Last Roundup: Randolph Scott in Comanche Station

While it might have only been visible in hindsight, it's hard to deny that westerns in the '50s and '60s had an elegiac tone that grew slowly but implacably. It was there in Shane and The Searchers and suffused The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Wild Bunch. By the time Sergio Leone completed his reinvention of the western with the Dollars trilogy and made Once Upon a Time in the West it was the whole premise of the movie.

Budd Boetticher made the six acknowledged westerns in his Ranown Cycle between 1956 and 1960 and by the time he got to the last one, Comanche Station, he'd made pretty much the same journey at a jog. That he did it in a series of what were regarded at the time as "b" pictures meant that it happened largely unnoticed.

It helps that the star of the whole Ranown Cycle was Randolph Scott, an actor who had been a western movie star since the early '30s, and who was over sixty when Comanche Station was released, a Hollywood veteran grown tired of the business and more than ready to hang up his spurs and enjoy the wealth he had made by investing his money quietly and wisely. Once again, it's hard not to see this reveal itself in his face over the course of the films – if only in hindsight.

The film begins with Scott, dressed in black, on horseback through the bleakly stunning landscape of the Alabama Hills where much of the Ranown Cycle was filmed, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, just at the foot of Mount Whitney. We pick him out as he rides, holding the reins of his pack mule, between the weird, weathered granite outcrops...

Over and over we see the actors of the past with real life backgrounds, and it shows on the screen.

“Scott developed and displayed his athleticism, excelling in football, baseball, horse racing, and swimming.”

World War I
“In April 1917, the United States entered World War I. In July, Scott joined a unit of the North Carolina National Guard. He was trained as an artillery observer and earned promotion to corporal in October 1917 and sergeant in February 1918. In May 1918, Scott entered active duty at Fort Monroe, Virginia, as a member of the 2nd Trench Mortar Battalion. The battalion arrived in France in June 1918, and took part in combat with the U.S. IV Corps in the Toul sector and Thiaucourt zone. After the Armistice of November 11, 1918, ended the war, the 2nd TM Battalion took part in the post-war occupation of Germany as part of U.S. VI Corps.

Following the armistice, Scott enrolled in the artillery Officer Candidate School, which was located in Saumur. He received his commission as a second lieutenant of Field Artillery in May 1919 and departed for the United States soon afterwards. He arrived in New York City on June 6 and reported to Camp Mills, where he received his honorable discharge on June 13. Scott made use of his wartime experience in his acting career, including his training in horsemanship and the use of firearms.”

After World War I
“With his military career over Scott continued his education at Georgia Tech, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order and set his sights on becoming an all-American football player. However a back injury prevented him from achieving this goal. Scott then transferred to the University of North Carolina, where he majored in textile engineering and manufacturing. He eventually dropped out and went to work as an accountant in the textile firm where his father, a CPA, was employed.”

Randolph Scott retired from acting at age 64 after “Ride the High Country”. He had a fortune worth at least $100 million due to investments in real estate, gas, oil wells and securities. He was an avid golfer and became good friends with Billy Graham. He owned Cresta Verde golf course in Corona, CA.

Interesting - we can be thankful he agreed to a few more movies before retiring... thanks for sharing.

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