Seven Men From Now: Budd Boetticher

Randolph Scott was one tough, mean sonovabitch. Of course, if you never watched the Westerns he made with Budd Boetticher, you may not know it. One of the best was Seven Men From Now.  I am not alone in this opinion. Legendary critic André Bazin once wrote that Seven Men From Now was "one of the exemplary successes of the contemporary Western."  Like most of Boetticher films, it has a very simple plot.  Scott plays Ben Stride, the ex-sheriff of Silver Springs.  He is on the search for seven criminals who accidentally killed his wife in the middle of a Wells Fargo freight office robbery where they ran off with $20,000 dollars in gold.  During his hunt, he encounters John and Annie Greer, two inexperienced settlers on their way from Kansas City to California.  At first he merely helps them along when they encounter serious problems such a thick mud.  However, it is revealed that the two may be more related to the Wells Fargo freight office robbery than Stride could have ever imagined.  Clocking in at under 80 minutes, Seven Men From Now is a tight ball of compressed Western drama.  For such a short film, it feels over two hours long. But instead of feeling drawn out, the entire two imaginary hours are absolutely riveting. Boetticher's Westerns have an aura of authenticity and authority. And Seven Men From Now is no exception.

8/10