Tonight's Movie: Red Mountain (1951) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Over the years a number of films have been produced about the renegade Confederate general William Quantrill, including KANSAS RAIDERS (1950) and QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS (1958).

He appears again, with his name spelled Quantrell, played by John Ireland in RED MOUNTAIN (1951), available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. To my knowledge this is the first time the movie has been available for home viewing in the United States.

RED MOUNTAIN is one of several very welcome Kino Lorber releases of Alan Ladd films in recent months, including other first-time U.S. disc releases such as SAIGON (1947), CHICAGO DEADLINE (1949), and BOTANY BAY (1953). Ladd fans such as myself owe Kino Lorber a debt of gratitude for making so many of his films available in beautiful copies.

In RED MOUNTAIN Ladd plays Captain Brett Sherwood, a Confederate soldier detailed to head west in the waning days of the Civil War to assist General Quantrell.

Along the way Sherwood saves a prospector, Lane Waldron (Arthur Kennedy), from being lynched for the murder of an assayer; we eventually learn that Sherwood is involved in the assayer's killing, but his motives are initially a mystery.

Despite Sherwood saving Waldron's life, Waldron and his girl, Chris (Lizabeth Scott), eventually take Lane prisoner; however, the balance of power between the two men swings back and forth, with Sherwood finally gaining the upper hand when Waldron breaks his leg.

Quantrell, having met up with Sherwood, is interested in obtaining the location of Waldron's gold claim, but Sherwood, realizing that Quantrell is now only acting for himself, not the Confederacy, does what he can to bide time and save the lives of Waldron and Chris, especially as he's developing feelings for Chris.

The film is interesting as a relic of the era when it was fairly common for Confederates to be movie heroes; Joel McCrea in BORDER RIVER (1954) is another example which comes to mind. However, while the film has a good Ladd performance and striking New Mexico locations, overall I was disappointed.

The script by John Meredyth Lucas, George F. Slavin, and George W. George, based on a story by Slavin and George, is extremely repetitive, with control shifting back and forth and back again between the Ladd and Kennedy characters.

Much of the film is set in a cave where Waldron and Chris are trapped and held prisoner by Quantrell; there's surprisingly little action at times, but a lot of talking. The film has a strong cast, yet they're trapped by a script that doesn't go much of anywhere, and when it does move forward, it's slowly.

None of the characters in this 84-minute film are provided with much back story, other than having suffered on their chosen sides due to the war, and Sherwood's attraction to Chris seems to develop out of almost nowhere. For Chris's part, she seems to abandon her feelings for Waldron incredibly quickly; I'd choose Alan Ladd over Arthur Kennedy too, but still...!

I found Kennedy and Scott less interesting than usual, whereas Ladd always manages to be compelling, even with little to work with. He does an excellent job moving from a man of at times ambiguous intentions to conveying his growing dismay with Quantrell; the script doesn't always help him but he's able to do a lot with facial expressions and the tone of his line readings.

While I found this film sub-par, especially given the cast, Ladd is always worth watching and I was glad to see this film on his account. By this time he's certainly moved into my top five favorites, probably third after Tyrone Power and Joel McCrea.

Ireland is good as the scholarly yet evil Quantrell, who doesn't blanch at killing anyone, and he plans to include Waldron and Chris among his victims.

The supporting cast includes James Bell, Jeff Corey, Walter Sande, Whit Bissell, Neville Brand, and Jay Silverheels.

The movie was directed by William Dieterle and the uncredited John Farrow, with Technicolor cinematography by Charles Lang. The musical score was by Franz Waxman.

The movie's Technicolor wasn't especially striking to me, but it's a fine print free of scratches or jumps. This Blu-ray is definitely the way to see this film.

Extras consist of a commentary track by Samm Deighan, plus a gallery of eight trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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