Randolph Scott movies on TCM: Many Westerns, 1 comedy with former roommate Cary Grant
Randolph Scott is Turner Classic Movies’ next great choice in its “Summer Under the Stars” film series. Monday, Aug. 19, is Randolph Scott Day, which begins and ends with Westerns. That shouldn’t be surprising, for although Scott was initially cast in a variety of roles and movie genres (including Westerns), he became exclusively a Western star in the late 1940s, sticking to that genre until his retirement in 1962 following the release of Sam Peckinpah’s elegiac Ride the High Country, which TCM will be showing on Monday evening. Joel McCrea at his very best and Mariette Hartley costar.
Many of Scott’s Westerns were routine fare, including Badman’s Territory (1946), which kicks off Randolph Scott Day. Some, however, have become classics of the genre, especially his late 1950s collaborations with Budd Boetticher at Columbia. TCM will be presenting three of those: The Tall T (1957), costarring Maureen O’Sullivan (Mia Farrow’s mother and MGM’s Jane to Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan); Ride Lonesome (1959); and Comanche Station (1960). They’re not to be missed.
Another Randolph Scott Western that should be worth checking out is Lesley Selander’s Tall Man Riding (1955), in which Scott’s leading women are 1956 Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Dorothy Malone (Written on the Wind) and Peggie Castle of Gun Crazy fame. According to the TCM website, in Tall Man Riding “a man returns to wreak vengeance against a cattle baron and claim the land that is rightfully his.” I’m assuming that vengeance-wreaking man is Randolph Scott, which means that the cattle baron in question might consider looking for some other business venture.
Return of the Bad Men (1948) may be interesting as well, as it features a female bandit leader (Anne Jeffreys), an uncommon occurrence in Westerns. The presence of the generally outstanding Robert Ryan (as the Sundance Kid of Robert Redford fame) is another plus.
Radically different, but also of interest is China Sky (1945), a World War II drama in which Scott plays a doctor helping out the Chinese following the Japanese invasion. Ruth Warrick (Orson Welles’ wife in Citizen Kane) and Paramount leading lady Ellen Drew costar.
Randolph Scott and Cary Grant share My Favorite Wife
Garson Kanin’s RKO release My Favorite Wife (1940) proves that Randolph Scott was a perfectly capable light comedian, holding his own in the presence of the more experienced Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, and Gail Patrick. The story is basically a reboot of Alfred Tennyson’s poem “Enoch Arden”: Wife (Dunne) returns from the dead (actually, a deserted island) only to find husband (Grant) married to somebody else (Patrick). Poor wife. Well, don’t feel too sorry for her; after all, her deserted island wasn’t all that deserted. Enter Randolph Scott.
Though not on a par with the previous Irene Dunne–Cary Grant pairing, Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth, My Favorite Wife is lightweight fun.
Randolph Scott movies: TCM schedule – Aug. 19
3:00 AM BADMAN’S TERRITORY (1946)
Director: Tim Whelan.
Cast: Randolph Scott, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Ann Richards.
98m4:45 AM TRAIL STREET (1947)
Director: Ray Enright.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys.
84m6:15 AM RETURN OF THE BADMEN (1948)
Director: Ray Enright.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, Tom Keene (as Richard Powers), Lex Barker, Walter Reed, Robert Armstrong, Tom Tyler, Minna Gombell, Robert Clarke.
90m8:00 AM RIDING SHOTGUN (1954)
Director: André De Toth.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris, Joan Weldon, Joe Sawyer, James Millican, Charles Bronson (as Charles Buchinsky), James Bell, Fritz Feld.
75m9:30 AM THE BOUNTY HUNTER (1954)
Director: André De Toth.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Dolores Dorn, Marie Windsor, Howard Petrie, Harry Antrim, Robert Keys, Tyler MacDuff, Ernest Borgnine, Dub Taylor, Fess Parker.
79m11:00 AM TALL MAN RIDING (1955)
Director: Lesley Selander.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Dorothy Malone, Peggie Castle.
83m12:30 PM SHOOT-OUT AT MEDICINE BEND (1957)
Director: Richard L. Bare.
Cast: Randolph Scott, James Craig, Angie Dickinson, Dani Crayne, James Garner, Gordon Jones, Trevor Bardette, Don Beddoe, Robert Warwick.
87m2:00 PM RIDE LONESOME (1959)
Director: Budd Boetticher.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Karen Steele, Pernell Roberts.
73m3:30 PM COMANCHE STATION (1960)
Director: Budd Boetticher.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Nancy Gates, Claude Akins.
73m5:00 PM THE TALL T (1957)
Director: Budd Boetticher.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Maureen O’Sullivan, Arthur Hunnicutt, Skip Homeier, Henry Silva, John Hubbard, Robert Burton.
78m6:30 PM RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962)
Director: Sam Peckinpah.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr, Edgar Buchanan, R.G. Armstrong, James Drury, Warren Oates.
94m8:30 PM MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940)
Director: Garson Kanin.
Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Gail Patrick, Ann Shoemaker, Scotty Beckett, Donald MacBride, Granville Bates.
88m10:15 PM CHINA SKY (1945)
Director: Ray Enright.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Ruth Warrick, Ellen Drew, Anthony Quinn, Carol Thurston, Richard Loo, ‘Ducky’ Louie, Philip Ahn, Benson Fong.
78m11:45 PM BOMBARDIER (1943)
Director: Richard Wallace.
Cast: Pat O’Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley.
99m1:30 AM THE CARIBOO TRAIL (1950)
Director: Edwin L. Marin.
Cast: Randolph Scott, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Bill Williams.
81m
notes
Randolph Scott movie schedule via the TCM website.