I have always thought Joel McCrea's best work was in non-Western's like Foreign Correspondent ( Ride The High Gountry excluded), but Stranger On A Horseback is an exception. Here he plays Federal Judge Rick Thorne who is doing some routine paperwork in a town and finds out that the town is controlled by a family called the Bannerman's led by Josiah ( John McIntire). The worst is his son Tom ( Kevin McCarthy) who murders someone in cold blood but is not even investigated (it was called "Self Defense"). Even the town's US Marshal Col. Buck Streeter ( John Carradine) is in the employ of the Bannerman's. The only honest person is the sheriff Nat Bell ( Emile Meyer). Then there is the matter of Amy Lee Bannerman ( Miroslava): She very much reminds me of Barbara Stanwyck in The Furries: A very hard woman with a whip ( although beautiful ( unlike Stanwyck) in that movie). She is the cousin of Tom, who although she really likes Rick a lot ( and the feeling is mutual), is against him because Rick wants to bring Tom to trial for murder. Spoilers ahead: She changes sides when Tom admits to her that he is guilty. Does Rick succeed in bringing Tom to trial and end up with Amy? Of course. But what happens to Josiah and everyone else? That is a surprise I did not expect to happen. An unexpected ending, a great McCrea performance and seeing a very beautiful woman I never heard of in Miroslava ( a real tragic case because she committed suicide a year later), makes this a must see movie. I will note I never heard of it until tonight, let alone saw it on Encore Westerns or TCM. I found it online. Very easy 10/10 stars and a must for McCrea fans.
Review of Stranger on Horseback
