Ride the Pink Horse [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Robert Montgomery Robert Montgomery

Overview

This unusual crime melodrama directed by and starring Robert Montgomery is the story of friendship and revenge. Blackie Gagin,(Robert Montgomery) arrives in a small New Mexico town during fiesta time looking for crime-boss Frank Hugo (Fred Clark), who has killed Blackie's best friend. Bill Retz (Art Smith), an FBI agent who has been tracking Montgomery confronts him and demands the evidence that Blackie has that will convict Clark. Blackie goes to Hugo, attempts to blackmail him and is chased by Hugo's henchmen to a carousel operated by Pancho (Thomas Gomez). Blackie finally confronts Hugo in a scene that culminates in a chase and shootout. The plot of this offbeat film noir is convoluted and sometimes confusing, but the acting is above par and Montgomery's direction is always intriguing and helped him make the transition from actor to director. While the film, off-beat, and unusual, had a fine production by Joan Harrison who aided Alfred Hitchcock in so many of his best films, it failed to attract either audiences or critics, although Thomas Gomez received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. The fine script was written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer, based on the novel by Dorothy B. Hughes.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/17/2015
UPC:	0715515141512
Original Release:	1947
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:41:00
Sales rank:	12,760

Special Features

New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; Audio commentary featuring film noir historians Alain Silver and James Ursini; New interview with Imogen Sara Smith, author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City; Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1947, featuring Robert Montgomery, Wanda Hendrix, and Thomas Gomez; PLUS: an essay by filmmaker and writer Michael Almereyda

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Montgomery	Lucky Gagin,Waiter
Wanda Hendrix	Pila
Thomas Gomez	Pancho
Fred Clark	Frank Hugo
Andrea King	Marjorie
Art Smith	Bill Retz
Richard Gaines	Jonathan
Martin Garralaga	Barkeeper
Rita Conde	Carla
Iris Flores	Maria
Edward Earle	Locke
Harold Goodwin	Red
Grandon Rhodes	Mr. Edison
Tito Renaldo	Bellboy
Maria Cortez	Elevator Girl
Paul Maxey	Portly Man
Howard Negley	Thug
Jimmy Ames	Thug
John Doucette	Thug
Jack Worth	Thug
Leon Lenoir	Mexican Workman
Beatrice Roberts	Manageress
Julian Rivero	Mexican Man
Jerry De Castro	Mexican Man
Paul Bryar	State Trooper
Lyle Latell	State Trooper
Harry Vejar	Barber
Charles Stevens	Drunken Mexican
William Ruhl	Mr. Blaine,Mr. Blaine
Ernest Hilliard	Elderly Man
Virginia Wave	Waitress
Amadita Garcia	Mexican Girl,Mexican Boy
Connie Asins	Mexican Girl
Rose Marie Lopez	Mexican Girl
Martha Brenes	Mexican Girl
Olga Perez	Mexican Girl
Carmen Pallais	Mexican Girl
Miguel Tapia	Mexican Boy
Roque Ybarra	Mexican Boy
Jose Alvarado	Mexican Boy
Robert Espinosa	Mexican Boy Crying
Enrique Valades	Muchacho
Robert Cabal	Muchacho
Donald Kerr	Headwaiter
Kenneth Rose MacKenzie	Man

Technical Credits

Joan Harrison	Producer
Robert Montgomery	Director

Editorial Reviews

The oddly titled Ride the Pink Horse is one of the odder, but more intriguing, entries in the film noirs of the 1940s. The screenplay is overly convoluted and will lose some viewers, but its intricacy seems to derive from some greater purpose than to just keep the audience on its toes; it unsettles viewers even as it challenges them. Director Robert Montgomery and scenarists Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, and Joan Harrison are creating a psychological mood piece, murky at times, but intentionally so. The journey that the leading character is on is alien to him and feels so to the viewer, but ultimately it is one of redemption. Montgomery's direction is especially fine, taut but evocative. His performance is not quite up to his direction; he's more than adequate, but not as much at home in the role as Humphrey Bogart would have been, and so one too often sees the actor rather than the character making choices. Still, it's strong enough to hold things together, and he gets excellent support from Wanda Hendrix, Andrea King, and Thomas Gomez, among others. Horse has its flaws, but it's a powerful, provocative film that rewards repeated viewings.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler