Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)

A rather innocuous drifter (Randolph Scott) wanders into a nasty little town called Agry (quite fitting that Agry is Angry with the "n"). When he attempts to help a Mexican (Manuel Rojos) from being beaten up, he's unceremoniously thrown into the clinker along with the Mexican. Based on the novel THE NAME'S BUCHANAN by William Ard (using the pseudonym of Jonas Ward) and directed by Budd Boetticher (RIDE LONESOME). It's easily the weakest of the seven westerns Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott made together. It’s not just that Scott’s Buchanan is probably the least interesting character in the film but that he’s … well, dumb. The audience is always one step ahead of him and we can see the consequences of his mistakes even before he does. Three of the supporting characters are far more involving. Two nefarious brothers, one (Tol Avery) a judge, the other (Barry Kelley) a sheriff who clash over money and power and Avery’s henchman (Craig Stevens), who seems to have a sense of fairness despite his involvement with the corrupt Avery. With Peter Whitney, L.Q. Jones and Jennifer Holden.