Two Rode Together

Dir: John Ford

1961

***

John Ford hated the story, hated the script and hated the end result and only took on the role of director for the money and as a favour to the head of Columbia Pictures Harry Cohn who died a couple of years before the film's release. The infamously difficult director took his frustrations out on the actors, even more so than usual and while his harsh treatment of the cast may have attributed to some great scenes, overall it comes across as an unhappy film, which it undoubtedly was. I don't particularly like or agree with the story, neither did Ford, the whole thing was made with contempt and I felt that while watching it. While it's not quite regarded as the classic John Ford western, it is remembered fondly for the relationship and on-screen chemistry of James Stewart and Richard Widmark, which is undeniably strong. Both actors were approached separately by Ford and told to up their game as the other actor was stealing the show, this clearly worked and both actors said as much years later in interviews. While there are no stand out scenes as far as performance or visuals go, it is still strong, John Ford's average being better than most director's best. From a story point of view it's impossible not to compare this to Ford's classic The Searchers, made five years previous and from a performance point of view, James Stewart's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, made the following year and also directed by John Ford - although it is amazing the two men worked with each other again, three more times no less (How The West Was Won and Cheyenne Autumn). It says a lot about a film when what happened behind the camera is better known and more interesting than what was filmed but the first half of Two Rode Together is great cinema with two immaculate performances. It's just a shame the direction the story takes sours everything good about it.