The Outriders is a 1950 Western directed by Roy Rowland. The film stars Joel McCrea and Arlene Dahl.
Director: Roy Rowland
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast: Joel McCrea, Arlene Dahl, Barry Sullivan, Claude Jarman Jr., James Whitmore, Ramon Novarro, Jeff Corey
US Box Office: $3,850,000 ($73,700,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Western
Release Date: March 1, 1950
Plot Summary: In 1865 three Confederate soldiers: Will Owen (Joel McCrea), Jesse Wallace (Barry Sullivan), and Clint Priest (James Whitmore), escape from a Union prison in Missouri. They meet up with a group of pro-Confederate mercenaries led by Keeley (Jeff Corey) and are given a new assignment, to infiltrate a wagon convoy carrying gold from Santa Fe eastward and guide it into an ambush set up by Keeley. After joining the convoy, Will meets the beautiful young widow Jen Gort (Arlene Dahl) and falls in love with her. Will soon begins to have second thoughts about betraying the convoy, which puts him into conflict with Jesse.
Production: In late 1948 MGM producer Richard Goldstone began working on a Civil War-era Western film titled The Outriders. The film revolved around three Confederate soldiers who infiltrate a Union wagon convoy with the intention of betraying it only for one of the soldiers to have a change of heart. Irving Ravetch wrote the screenplay for The Outriders. Goldstone chose Roy Rowland to direct The Outriders. Rowland was under contract with MGM at the time, and he long had close connections with the company. Rowland was married to Ruth Cummings, the niece of MGM co-founder and long-time studio head Louis B. Mayer. Rowland recently directed the Western film The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947).
MGM originally planned to cast Van Heflin as the lead character Will Owen. Those plans fell through and the studio cast Van Johnson in the part instead. He later dropped out and was replaced with Joel McCrea. Earlier in his career McCrea starred in a variety of different films including comedies like Sullivan’s Travels (1941) and thrillers like Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent (1940). Following the success of The Virginian (1946), McCrea primarily appeared in Westerns, a genre he felt more comfortable in. Arlene Dahl was cast as Jen Gort, Will’s love interest in the film. After the success of her first film, the musical My Wild Irish Rose (1947), Dahl signed a film contract with MGM. Earlier that year she starred in another Western, Ambush (1950) directed by Sam Wood. Roy Rowland had previously directed Dahl in the crime drama Scene of the Crime (1949).
Roy Rowland began shooting The Outriders in August of 1949 and filming wrapped up in October. The Outriders was primarily shot on location in Kane County, Utah. Shooting locations near the city of Kanab included: Duck Creek, Aspen Mirror Lake, Strawberry Valley, Paria, Long Valley and Asay Creek. The interior filming was done at MGM Studios in Culver CIty, California.
Fun Facts and Trivia: The Outriders was one of two westerns from 1950 to feature teenage actor Claude Jarman Jr. (Roy Gort) in a supporting role. The other film was John Ford’s Rio Grande, in which Jarman played the son of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara’s characters. Jarman and Arlene Dahl later appeared together in another western film, Inside Straight (1951).
“Camp Benton” is the name of the Missouri Union prison featured at the start of The Outriders. During the Civil War there was a real-life Union military encampment near St. Louis, Missouri with that name. Unlike the fictional camp in The Outriders, the real Camp Benton (officially known as the “Benton Barracks”) was not a prison and was instead primarily used as a Union army training facility.
Reception: The Outriders was released on March 1, 1950 in the United States. Although The Outriders had a fairly average performance at the American box office, it ultimately lost money for MGM. The film’s financial loss can be attributed to its large budget (due to the location shooting) and heavy competition from other Westerns that year.
Although The Outriders has largely been forgotten in modern times, some recent film critics have praised the film. Dennis Schwartz gave the film a positive review. He praised the acting performances (especially Joel McCrea) and Roy Rowland’s directing. Laura Grieve of Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings also praised the acting performances and Charles Schoenbaum’s technicolor cinematography.
Why You Should See It: The Outriders is a high-quality and underrated classic western. Roy Rowland does a good job directing the film. Rowland adds plenty of tension and excitement to The Outriders. The river crossing scene was quite impressive and has some suspenseful moments. Joel McCrea and Arlene Dahl both give good performances in their lead roles. Barry Sullivan is also quite good as the film’s villain. The Outriders features plenty of gorgeous forest and mountain scenery shot on location in Utah. Charles Schoenbaum did an outstanding job with the film’s technicolor cinematography. I liked his use of sunsets and shadows in the lighting.