The Ride Back *** (1957, Anthony Quinn, William Conrad, Lita Milan, Victor Millan) – Classic Movie Review 13,913

Director Allen H Miner’s 1957 American Western film The Ride Back is written by Antony Ellis, and stars Anthony Quinn, William Conrad, George Trevino, and Lita Milan.

A lawman called Sheriff Chris Hamish (William Conrad) discovers that arresting a notorious criminal, gunfighter Bob Kallen (Anthony Quinn), is not the end of his problems, but the start of them, and the subsequent tale of escorting the prisoner to jail takes on the proportions of a quest, in this modest but extremely effective Western.

Despite the restrictions imposed by an obviously small budget, this action-adventure Western has a plot that both twists and makes use of the Western’s conventions, and is a welcome variant of a well-worn Western sub-genre.

The interesting material is handled very competently, magnetically acted by the two stars, and backed up by ideal performances by the little known support cast. Antony Ellis’s character-driven screenplay (originally written for radio) is good, Joseph F Biroc’s black and white cinematography is outstanding and Frank De Vol‘s score is notable.

It is produced by its star William Conrad and Robert Aldrich who called it ‘a good Western with psychological overtones’. That’s actually true, but of course he would say that as he made it for his The Associates & Aldrich Company. It was partly filmed in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California, and was released on 29 April 1957 by United Artists.

Running time: 79 minutes.

The cast are Anthony Quinn as Bob Kallen, William Conrad as Sheriff Chris Hamish, Lita Milan as Elena, Victor Millan as Father Ignatius, Jorge Treviño [George Trevino] as Border Guard, Ellen Hope Monroe as Little Girl, Joe Dominguez as Luis, Louis Towers as Boy.

Lita Milan was born Iris Maria Lia Menshall in 1933. Her films include The Violent Men (1955), Desert Sands (1955), Gun Brothers (1956), The Ride Back (1957), Bayou (1957), The Left Handed Gun (1958), Never Love a Stranger (1958) and I Mobster (1959). She retired from film and TV in 1959 and married Ramfis Trujillo, the son of the former dictator of the Dominican Republic, in 1960. She recalled: ‘It was my mistake because I could have gone much further as an actress.’

Anthony Quinn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Viva Zapata! (1952), becoming the first Mexican-born performer to win an Academy Award. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar again in 1957 for Lust for Life.

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,913

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