Like it says, spoilers.
What a crummy ending. At least two of Ben Wade’s gang are killed trying to rescue him, and he jumps on the train to prison because Dan Evans saved his life. It doesn’t seem much of a reward for his followers who sacrificed themselves for him.
I would consider any debt of honor settled by letting Evans walk away alive.
Not a lot of the movie made a lick of sense, but yes the ending is particularly capricious.
Personally I prefer the abridged screenplay (contains NSFW language).
I much prefer the ending of the original to that of the remake. Not as noisy or showy, but it made a lot more sense as far as human psychology, IMO.
You also have to keep in mind the Production Code was still in force when the original was made and there was no way they would’ve let Ford’s character go free at the end even if the filmmakers wanted to.
Even if a criminal was somewhat sympathetic or had admirable qualities, they had to be punished by the film’s end.
I didn’t know that; I thought the “good-bad guy” in Bonanza getting kilt at the end was a 60’s writing style rather than censorship.
Thanks.