Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Am I Missing Something?

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

. . . of how to Make America Safe Again. RIDING SHOTGUN shows that towns in which everybody is willing and able to take pot shots at everyone else can really reduce their crime rates, even when plagued by felonious gangs. If firearms had been outlawed in the town of "Deepwater" before "Dan Marady's" gang of gun-slinging outlaws showed up, only Dan's outlaws would have had access to firearms after they had tricked the local lawmen into leaving town. Fortunately for the "Bank Club" casino--Dan's armed robbery target--Deepwater is an "open carry" settlement, in which everyone is armed to the teeth. (The good guys even keep "in practice" by shooting at EACH OTHER while waiting for the bad guys to show up! Fortunately, "Laconic Larry" is skilled at shooting guns out of the opposing duelists' hands when other good guys are firing at HIM!) RIDING SHOTGUN proves that Guardian Angels mostly keep good guys from getting shot in the USA, as long as they're allowed to be on a "level playing field" where everyone old enough to walk is packing a firearm. Certainly RIDING SHOTGUN can serve as a timely reminder to show your support Today for your local chapter of BANGS (Broke Americans Need Gun Stamps).

Riding Shotgun has Randolph Scott doing just that, riding shotgun for various stagecoach lines. He's been doing this for several years, but always on the lookout for a particularly mean and vicious outlaw played by James Millican. He's hot on the trail now, but Millican and his men also hate him with equal ferocity. They lure him off the line and hold up the stage, shooting it up pretty badly with driver and guard who replaced Scott both killed. The idea is to get the local sheriff to form a posse and start chasing the bandits while they come in and loot the town, particularly a gambling house known to have large sums on hand. When Scott gets there he arrives with a lot of hatred written on the faces of the town who figure if he didn't have something outright to do with the holdup, he's a coward then. He can't convince no one no how that Millican is coming with a really big gang.This film is directed by Andre DeToth who keeps the tension simmering in this film. Some in the town like Joe Sawyer the stageline owner want to lynch him on the spot, some like Deputy Wayne Morris who arrives back in the middle of action try real hard to maintain some kind of order and let Scott have his say.Charles Bronson has one of his early roles in this film as a particularly vicious member of Millican's gang. But Millican and Scott between the two of them are what the film revolves around. Millican is every bit as shrewd and tough as Scott who narrates the film says he is. This is not and has not been an easy man to take down.The final shootout is a classic, usually in Randolph Scott westerns they are. Riding Shotgum was one of his best B films from the Fifties. Come to think of it, Randy does never use a shotgun in this film.

For no logic reason whatsoever, our hero Randolph is left alive and sloppily tied up, so that freeing himself is like a walk in the park. After this idiotic beginning the film shifts into "stupidity high-gear" as Scott tries to convince a whole town filled with idiots that their town is going to get robbed. John Baer from "We're no Angels", who looks like William Katt's father (maybe he was for all I know), somehow got a role in this mess and makes a mess of that role - a mess in the mess, so to speak. Why am I writing this review? I only have a messy answer on that question. Soon, very soon, this review will contain enough lines for being permitted...just about...now!

"Riding Shotgun" is another in the Randolph Scott series of westerns released by Warner Brothers in the 1950s.This one is another variation of the High Noon theme of one man left alone against the villains without the support of the town. Larry DeLong (Scott) has been searching for Dan Maraday (James Millican) who murdered his sister and nephew during a stagecoach hold up. He has been riding shotgun for various stage lines with the hope that way he will finally meet up with his nemesis.Maraday's gang, led by Pinto (Charles Bronson) captures DeLong and leaves him to die in the hot sun. They then rob and shoot up the local stagecoach on which Larry was supposed to be the shotgun guard. By sending the coach into town shot up, Maraday hopes to draw the sheriff and his posse out of town so that they can ride in and loot the casino. But DeLong escapes and rides into town to warn the townspeople. The town believes that Larry is one of the gang because he was seen riding away with a member of the gang. Led by stagecoach owner Tom Biggert (Joe Sawyer), the town turns against Larry and corners him in a dingy saloon owned by Fritz (Fritz Feld). Deputy sheriff Tub Murphy (Wayne Morris) returns from the posse with orders to hold DeLong. Unfortunately he is ineffective and unable to arrest DeLong. The townspeople then decide to try to smoke him out.Meanwhile Maraday and his gang ride into town during the commotion. DeLong manages to escape and confront the gang.Randolph Scott basically played the same character in all of his 50s westerns, the stern faced William S. Hart type of hero. He always made them believable. Wayne Morris had starred in his own series prior to this but is essentially wasted here as the ever hungry, over cautious, overweight deputy. Joan Weldon as the heroine also has little to contribute. James Millican had appeared in several Scott westerns before his untimely death in 1956. Charles Bronson (still using his real name of Buchinsky) has a meaty role as the chief henchman. Veteran "head waiter" Fritz Feld gets a welcome change of pace as the slovenly Fritz.Some other recognizable faces include Paul Picerni as the shotgun guard who dies in Scott's place, Howard Morris as a psychopathic "man with the rope" and if you look closely you might spot western veterans Bud Osborne, Buddy Roosevelt and Dub Taylor in various townsfolk.Another good entry in the the Randolph Scott series.