TEN WANTED MEN (USA, 1955) **½
Distributor: Columbia Pictures; Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation / Ranown Pictures Corp.; Release Date: 1 February 1955; Filming Dates: 17 April 1954 – 7 May 1954; Running Time: 80m; Colour: Technicolor; Sound Mix: Mono (Western Electric Recording); Film Format: 35mm; Film Process: Spherical; Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1; BBFC Cert: U.
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone; Writer: Kenneth Gamet (based on a story by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr.); Producer: Harry Joe Brown; Associate Producer: Randolph Scott; Director of Photography: Wilfred M. Cline; Music Composer: Paul Sawtell; Film Editor: Gene Havlick; Art Director: Edward L. Ilou; Set Decorator: Frank Tuttle; Sound: John P. Livadary, Jack A. Goodrich.
Cast: Randolph Scott (John Stewart), Jocelyn Brando (Corinne Michaels), Richard Boone (Wick Campbell), Alfonso Bedoya (Hermando), Donna Martell (Maria Segura), Skip Homeier (Howie Stewart), Clem Bevans (Tod Grinnel), Leo Gordon (Frank Scavo), Minor Watson (Jason Carr), Lester Matthews (Adam Stewart), Tom Powers (Henry Green), Dennis Weaver (Sheriff Clyde Gibbons), Lee Van Cleef (Al Drucker), Kathleen Crowley (Marva Gibbons (uncredited)), Louis Jean Heydt (Tom Baines (uncredited)), Edna Holland (Ann (uncredited)), Francis McDonald (Deputy Warner (uncredited)), Boyd ‘Red’ Morgan (Red Dawes (uncredited)), Denver Pyle (Dave Weed (uncredited)).
Synopsis: When his ward seeks protection with a rival cattleman an embittered, jealous rancher hires ten outlaws to help him seize power in the territory.
Comment: This routine B-Western is one of the lesser examples of Scott and Brown’s productions through the 1950s. The story is a familiar tale of a range war between Scott and Boone following Boone’s ward resisting his advances and running to Scott’s nephew, Homeier. Shot on location at Old Tucson the film suffers from weak direction by Humberstone and some hammy performances – notably Homeier. Scott looks too classy for the material, but gamely makes the most of a by-the-numbers script whilst Boone, early in his career, is still finding his range. Some of the doubling stunt work is obvious and there are technical continuity errors that hint at the rushed nature of the production. Despite its faults, this is still a reasonably diverting entertainment.