"Joel McCrae" -- almost all you need to say.But here he is surrounded by extraordinarily talented actors, all working well together in a much better than average script.Many of the characters get a chance to stand out, including one played by one of my favorites, the great Herb Vigran. I actually had a chance to meet him when he was playing in a stage version, in Los Angeles, of "Merton of the Movies."A certain major TV series star played "Merton," but, to be honest, he was the least talented actor on stage.Herb Vigran could have given him lessons -- as could a very young girl (maybe 7?) in the cast -- on how to project. But Herb Vigran had been around and started with some built-in talent that just grew and grew in his years as, for example, a villain in the "Superman" series, and in guest appearances in such other shows as "Adam 12."He was also a charming and gracious person.Leading lady Joan Weldon was outrageously padded and I wonder, again, why talented actresses allowed themselves to be so used. She was already beautiful, she did have talent, and being made to look almost grotesque simply made no sense.There were three other important female characters, merely one more factor that prevents "Gunsight Ridge" from being properly called a "B movie."As a character not named in the credits except "Farm Girl," young Carolyn Craig just plain stole every scene she was in. She was a really beautiful 23-year-old who looked younger, and had an amazingly expressive face. In short, she was a marvelous actress and I would bet she was stage trained."Rosa" was the girl-friend of the bad guy and, as played by Darlene Fields, about whom is nothing known, was a very sympathetic person. Darlene Fields also was beautiful, and I'm surprised so little is know about her. She too gave a superlative performance and should have been in dozens of movies and TV shows. What a shame we know so little about her.Another great actor was Addison Richards who seemed the perfect career law enforcer.All the other cast members deserve mention, too, but we're running out of electrons. Let me just say, again, nearly every one had a chance to stand out as characters and every one performed superbly.There were two or three director flaws, but there is no reason to mention them. They did not detract much.One major flaw, though, is that one character who is killed off early is not listed in the credits. And the actor who played him really deserves mention.There is a very good version of "Gunsight Ridge" at YouTube, but for some reason whoever uploaded it allowed most of it to be added on again after "the end."It doesn't hurt the viewer: You just stop when the movie stops. But do start! This is an excellent movie, and would have earned a "10" except for the director flaws and one sound flaw.

"Gunsight Ridge" is another of those entertaining little 80 minute westerns that star Joel McCrea made in the latter part of his career. This one is a low budget black and white oater that is nonetheless made more entertaining by the off beat casting of Mark Stevens as the psychopathic killer Velvet Clark.Mike Ryan (McCrea), an express undercover agent is travelling on a stagecoach along with Molly Jones (Joan Weldon), the daughter of the town sheriff and townsman Billy Daggett (I. Stanford Jolley) when they are stopped by a pair of bandits. After the stage is underway, bandit Velvet Clark (Stevens) gives his partner "both barrels" because he had been recognized. This was the first killing in a series of robberies.In town, Ryan teams up with sheriff Tom Clark (Addison Richards) to track down the murderer while at the same time, pursuing the lovely Molly. Velvet and Ryan are both staying at Mrs. Donahue's boarding house. Ryan walks in on Velvet while he is quietly and discreetly playing the piano. He reacts violently to having been seen doing so.Sheriff Jones has an obsession with catching the murderer so as to not leave a blot on his record. After leaving a poker game one evening, Velvet quietly robs the local bank. He packs the loot in a box of dynamite and rides to his modest little mine. The sheriff, having become suspicious, trails Velvet and accidentally blows up the dynamite box containing the bank loot. Velvet then shoot down the lawman and flees.Along the way Velvet witness the Lazy Heart Ranch Hands (L.Q. Jones, Morgan Woodward, Jim Foxx, Steve Mitchell) hold up a train. He then decides to take the loot for himself. Meanwhile, Ryan following the sheriff, discovers his body and sets out after Velvet.At a remote General Store, the local Justice of the Peace (Herb Vigran) and wedding guests trap the Lazy Heart bunch and hold them. Velvet rides in and tries to take the loot by posing as a detective. But then Ryan appears on the horizon and.................................Mark Stevens plays the vicious Velvet against type. Without remorse he shot guns one person and guns down two others. That extra shot he puts into the sheriff shows his coldness. Joel McCrea plays..well Joel McCrea with his usual authority and dignity, a part he had come to master over the last 15 years of his lengthy career.Addison Richards, long a recognizable character actor gets a larger than usual part as the sheriff and carries it off well. Joan Weldon was a leading actress in many 50s westerns but never went on to bigger and better things. Darlene Field plays Stevens' saloon girl friend who catches him in the act. Carolyn Craig has a nice bit as the naïve farm girl who encounter both Velvet and Ryan during Ryan's pursuit. Slim Pickens steals the opening sequence as the boozy stagecoach driver Hank. I believe he was one of a few actors who could actually drive a team of horses. Jody McCrea, Joel's son, plays the groom in the wedding sequence. And from the "blink and you'll miss him" dept., watch for Dan Blocker, of TVs "Bonanza" as the bartender.

Joel McCrea stars in Gunsight Ridge as an undercover agent for Wells Fargo which has been getting regularly robbed on a certain stagecoach run through the territory of Addison Richard who is the sheriff. He's not getting the job done so McCrea's brought in.The title refers to a particularly rough stretch of country where McCrea has his final showdown with the bad guy or at least the chief bad guy.There are two sets of them, one is a group of four cowhands from George Chandler's ranch who do a little cattle rustling on the side, two of them western standbys L.Q. Jones and Morgan Woodward. The other is a man of mystery who plays an exquisite piano and goes by the unlikely western name of Velvet. This is a guy who clearly has some issues which in a better script would have been more explicitly dealt with. Mark Stevens may have had his career role in playing this man.Addison Richard gives a nice performance as an aging sheriff who won't quit until the stagecoach bandit is taken dead or alive. McCrea does what he can to help and the sight of Richard's pretty daughter Joan Weldon gives him all that more interest.Viewers might also note the presence of farm girl Carolyn Craig who helps both Stevens and then McCrea. She's one lonely girl with a budding libido and an itch to get off the farm. In a bit role as a bartender is Dan Blocker who with his frame and voice you can't miss.Not one of Joel McCrea's best westerns, but his fans should like it.

The reviewer who praises the cinematography for this film makes a great point. This film is beautifully photographed.Ernest Lazlo's discriminating deep focus black and white cinematography is the glory of this film but much else deserves praise. For one thing, the narrative breaks cinematic icons in a way the foretells "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". These iconoclastic moments run throughout the film. One of the most central is the sympathetic view of the central outlaw Velvet Clark, who, though not quite the protagonist, almost serves as one. Joel McCrae plays against him with a quite almost bond that nearly gives the film a sense of depth.A lovely iconoclastic sequence comes near the end of the film with the late Carolyn Craig playing a farm girl caught in the "romance" of the outlaw. She died much too young.Robert Golden and Ellsworth Hoagland's editing is discerning. The music does not quite overwhelm viewers and I like that.Director Francis Lyon's work is understated. He was a film editor and one has a sense he had the story well in control as he directed this film. He did some terrific television work and a Disney film set in North Georgia that I especially admire.I think what one has here is a film full of promise with an almost witty script by Talbot and Elisabeth Jennings. I say almost because it never quite becomes entirely iconoclastic but it comes close. I very much enjoyed watching this movie.