Pun Salad

I tend to put movies in my Blockbuster queue when I see a recommendation from someone else on the Web; unfortunately, the elapsed time from queue entry to actually watching the movie can be months. So I don't remember why I rented this movie. Somebody said it was good.

No matter. It's OK, a monochrome Western with psychological-thriller undertones. The underrated Glenn Ford is the voluble but dangerous bad guy; he gives an understated and subtle performance that really makes the movie work. Van Heflin is the borderline-failure rancher who gets roped into delivering him to a Yuma-bound train while Ford's gang circles menacingly. It builds to a tense, if slightly incredible, climax, as Van Heflin smuggles a bomb onto a plane piloted by Dean Martin… woops, wrong movie. Frankie Laine does the theme song, so you can hear what Mel Brooks parodied in Blazing Saddles.

The IMDB says they're remaking this with Walk the Line director James Mangold. Cool.

Still alive, Glenn Ford will be 90 on May 1.