Man in the Saddle (1951)

Randolph Scott is Owen Merritt, a small rancher who loses his ambitious lover, Laurie Bidwell, to a larger rancher, Will Isham.

Now that he’s got Laurie, the jealous Isham wants to run Merritt and the other small ranchers right out of the country and hires a fast gun, Fay Dutcher, to help him accomplish that mission.

When one of his men is killed in a Dutcher-inspired stampede, Owen declares war on Isham and his ranch hands, figuring he might win Laurie back in the process.

But he winds up injured and nursed to help by another small rancher with a pretty figure, Nan Melotte (Ellen Drew).

Even she can’t sidetrack Merritt from his new obsession, making sure Isham and his henchmen loosen their grip on the countryside.

Randolph Scott as Owen Merritt, striking back at Will Isham’s ranch in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Alexander Knox as Will Isham, ready to declare war on Owen Merritt in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Review:

A fast-paced film and adequate Scott vehicle, though Isham’s decision to try to start applying pressure to Merritt just after marrying his former lover seems more than a wee bit implausible.

The presence of two female leads helps make the film a bit less predictable than the norm. So does the fact that Nan has her own jealous admirer, Hugh Clagg (John Russell). He’s not aligned with Isham’s bunch, but he’d like to see Merritt dead just the same.

Among the action highlights: Scott trying to stem a stampede with a burning chuck wagon and a final shootout that takes place in the middle of a windstorm.

This marked the first of seven Westerns director Andre de Toth and Scott made together. The film also features an early Western role for Cameron Mitchell, who would eventually find a home in the genre, both in Spaghetti Westerns (“Minnesota Clay”) and as Buck Cannon in “The High Chaparral” TV series.

Joan Leslie as Laurie Bidwell, sensing trouble on the horizon in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Ellen Drew as Nan Melotte, about to watch Hugh Clagg and Owen Merritt duke it out in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Directed by:
Andre De Toth

Cast:
Randolph Scott … Owen Merritt
Joan Leslie … Laurie Bidwell
Ellen Drew … Nan Melotte
Alexander Knox … Will Isham
Richard Rober … Fay Dutcher
John Russell … Hugh Clagg
Alfonso Bedoya … Cultus Charley
Guinn Williams … Bourke Prine
Cameron Mitchell … George Vird
Clem Vegans … Pay Lankershim
Richard Crane … Juke Vird
Frank Sully … Lee Repp

Runtime: 87 min.

Title tune: “Man in the Saddle”
sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Cameron Mitchell as George Vird and Richard Crane as his brother Juke, two of Owen Merritt’s ranch hands in Man in the Saddle (1951)

John Russell as Hugh Clagg, a man obsessed with Nan Melotte in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Memorable lines:

Owen Merritt to Laurie Bidwell, as she prepares to marry another man: “You always figured you could make your mind pull your heart along. I hope you can.”

Fay Dutcher to Will Isham: “I better get on with what I came here for. Because the longer I put it off, the longer he’ll be standing on that staircase between you and her (Laurie).”

Will Isham: “Suppose you’d known before our marriage that I planned to go after Merritt. Would you have married me?”
Laurie Bidwell: “What a brutal question.”
Isham: “Thanks for the compliment.”

Fay Dutcher: “You know, Mr. Isham, when you’re hunting a man that can shoot like Owen Merritt, go losing your head and you might lose your head.”

Fay Dutcher: “This is like shooting crippled ducks in a barrell.”

Guinn Williams as Bourke Prine and Randolph Scott as Owen Merritt in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Richard Rober as Fay Dutcher, the fast gun Will Isham hires to kill Owen Merritt in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Frank Sully as Lee Repp, one of Will Isham’s ranch hands in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Joan Leslie as Laurie Birdwell, who marries Will Isham for money not love in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Ellen Drew as Nan Melotte, the woman who nurses Owen Merritt back to health after he’s wounded in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Alfonso Bedoya as Cactus Charly, cook for Owen Merritt’s outfit in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Alexander Knox as Will Isham with Joan Leslie as Laurie, his new wife, in Man in the Saddle (1951)

Randolph Scott as Owen Merritt and Guinn Williams as Bourke Prine, getting information out of Shepp (Frank Sully) in Man in the Saddle (1951)