolph is effective, with all the right flourishes in all the right places.

bkoganbing Westbound finds Captain Randolph Scott of the Union Army headed in that direction to return to his civilian occupation, that of manager for the Overland Stage Company. As the main transporter of gold for the Union Treasury, Overland has had its share of holdups and other problems caused by Confederate raiders and the army puts Scott on detached duty to return to run Overland.Scott's told to make his headquarters in Julesburg which is a hotbed of Confederate sympathy. The man Scott is replacing has absconded with all the horses and records of the company. While Scott's in the army, that man Andrew Duggan also absconded with the woman that Scott intended to marry. Virginia Mayo is now Mrs. Duggan.Randy does what he can to cobble together Stagecoaches, horses, and people to drive them. But Duggan who is a Southern sympathizer has at his disposal a nasty pack of gunslingers headed by Michael Pate.Westbound is an unusually short film, more in the tradition of those Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and other B cowboys from Republic. But the film does cram quite a lot into its 68 minute running time. This is one of the better Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher collaborations. It also has a nice bouncy theme for when the stagecoach is running.Definitely a film that will make one a Randolph Scott fan if you haven't been before.

dbdumonteil As a fan of Virginia Mayo,I was disappointed :she has three or four scenes and that's it ;the real female lead is Karen Steele ,an OK actress but without her colleague's appeal."Westbound" is a very short western ,without a dull moment;some characters -not Mayo's ,too predictable- are interesting particularly the one-armed ex-soldier who keeps on repeating he is only the half of the man he used to be .Randolph Scott is good as usual as the loyal hero on a mission to send gold to the Yankees ,who takes under his wing the young couple exposed to a sinister-looking guy's violence.Budd Boetticher made the best of an average screenplay,much to his credit.

lorenellroy Westbound does not form part of the "Ranown "cycle of Westerns on which star Scott and director Boetticher collaborated in the 1950's and which included such stone classics as Comanche Station,The Tall T and Ride Lonesome .These were the work of the excellent screenwriter ,later director, Budd Kennedy while this has a workmanlike script from a pair of studio hacks The storyline is a little thin and this is the only major weak spot in a tense and crisp Western which takes the Civil War as its backdrop .Scott plays a Union cavalry officer assigned to re-establish a stage line that he once managed before the war ,the purpose being to ship gold from California to the Federal banks .He must overcome a Confederate agent ,in the form of Andrew Duggan and still he finds time to romance the feisty and gallant heroine played by Karen Steele Boetticher directs with style and aplomb ;there is a lively musical score and some limpid colour cinematography by J Peverell Mackay that adds real lustre to the look of the picture . Add some strong performances and you get an above average minor Western with a crisp running time and lots of lively action by way of diversion .It is a very neat little movie indeed and recommended to Western fans in particular