Seven Men from Now

Neither as bleak nor as concise as the greatest collaborations between Scott and Boetticher (The Tall T, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station), their first outing together nevertheless remains a terrific B Western. Scott is beautifully assured as Ben Stride, vengefully hunting down the men who killed his wife during a robbery, while Larch and (most especially) Marvin are memorable as the outlaws he encounters out in the desert, keen to get their hands on a gold shipment secretly being carried by a couple from back east. Burt Kennedy's script is characteristically terse and witty, William Clothier's camerawork sharp and direct, and Boetticher's direction a model of inventive economy.