Ride Clear of Diablo

Plot synopsis:
Sheriff Fred (Paul Birch) and lawyer Tom (William Pullen) conspire to have dance hall girl Kate (Abbe Lane) entertain the hired hands of the O'Mara ranch whilst the Sheriff and the lawyer rustle the O'Mara's stock. Tom shoots both the father and teenage O'Mara son to leave no witnesses.
Surviving son Clay (Audie Murphy), a railroad surveyor in Denver, is informed of their deaths and comes back to his home where the identity of the murderers is unknown. Clay is talked out of revenge by the town Reverend (Denver Pyle) but Clay makes his own enquiries to the sheriff and Tom. When Clay asks the sheriff if he can become his deputy in order to make an investigation, the sheriff at first refuses. Tom advises the sheriff that it would be a good idea with Clay sent on a false trail to arrest notorious gunslinger Whitey Kinkaid (Dan Duryea) in the town of Diablo. Kinkaid has no connection with the murders, but the corrupt pair plan that Kinkaid will kill the pesky Clay. Ringer (Russell Johnson).
To everyone's surprise Clay outdraws Kinkaid, arrests him, thwart's Kinkaid's escape attempts and successfully fights off an ambush from three men. Kinkaid, who spends his life by hanging and idling about, is bemused by the unstoppable Clay and watches him go after the real killers; at first he does this for amusement, but gradually he realizes that the moral attitude of the much younger Clay is like a valuable lesson in living a worthwhile life. It is amusing to see how he accepts him finally as an exemplar. Kinkaid's identification goes so far as to sacrifice himself to save the younger hero's life in several gunfights, all in accordance with the fact, that he said that if ever he feels he's become "like a human being", he will shoot (meaning here, sacrifice) himself.
Hence the moral lesson of the film is to show how right thinking and acting may sometimes turn the attitudes of depraved characters inside out; the audience are presented with a character in moral transformation, Western style. Murphy, as Clay, has top billing, showing successive bouts of corruption-busting action aided by his new friend, Kincaid, who ultimately demonstrates he'll make the ultimate sacrifice if needs be.

Tags: revenge, murder, violence

Review:
one of the best Audie Murphy westerns.
Murphy is the guy looking for revenge,people tend to underestimate him, until he shows himself fast in the draw.
One of the best things here is the relationship between Murphy and Dan Duryea.
This film is very unpretentious and entertaining, and it´s a pity they don´t make westerns like this anymore..
This is probably one of my top 3-4 favorite Audie Murphy movies, and I've seen about 20 of them--or about 50% of what he made.
Dan Duryea as Whitey Kinkaid is a very interesting and amusing character who plays nicely off Audie's very credible performance.
Russell Johnson (later the Professor on Gilligan's Island) as Jed Ringer and the lawyer and sheriff have some great lines that offset the B picture sets.
All in all, this is a highly watchable movie, along with another Murphy/Duryea team-up, "Six Black Horses." Duryea and Murphy appeared together again in Jimmy Stewart's "Night Passage," but I like Ride Clear of Diablo and Horses better.
Ride clear of Diablo is my favourite Audie Murphy western.Its exciting,suspenseful and the rapport between audie and Dan Duryea is great.This film is highly enjoyable with humour and a good twist in the end.This is a feel good western..
Dan Duryea fools ya.
Ride Clear of Diablo is a stand out among the B westerns that Audie Murphy did in the 1950s.
Murphy is Clay O'Mara who's looking for cattle rustlers that murdered his father and brother while he was away from the family ranch.Murphy gets hired by Sheriff Paul Birch as a Deputy and also takes a liking to Birch's niece Susan Cabot.
The joker in the deck in this film is Dan Duryea.
Duryea was a fine actor who played many a psychotic villain in films.
That's quintessential Dan Duryea.
A year earlier in 1953 in Thunder Bay, Anthony Mann who directed Winchester 73, fooled his audience by not having Duryea betray Jimmy Stewart.Something similar happens here.
Audie Murphy is sent out to bring in Duryea, but the two develop a relationship of sorts.
He's still Dan Duryea, hyena laugh and all, but you're not quite sure what he's gonna do in the end.
And I'm not gonna say what either, but it's the key to the film.Audie Murphy did some fine B westerns in the 1950s.
But Murphy's work is appreciated among western fans today though..
Ride Clear of Diablo is directed by Jesse Hibbs and adapted to screenplay by George Zuckerman from a story by Ellis Marcus.
It stars Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Susan Cabot, Abbe Lane and Russell Johnson.
Plot sees Murphy as Clay O'Mara, a railroad surveyor forced to return to his home town after rustlers kill his father and brother.
Getting the sheriff to make him a tin star wearing deputy, Murphy sets about finding out who was responsible for the murders.
His first port of call is a meeting with notorious gunslinger Whitey Kincaid (Duryea)...Lively and utterly enjoyable B Western in the cannon of Audie Murphy.
Standard revenge formula of plotting is elevated to better heights by the central relationship between Murphy's honest do gooder and Duryea's rough and tumble bad dude.
The girls look sexy and are costumed in style, while the action sequences, notably a horse pursuit featuring a gorgeous white stallion, are good value for money.
Everything, tho, is in Duryea's shadow, stealing the movie, Duryea is having a great time as the cackling villain forming an uneasy friendship with Murphy.
Dan Duryea steals the picture.
A pretty routine Audie Murphy vehicle made infinitely watchable by Dan Duryea's colorful and totally against type performance as the notorious black clad outlaw Whitey Kincaid.
This is a classic style western with Audie Murphy as the good guy seeking out the killers of his father and brother.
Fortunately, he's got experience in the field of "troubleshooter", and can handle things better than the killers, the town's most respected men, think.
They send him on suicide missions against the likes of wild cards Dan Duryea, the professor Russell Johnson, and Jack Elam, only to be stunned by Audie's survival against these odds.In making this, you could see that all involved allowed Duryea's overwhelming persona to take control.
Anyone can shout "That ain't no country I ever heard of", but the real actor is the one who is willing to stutter "What?" over and over.However, here, Duryea deserves his praise.
He's Duryea, full of fun and laughter, and each film he manages to make the character a little different.
You get your bang for the bullet here.Plus the classic combo of Murphy and Duryea.
To give the appearance of helping him he is deputized by a renegade sheriff and sent off on a mission sure to cause his death at the hands of psychotic killer Whitey Kincaid.
Average western with Duryea giving quite a performance as the always jolly, backshooting scumbag Kincaid..
"Ride Clear of Diablo" was another of the Audie Murphy series of "B-Plus" westerns released by Universal during the 50s and early 60s.
They were well mounted little films usually running about 80 minutes and mostly shot in color.
The story in this film involves Clay O'Meara (Murphy) returning to town following the murder of his father and brother by unscrupulous lawyer Tom Meredith (William Pullen), crooked Sheriff Fred Kenyon (Paul Birch) and henchman Jed Ringer (Russell Johnson).
To throw him off the trail, the unholy three blame the crime on known bad man Whitey Kincaid (Dan Duryea) and send O'Meara off to Diablo to bring him in knowing full well that he'll probably be killed by the gunman.
Kincaid meanwhile takes a liking to O'Meara and against his better judgment, lends O'Meara a hand.
Ringer meantime, is planning a double-cross of the other two and then running off with saloon girl Kate (Abbe Lane).
Murphy essentially played the same one dimensional character in his series but was always aided by superior supporting casts.
Duryea, playing his signature likeable villain role, is allowed to go way over the top by director Jesse Hibbs in this one (it's about that laugh).
The beautiful Susan Cabot plays the standard helpless heroine role and Abbe Lane gets to sing a couple of forgettable songs.
Also in the cast are veteran western performers Jack Elam, Denver Pyle, Lane Bradford and Holly Bane.
Here's a little trivia with which to end my comments: - Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier in WWII; - Susan Cabot died tragically at the hands of her son, actor Christopher Jones, in 1986; - Dan Duryea wound up on the TV soap "Peyton Place" just prior to his death in 1968; - Russell Johnson became famous as "The Professor" in TV's "Gilligan's Island"; - Abbe Lane was married to band leader Xavier Cugat at the time of this film..
A strong supporting cast and good writing make this one of Audie's better efforts from this period before westerns devolved into parodies of themselves.
Dan Duryea and Russell Johnson (the professor from Gilligan) have surprisingly interesting roles.
Duryea plays the bad guy with the good heart.
Johnson plays an apparent weak drunkard who surprises.Audie plays it straight as a naive young man, Clay Omara, seeking justice for the slayers of his brother and father but every once in a while shows he's tougher and smarter than the average bad guy.
Abbe Lane and Susan Cabot add a dash of spice.
Cabot is the sheriff's niece engaged to the town lawyers who it is immediately apparent will fall for Clay..
Audie Murphy Vs. Corruption..
In this rather routine-plotted Western, the men keep referring to Audie Murphy as "the boy" or "the kid." It seemed to fit.
He really earned those decorations.In "Ride Clear of Diablo," a mid-career movie, he's the good guy whose father and younger brother have been killed while trying to prevent their cattle from being rustled.
The local sheriff and lawyer, being particeps criminis themselves, send him after Whitey Kinkaid, the gunslinger in a nearby town, played by Dan Duryea, thinking that the kid will draw on Whitey and get his head shot off.
Murphy outdraws Whitey, shoots the gun out of his hand, and takes him captive.
It's the kind of movie where no one bothers to explain how a railroad bureaucrat has learned to shoot so well.It gets kind of interesting because a bond of wary friendship develops between Duryea, who happens to be innocent of this particular crime, and Murphy.
Not that they hug each other and take showers together, but Duryea shows his respect for Murphy by doing him little favors, such as not shooting him in the back when he has the chance to do it.Duryea is his usual wisecracking self, all smiles.
Without it, you're just watching another Audie Murphy Western.Susan Cabot is the good girl.
She's as innocent and well behaved as Audie Murphy.
Murphy has one drink in the movie, except for a lot of water and milk and coffee.
Both women are made up like mannequins and sport false eyelashes the size of tarpaulins.I won't give the ending away except to reveal what the experienced viewer must already know -- Murphy and Cabot live happily ever after..
Audie Murphy's name may be at the top of the bill but it's pretty much Dan Duryea's picture the way he overtakes any scene he's in.
Duryea reminded me of Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo in the 1947 film "Kiss of Death" the way he laughs maniacally whether the situation calls for it or not.
I was thinking that if there was an old lady in the story, he might have thrown her down a flight of stairs just for the fun of it.Murphy's character is Clay O'Mara, returning from a railroad job (no, really, he worked for a railroad, he wasn't railroaded) to track down the villain who murdered his father and brother during a cattle rustling operation.
His quarry is upstanding citizen Tom Meredith (William Pullen) doing a hide in plain sight in concert with crooked Santiago town sheriff (Paul Birch).
The pair send him on a mission sure to get O'Mara seriously killed when they finger Whitey Kincaid (Duryea) as a prime suspect.It's never explained in the story how Clay O'Mara came by his skill with a six shooter.
I was probably more surprised that Kincaid when the 'kid' shot the gun right out of his hand in a barroom face off.
Maybe he should have been the ringer in the story instead of Russell Johnson.Say, did you notice the bars of the jail cell Whitey got locked up in - what's with the flimsy cross-hatch design?
He didn't need it actually since the sheriff gave him his gun back.I don't know what might be considered the first revisionist Western but Duryea's performance here might be considered one of the earliest examples of a cowboy anti-hero.
He's a villain you come to terms with the way Murphy's character did when he turned his back on the outlaw and lived to tell about it.
An Entertaining But Concise Audie Murphy Oater.
"Ride Clear of the Diablo" was the first of six films director Jesse Hibbs helmed with Audie Murphy as star during the 1950s.
The second film that the director and star collaborated on was Murphy's autobiographical exploits in World War II.
The fourth picture, "Walk the Proud Land," was an off-beat oater with Murphy cast as a sympathetic Indian agent looking after the welfare of Native Americans.
The last of their six movies, "Ride the Crooked Trail," was another Universal Studios' western.
A simple, but entertaining tale of treachery and revenge, "Ride Clear of Diablo" finds Audie searching for those responsible for the dastardly murders of his father Patrick O'Mara (Tim Graham of "High Noon") and brother Andrew O'Mara (Hamilton Camp of "Dick Tracy") and the theft of their cattle.
Mind you, railway surveyor Clay O'Mara (Audie Murphy) was working in another state when he learned about the tragic news of his father and brother.
The obstacle that the villains experience with Clay is that they consistently miscalculate what he can accomplish based on his deceptively slight stature and his young school boy looks.
Santiago Sheriff Fred Kenyon (Paul Birch of "Gunman's Walk") and Attorney Tom Meredith (William Pullen of "The Lawless Breed") greet our hero when he arrives in Santiago.
Meredith killed both father and brother with a Winchester from the back of his horse during a stampede.
Another dirty, low-down sidewinder who rode when them on that fateful day, Jed Ringer (Russell Johnson of TV's "Gilligan's Island") is on hand during the mischief.
As it turns out, Abby is privy to all the bad things that go on in Santiago.
Predictably, Clay wants to know more about the desperadoes who rustled his father's cattle.
Shrewdly, Kenyon and Meredith confide in Clay that the notorious gunslinger Whitey Kincade (Dan Duryea of "Six Black Horses") may have been responsible for the deaths of his father and brother.
Whitey enjoys quite a reputation as a fast hand with a gun, and Meredith and Sheriff Kenyon believe Whitey will dispose of Clay with no problems.
Initially, Sheriff Kenyon is against deputizing Clay, but Meredith convinces him that Clay deserves to get answers to the questions involving his family.
Neither think Clay will learn anything from Whitey.
Dan Duryea was a durable presence in the countless westerns that he made, and he enjoyed playing villains.
His performance as Whitey Kincade overshadows everybody else in "Ride Clear of Diablo." Initially, when he meets Clay in a saloon at Diablo, Whitey thinks that he won't have any difficulty killing Clay.
However, fast on the draw Clay surprises not only Whitey but also the spectators watching their showdown.
Among those spectators is Tim Lowerie (Jack Elam of "Support Your Local Sheriff"), who is an outlaw.
Imagine their surprise when Clay escorts Whitey back to Santiago.
After Sheriff Kenyon locks Whitey up in his calaboose, Whitey informs the lawman that if his trial goes the wrong way, he will tell everybody about the corruption in Santiago.
Kenyon confides in Meredith, and they convince Jed to take the stand as a defense witness on behalf of Whitey to clear him of any criminal wrongdoing.
Jed is tired to playing second fiddle and demands more money from Meredith.
Meredith reveals that Wells Fargo will be shipping a bundle in silver, and Kenyon and he want Jed to rob it.
Little do they know that Jed plans to double-cross them.
No sooner is Whitey turned loose than he tells Clay about the corrupt sheriff and duplicitous lawyer.
Naturally, Clay is dubious about Whitey's information.
Duryea plays the vainglorious Whitey with a maniacal laugh and grows to like Clay.
When Clay rides off to retrieve a stolen white horse that the Lowerie's have taken, Whitey shows up to help him.
Clay takes the horse, but he has a rough time escaping the wrath of the Loweries who pursue him, slinging lead futilely from horseback as they chase him.
Earlier, when the owner told Clay about the theft of his prized stallion, he assured our hero that his stolen horse could outrun anything in the territory.
Clay has to abandon his own mount and ride the white stallion to escape from the trigger-happy Loweries.Throughout "Ride Clear of Diablo," Sheriff Kenyon's daughter, Laurie Kenyon (Susan Cabot of "The Wasp Woman") hovers in the background and foreground.
She takes a liking to Clay, and they become close friends.
Eventually, Clay tracks him down with the help of Whitey, and they kill Jed and find the loot.
During the gunfight, Jed wounds Whitey, and Clay takes him back to Santiago.
Back in town, Meredith and Kenyon are waiting in ambush for Clay, and Whitey helps him survive a shootout.
While Whitey guns down Kenyon, Clay kills Lowerie.
"Ride Clear of Diablo" qualifies as an above-average western, largely owing to Duryea's charismatic performance..
Dan Duryea rocks!.
Dan Duryea consistently upstages the staid Audie Murphy(as Clay) during their many interactions, both negative and friendly.
I'll classify Dan(as Whitey)as a ruffian rather than a villain, at least in the context of this story.
The real bad guys, surprisingly, are Sheriff Kenyon(Paul Birch) lawyer Tom Meredith, and their henchman Ted Ringer(Russell Johnson).
Very surprisingly, the sheriff and Tom are the major participants in the cattle rustling operation.
Clay O'Mara, in distant Denver, receives a letter from Tom telling about the tragedy, and saying he will settle the estate.
When Clay arrives, Tom has already sold his father's ranch(to himself?), and suggests that Clay might as well go back to where he came from, as they can handle any further details relating to the murder or property.
But Clay wants to get in on the hunt for the killers, and demands to be deputized.
So, he suggests gunslinger Whitey is a good possibility.
Clay goes looking for Whitey in Diablo, and finds him in a saloon.
Whitely draws on him, but Clay is faster, and shoots the gun out of his hand.
Whitey reluctantly submits to Clay's arrest, and they head for San Diego, and various adventures until the real killers are dealt with.
Gorgeous Susan Cabot plays Sheriff Kenyon's live-in niece, Laurie, who initially is engaged to marry Tom. However, as her opinion of Clay rises, her opinion of Tom declines, especially toward the end, and she dumps him for Clay.
..Abby Lane is another featured female, she being an entertainer and singer at a Diablo saloon.
She has an active relationship with Jed Ringer, and a past relationship with Whitey.
Obviously, she's the stereotypical 'bad girl', to Laurie's image as the 'good girl'....Denver Pyle plays the minister, who talks to Clay when he arrives about not being too hasty in his thirst for revenge.Jack Elan plays Tim Lowerie who, with his brothers, steal an all white horse.
Whitey leads him to the Loweries, where he suspects it is.
Clay takes the horse away, but the Loweries don't give up that easily.In short, this is an interesting oater, with Duryea providing an extra kick.