Tonight's Movie: Stranger on Horseback (1955) - A Kit Parker Films Blu-ray Review

A piece of very good news in 2025 was the recent Blu-ray release of STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (1955) by Kit Parker Films in a restored special edition.

When I first watched this film back in 2009 via a VCI DVD, the print was in poor shape, with variable colors, though watchable.

The DVD came from the only known surviving print of the film, held at the British Film Institute. That print was also the source material for this Blu-ray, but thanks to new technology and improvements in restoration techniques in the intervening years, the Blu-ray looks quite a bit better than I recall the DVD.

STRANGER ON HORSEBACK has a short running time for a picture with an "A" cast, clocking in at just 66 minutes, but it's enjoyable thanks to a well-directed cast and beautiful Sedona locations.

Joel McCrea plays Rick Thorne, a circuit judge who rides into a dusty town and attempts to bring Tom (Kevin McCarthy), the son of the local cattle baron (John McIntire), to justice for murder.

The young man claims self-defense, but Judge Thorne says that's for a jury to decide. He arrests Tom and determines he must move both the accused and a pair of witnesses (Nancy Gates and Walter Baldwin) to another town for a fair trial.

That's pretty much the story, but it's nicely told due to a colorful cast, including John Carradine as a prosecutor and Emile Meyer as a cat-loving sheriff. Familiar faces like Roy Roberts and Dabbs Greer are also on hand.

The cast also includes the curiously cast Miroslava, a Czech actress who plays McIntire's fiery niece Amy Lee; she's attracted to the judge and gradually comes to respect him as well. Sadly, the actress died before the film was released.

The movie was directed by Jacques Tourneur, an old friend of McCrea's who also directed him in STARS IN MY CROWN (1950) and WICHITA (1955). I've really come to appreciate Tourneur, a polished craftsman who makes the best of the fairly limited material here.

The screenplay, based on a story by Louis L'Amour, was written by Herb Meadow and Don Ryan. It was filmed in Anscocolor by Ray Rennahan, with a score by Paul Dunlap.

The filmmakers add in nice touches, including well-designed action scenes -- watching the judge briskly take down a man taunting him in the street is a pleasure -- and the previously mentioned cat.

A side note: Watch for an odd moment when Judge Thorne goes to speak with a woman (Jacklyn Green) and her blouse is repeatedly moving, as though in a breeze, despite the fact they're indoors. I looked for a plausible reason for it, such as an open window, but I was baffled.

The new 2K restoration picture is by no means perfect, but as mentioned, it seems to be quite an improvement over the previous DVD release. Kudos to the restorationists who worked with the only available source material to bring home viewers the best print possible. Perhaps someday a print in better condition will turn up, but for now I'm quite grateful to be able to see it looking as good as it does.  

Curiously, the DVD box says on the back cover that the disc is closed-captioned, but I found no captions on the disc; the absence is confirmed by a listing at Blu-ray.com. I would have found them useful, given that my hearing is imperfect and the soundtrack is what I would describe as a bit "mushy." It's not bad, just lacking a certain crispness; I assume this is due to the original source material.

Disc extras include an informative nine-minute featurette, THUNDER IN THE SADDLE: THE MAKING OF STRANGER ON HORSEBACK, written by Toby Roan, who also does the honors with a commentary track. The featurette includes a brief "before and after" restoration comparison. Additional extras consist of the trailer and image galleries, including the script, a very nice add to this disc.

Last year Kit Parker Films also put out an excellent double feature Blu-ray set of APACHE RIFLES (1964) and PANHANDLE (1948), which I wrote about in my Western RoundUp column at Classic Movie Hub. I encourage Western fans to support these releases so that we'll see more of them in the future!

Thanks to Kit Parker Films for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. This film may be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers.

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