TWO RODE TOGETHER, were it from any other director would have received good reviews—not great, but almost certainly positive. But since “Action!” and “Cut!” came from John Ford this familiar-ground western was considered a flop, with critics and at the box office ($4,100,000, 55th place), and the rep as a dog has continued long after it came out in 1961. Several factors play into the diss. Ford hadn’t had a box office hit since The Searchers (and that revered 1956 classic was absurdly overlooked by critics at the time), the six features he’d done in between all seemed half-hearted, a wound that in Criticopolis signals time to pile on and see who can hiss the nastiest  “hack” or the French derivative. And the notoriously crusty auteur didn’t hide his disdain for it, either, snarling “the worst piece of crap I’ve done in twenty years”. Yeesh, t’ain’t The Searchers or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but it’s not terrible. Just kinda ‘meh’.

“These people, they smile at me and show their teeth, but it’s the eyes that bite.”

Tascosa, Texas. The town marshal ‘Guthrie McCabe’ (James Stewart), a mercenary-minded former scout, is talked into helping locate a number of white captives held for years by the Comanches. The Army sends ‘Lt. Jim Gary’ (Richard Widmark) along with McCabe to treat with legendary chief Quanah Parker to secure the release of such prisoners they can locate, trading weapons for people. For cynical McCabe it’s a money venture, for more sympathetic Gary it’s duty. Anxious relatives await, hoping to see lost loved ones returned. Not all care to come back.

Will Cook wrote 100 short stories and 50 novels, with “Comanche Captives” serving as the base for Frank S. Nugent’s screenplay, his tenth of eleven collaborations with the director. The bring-them-back theme had already been explored in The Searchers; this take adds more community racism to the mix. Mimicking the character played by Stewart, Ford did this one for the money—$225,000 and a quarter of the profits. Other than casting some of his stock company regulars in supporting roles, he didn’t invest much signature style, and chose to skip his favorite location of Monument Valley (where he’d just done Sergeant Rutledge) and instead shoot mostly in Texas, around Brackettville. He’d already spent time there, nosing in on John Wayne’s directorial chores for The Alamo. Buffs with sharp eyes will easily spot sets and locations from that epic (the famous chapel not in view), plus along with Widmark there are a batch of Alamo cast members, most notably Linda Cristal, 29, as a Mexican captive. She does a decent job, but the flip-flop writing doesn’t serve her well, likewise the case for Shirley Jones, 26, bland as a settler gal who Widmark takes a shine to. Stewart and Widmark have fun interacting, though at 52 and 45 they’re too old for the people they’re playing—a 45-year-old lieutenant?

There’s barely any action, the humor insertions are mostly overdone, the editing is choppy, the overall tone is dispiriting. Ford regulars John Qualen and Willis Bouchey contribute vivid bits and John McIntire does his usual strong work as Widmark’s commanding officer. George Duning’s music score starts it off with a fine main theme.

“You know, sometimes it takes a lot more courage to live than it does to die.”

With Andy Devine (looking heavier than his horse), Annelle Hayes, Ken Curtis (cornballing), Harry Carey Jr., Paul Birch, Henry Brandon (as Quanah Parker, basically doing a softer version of ‘Scar’ from The Searchers), Jeanette Nolan, David Kent, Woody Strode, Mae Marsh, Anna Lee, O.Z. Whitehead, Ford Rainey, Olive Carey, Jack Pennick, Chuck Roberson. 109 minutes.

* “Column of blues!” Ford favor falling, 1957-1961—The Wings Of Eagles (34th), The Rising Of The Moon (200th), Gideon Of Scotland Yard (170th), The Last Hurrah (71st), The Horse Soldiers (21st, negated by its cost), Sergeant Rutledge (96th). So there’s no masterpiece in there, but they all have value to one degree or another. Now name the critics…

Poster art promises excitement that the movie doesn’t deliver