Two Rode Together Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Two Rode Together Blu-ray Movie Review

The Searchers.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 20, 2014

Jimmy Stewart revitalized his career in the 1950s in a series of so-called “Adult Westerns” that helped to reinvent the actor’s image as something other than the affable, lanky persona that had graced countless lighter weight films from the previous decade-plus. Despite Stewart’s foray into Wild West territory, he had never collaborated with the western film’s most iconic purveyor, John Ford, until 1961’s Two Rode Together. While Stewart and Ford would go on to craft at least one film in the idiom which is generally thought of as a classic (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) as well as one overwrought but still interesting attempt (Cheyenne Autumn), their collaborative efforts have never really been given the incisive critical appraisal that, say, Stewart’s work with Anthony Mann has. Part of this may be due to the fact that two of the three Ford-Stewart pairings don't really rise to absolute top tier of either artist’s oeuvre (some may even feel that The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance only comes close). That’s probably no truer than with Two Rode Together, a film that Ford himself was evidently on record as describing as “crap”, and one which often plays like a tired rehash of one of Ford’s most supreme achievements, The Searchers. Once again a rescue party trying to take back white folks abducted by marauding Indians (as they of course are referred to) is at the center of the story, but in this iteration Ford and his frequent screenwriter Frank Nugent (who also adapted The Searchers for the screen) never seem to be able to escape the rather formidable shadow of their previous work. Ford also seems intent on introducing lighter elements into the mix, with a not all that amusing reliance on bantering and bickering between several characters that is neither very funny nor ultimately helpful to the film’s otherwise dramatic arc of a bunch of settlers trying to find out what has happened to their abducted relatives. The film is effortlessly scenic in the typical Ford manner, and Stewart and co-star Richard Widmark are game, but a lot of Two Rode Together seems ponderous and hackneyed.

James Stewart portrays laconic marshal Guthrie McCabe, the kind of guy who can scare off potential evildoers by simply telling them his name. McCabe has settled into a comfortable life in a small western town where he collects ten percent of the profits from the village’s businesses, including the saloon run by Belle Aragon (Annelle Hayes), with whom Guthrie seems to have some kind of romantic history as well. When Guthrie’s old buddy, a calvary lieutenant named Jim Gary (Richard Widmark), rides into town with a gaggle of other soldiers, with the express purpose of taking Guthrie back to meet Jim’s commanding officer Major Frazer (John McIntire), Guthrie initially says “no way”, until he reconsiders after he gets the idea that Belle may have “matrimonial” designs on him.

In an oddly famous scene in the Ford oeuvre, Guthrie and Jim sit on a riverbank on the way back to Frazer and commiserate about women and the general state of affairs both find their lives in. It’s a frankly awkward interchange, as if Ford left the camera running a bit too long and the actors weren’t sure whether they were still to be maintaining character. But it perhaps underscores a kind of lackadaisical quality to Ford’s direction in this film that undercuts its dramatic momentum. Ford frequently liked to inject lighthearted moments into many of his films, even his most dramatic efforts, but here the comedy is often forced and soufflés quickly fall to rather heavy slabs of pancakes.

When Jim finally gets Guthrie back to Frazer, the gist of the plot is finally revealed. The Comanche have been raiding Caucasian camps and settlements for years, abducting children (and even some adults). Frazer wants help from Guthrie, a guy with a history of dealing with a certain Chief Quanah Parker (Harry Brandon), who is thought to have at least some of the captives. Guthrie is already being lionized by the relatives of these kidnapped people as “a Messiah. . .a Moses” (in the words of Frazer), a description that Guthrie definitely doesn’t want—at least if it doesn’t entail lots of cold, hard cash. Here the typically faux cynical edge that both Nugent and Ford liked to pretend they had rears its head, at least for a while, though it’s manifestly evident already that Guthrie is basically a decent type, if slightly lazy and avaricious.

In the camp, Guthrie starts to meet a number of the relatives, including a pretty young woman named Marty Purcell (Shirley Jones), who is in search of her little brother who was abducted many years previously (an abduction for which Marty blames herself). Also on hand in the almost frighteningly religious Mrs. McCandless (Jeannette Nolan), who does in fact look to Guthrie as a sort of savior for years of trauma after her child was taken from her. Guthrie, with Jim in tow (by order of Frazer), sets off to search for Quanah and in fact finds him and (no surprise here) a gaggle of abductees, some of whom have no interest in returning to their former lives.

But Guthrie does manage to come away from the meeting with a feral young man named Running Wolf (David Kent), as well as a beautiful Latina named Elena de la Madriaga (Linda Cristal) who wasn’t just abducted as a child but was then betrothed to a rival of Quanah’s. When Guthrie returns with these two, both physical and emotional havoc is wreaked, with Running Wolf’s propensity for lashing out and Elena’s inability to be accepted by polite society playing out more or less concurrently.

Two Rode Together may be lesser Ford, but it has a number of really interesting elements. There’s a great, semi-drunken, speech Guthrie kind of screams at Marty relatively early in the film, where he tells her exactly what’s become of her little brother. It’s uncompromising and brutal (and is in fact edited when it’s used in the film’s trailer, included on the Blu-ray). Later, there’s a top flight sequence where Running Wolf’s violence has tragic consequences, which in turn leads to a not very surprising denouement about his former identity. Ford stages this quick set of scenes with devastating efficiency, contrasting a mob’s lynch mentality with a personal catharsis for one major character. It’s the highlight of what is otherwise an affable, even occasionally moving, but ultimately kind of predictable film.

Two Rode Together Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Two Rode Together is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Culled from the Sony- Columbia catalog, this is a really sharp and generally colorful looking transfer that benefits from strong contrast and a nicely accurate recreation of an organic looking grain field. Ford and DP Charles Lawton, Jr. utilize a surprisingly tamped down palette throughout the film, with even things like Jim's crisp blue cavalry uniform typically covered in lots of brown dust. That may deprive the film of a little pop, but other than some location shots (typically wide establishing shots) which look a bit pallid, the rest of this presentation offers a nicely saturated appearance. Elements are in excellent condition with no major damage to speak of, and there is also no overt digital manipulation of the image to report.

Two Rode Together Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Two Rode Together offers a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track that may not be especially powerful, but which presents dialogue, effects and George Duning's score with excellent fidelity and some surprisingly wide dynamic range. This is not really a "shoot 'em up" western, and so some of the sonic activity is gleaned more from ambient environmental noises (galloping horses, a rushing stream) than by any overt action elements. The track, while narrow, shows no signs of damage.

Two Rode Together Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 3:08). Boy, is this ever an artifact from a bygone age. This includes both a none too subtle dismissal of the then prevalent western genre on television, along with a name for Native Americans that is still in the news today. Also note how Stewart's big drunken speech to Jones has been edited.

Two Rode Together Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Two Rode Together cobbles together an uneasy mix of melodrama and more lighthearted comedy fare (courtesy of supporting players like Andy Devine) into a somewhat tired rehash of one of Ford's greatest triumphs, The Searchers. Perhaps because Guthrie is shown to be something of a scoundrel and because Frank Nugent's screenplay has the character winking at the audience rather broadly, there isn't the emotional heft that underscored Ford's earlier film about Native Americans abducting children. Still, there are at least a couple of outstanding moments in the film, along with a couple other patently odd ones. This Blu-ray presentation is excellent all the way around, and even if the supplemental package is a bit on the light side, Two Rode Together comes (with caveats in mind) Recommended.