Sam Peckinpagh's "Ride the High Country"

[Jim_s_Son]

I watched the DVD of this classic western the other day and listened to the commentary. It struck me that they talked a great deal about Peckinpagh, some about actress Mariette Hartley (the future "I am not Mrs James Garner) but very little about stars Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea, save they switched parts once the movie started. Did either of those two actors, who made a lot of Westerns and both were apparently pretty wealthy, ever say what they thought of the movie? Did they think it was a great film or just another job? Did they ever comment about Peckinpagh?

[silenus]

Not that I’m aware of. I think RTHC is the best movie Peckinpah ever made, and have read quite a bit about it, but I don’t recall much from the two stars.

[aceplace57]

Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea both retired after Ride the High Country. I’ve always heard they felt it was a high point in their careers and choose to leave together.

Randolph Scott

McCrea actually returned to film a few years later.

Joel McCrea

A few years later, McCrea united with fellow veteran of westerns Randolph Scott in Ride the High Country (1962), directed by Sam Peckinpah, which was to be his last feature film for four years, when he made The Young Rounders (1966). Four more years were to pass before his next release, but 1970 saw the release of two films: Cry Blood, Apache, again with his son Jody, and Sioux Nation McCrea made his last film appearance in 1976, in Mustang Country.