The dvd also features a commentary, an interview with a film noir writer who talks about the film, and the usual. Wanda hendrix as pila the young woman, art smith as retz the fbi agent, and fred clark as hugo the villain are also effective. Lucky robert montgomery to pila wanda hendrix in ride the pink horse. Ride the pink horse the official andrea king website. Ride the pink horse 1947 if it wasnt for its sole academy award nomination, ride the pink horsewould be completely obscure today. Ride the pink horse, 1947, stars well respected actor and director robert montgomery. Yes, the two are portrayed as stereotypesin typical, early hollywood fashion, hendrix was a.
Its said that a good book teaches you how to read it. The multiethnic culture and the small dusty western town that vexes sailor contributes to hughes heavy themes. Sep 29, 2015 by dennis hartley originally posted on digbys hullabaloo on march 28, 2015ride the pink horse criterion collection bluray. Ride the pink horse, with its unusual setting, represents an interesting entry in the fascinating saga of film noir, the genre that flourished in the 1940s and 1950s. He is looking for someone, his boss, sen a crooked, weaselfaced senator, who has set up. Ride the pink horse 1947 is a film noir directed by robert montgomery and starring robert montgomery, thomas gomez, and wanda hendrix gagin montgomery rolls into san pablo, a mexican border town readying itself for the local fiesta against the god of bad luck. Criterion collection blu ray the criterion collection unrated march 17, 2015 region a. Ride the pink horse 1947 this noir is about as strange as its awkward title. Mexico, was the model for the carousel in the novel ride the pink horse. Ride the pink horse was remade as a made for television movie retitled the hanged man with robert culp, vera miles, gene raymond, and edmond obrien not to be confused with a later made for. Andrea king robert montgomery thomas gomez wanda hendrix. The story includes a classic femme fatale and an antique carousel with a pink horse.
Its very rare when i think a movie based on a book is just as good as the book. Oct 23, 2018 born dixie wanda hendrix in jacksonville, florida to a logging camp boss max sylvester hendrix and his wife mary bailley, wholesome, greeneyed, darkhaired wanda hendrix was involved in her hometowns little theater group when she was discovered by a passing talent agent and signed up by warner bros. Thomas gomez was nominated for a best supporting actor oscar for his performance. Joining andrea and bob montgomery on the shadowy screen were wanda hendrix in a breakthrough performance as pila, a mexican waif, fred clark as the nearlydeaf and villainous frank hugo, art smith as fbi. Its filled with symbolism and enough noir atmosphere to make you depressed for a week, yet the characters and dialog are almost as. Amid the festive spirits, gagin has a rather grim task in mind.
The drama features robert montgomery, wanda hendrix, andrea king, thomas gomez, among others. One of the lesser known film noirs set not in an urban cesspool but in a new mexican village at festival time, robert montgomerys ride the pink horse is one of the more underheralded movies of its era. Ride the pink horse by robert montgomery, wanda hendrix. Playing a character one initially expects to roll gagin at the first opportunity. Thomas gomez, and pila wanda hendrix, a teenage native american girl. Ride the pink horse also benefits from the more than capable efforts of the supporting players. Mar 16, 2015 lucky robert montgomery to pila wanda hendrix in ride the pink horse dorothy b.
By dennis hartley originally posted on digbys hullabaloo on march 28, 2015ride the pink horse criterion collection bluray. While the casting of wanda hendrix as a native american showed how far hollywood still had to go in terms of respecting ethnicity, director montgomery gave thomas gomez a whopper of a role to sink his chops into. Hughes, the new mexico environs play a strong role. Ride the pink horse features standout supporting performances by fred clark, wanda hendrix, and especially thomas gomez, who became the first hispanic actor to receive an academy award nomination for his role here. A tale of revenge and redemption that moves with a steady pace while twisting the viewer in knots over its outcome, ride the pink horse deserves to be. Ride the pink horse dvd king county library system. Gagin is seeking hush money, and, if he doesnt get it hell resort to other means of getting even with hugo. Ride the pink horse is a 1947 film noir crime film produced by universal studios. May 16, 2018 ride the pink horse, named after one of the steeds on panchos handcrank carousel, is a compelling threeday slice of life, a morality play, a mystery and a hard boiled novel about relationships and betrayal. Its slackly paced and low on drama, and while montgomery makes a gutsy choice in playing gagin as somewhat dim and abrasive, that also makes the hero hard to take, especially during a climactic sequence where hes so concussed, he can barely form a. Ride the pink horse wikimili, the best wikipedia reader.
Ride the pink horse 1947 directed by and starring robert montgomery. George grizzard, phyllis newman, tony randall apr 30, 1967 duration. Technically bold, while simultaneously lacking pretension, ride the pink horse overturns genre conventions without neglecting to tell a compelling story. Ride the pink horse arrives on bluray courtesy of criterion collection as an outstanding transfer. Ride the pink horse 1947 robert montgomery, wanda hendrix. As fbi investigator bill retz art smith trails both men, hugo moves to rid the world of gagin. Gomez, mostly remembered today for playing heavies in every sense of the term like his turn as curley in key largo 1948, gives a most memorable performance here. Apr 04, 2015 while the casting of wanda hendrix as a native american showed how far hollywood still had to go in terms of respecting ethnicity, director montgomery gave thomas gomez a whopper of a role to sink his chops into. Get 50% off hundreds of family movies when you preorder on fandangonow today.
Ride the pink horse for an intimate profile and emotional journey. Robert montgomery directed and starred in this exotic film noir set during a new mexico fiesta. Wanda hendrix, whose appearance in brownface is mitigated by a fairly fleshedout performance. Everyone in town is enigmatic, especially pila, a mystical young woman who follows gagin around after premonitions of his death. Ending is much different than the books, but cant be improved upon. See more ideas about horses, robert montgomery and film noir. Ride the pink horse rides hard and strong with its. At the merrygoround there, he meets pila wanda hendrix, who takes him to the. Though montgomery followed that film up with ride the pink horse just a few short months later, the latter work marks a stylistic quantum leap forward for the director.
Notes by john thompson related items andrea king fred clark ride the pink horse 1947 robert montgomery season 72 summer series 72 thomas gomez wanda hendrix. The title comes from a scene where lucky montgomery wants to give pilar hendrix a free ride on panchos gomez merrygoround. Montgomery was clear voiced and very, very purposeful in all his movies. The film was remade for tv in 1964 as the hanged man. Set in the small new mexican town of san pablo during a locally popular festival, actordirector robert montgomerys ride the pink horse begins as a lonely stranger, gagin montgomery, arrives in town by bus, takes a moment at the station to rent a locker into which he stashes a cheque, and then commences his search for one frank hugo fred clark.
Buy a cheap copy of ride the pink horse book by dorothy b. A hardboiled army vet arrives in a small new mexico town to shake down the war profiteer he blames for his best friends death. The dvd also features a commentary, an interview with a film noir writer who talks about the film, and the usual booklet essay. Ride the pink horse is rarely talked about as a noir classicand it shouldnt be. A toughasnails, hardboiled, war vet arrives by bus into santa fe, new mexico here called san pablo for what we believe is to avenge the death of his buddy at the hands of a war profiteer. Eventually this title made its way into my tbr pile and spurred on by the inclusion of another hughes title in the reprint of the year awards poll, i decided to give this story a go. Ride the pink horse 1947 by nicholas stix corrected at 1. Ride the pink horse into noir territory robert montgomery, wanda hendrix and thomas gomez robert montgomery was a talented actor who was as adept at dramatic parts as he was at the comedic roles that initially made him a star.
Mar 18, 2015 on its surface, ride the pink horse contains many of the elements we expect from film noir. What the merrygoround is a metaphor of each viewer can decide. Ride the pink horse 1947 is a film noir directed by robert montgomery and starring robert montgomery, thomas gomez, and wanda hendrix. However, as a tough guy physically i am not convinced that he had the body for it. Hughess 1946 novel provides the atmosphere, the setting, the setup. With its relentless pace, expressive cinematography by the great russell metty, and punchy, clever script by ben hecht and charles. Lucky robert montgomery to pila wanda hendrix in ride the pink horse dorothy b. The drama also features montgomery as the main character. Thomas gomez, wanda hendrix 101 min 35mm print from universal studio. Ww2 veteran lucky gagin arrives in a new mexico bordertown intent on revenging against mobster frank hugo but fbi agent bill retz, who also wants hugo, tries to keep gagin out of trouble. It was directed by the actor robert montgomery from a screenplay by ben hecht and charles lederer, which was based on the 1946 novel of the same name by dorothy b.
In the end, she chose ride the pink horse, and the film has stood the test of time as a rarelyseen but truly great film noir classic. Gagin montgomery rolls into san pablo, a mexican border town readying itself for the local fiesta against the god of bad luck. Robert montgomerys gagin is out to avenge the mysterious death of o ride the pink horse 1947 robert montgomery, wanda hendrix, thomas gomez classic horror film board. Ride the pink horse by robert montgomery, wanda hendrix, rita. Initially, this creates an odd sense of dislocation, a slipperiness which. Strangers on a train level sweaty nervous tension meets under the volcano existential fiesta noir or sonething. Thomas gomez and his welldeserved best supporting actor nod notwithstanding, this is a film that few people have even heard of, let alone seen. Ride the pink horse is a properly moody melodrama, containing one of the few truly good performances from eternal ingenue wanda hendrix. Oct 19, 2018 ride the pink horse 1947 directed by and starring robert montgomery. In ride the pink horse, a 1946 crime novel by noir writer dorothy b. Robert montgomery, thomas gomez, wanda hendrix, robert montgomery. Ride the pink horse rides hard and strong with its unique. With robert montgomery, thomas gomez, wanda hendrix, andrea king. Ride the pink horse 1946 by dorothy b hughes hughes is an author ive known about for a while, but never tried.
Jan 12, 2019 ride the pink horse into noir territory robert montgomery, wanda hendrix and thomas gomez robert montgomery was a talented actor who was as adept at dramatic parts as he was at the comedic roles that initially made him a star. But in the midst of this macho maelstrom, a savvy local girl wanda hendrix emerges as a potential heroine. Ww2 veteran lucky gagin arrives in a new mexico bordertown intent on revenging against mobster frank hugo but fbi agent bill retz, who also wants hugo, tries to. Ride the pink horse, named after one of the steeds on panchos handcrank carousel, is a compelling threeday slice of life, a morality play, a mystery and a hard boiled novel about relationships and betrayal. She claims to have seen a vision of lucky dead and decides to protect him. Ride the pink horse features standout supporting performances by fred clark, wanda hendrix, and especially thomas gomez, who became the first. Robert montgomerys gagin is out to avenge the mysterious death of old army buddy. Rita conde and iris flores in ride the pink horse 1947 wanda hendrix and robert. Sailor, a hood from chicago, steps off a bus in a small, desert town. Gomez was nominated for a best supporting actor oscar.
On its surface, ride the pink horse contains many of the elements we expect from film noir. If you prefer your dark tales of avarice and deception served up with style and atmosphere, im happy to report that ride the pink horse, a nearly forgotten film noir gem, has just been reissued on bluray by the criterion collection. In the story a man wanders around the southwestern u. Ride the pink horse ncma north carolina museum of art. Ride the pink horse was based on a novel of the same name by dorothy b. Ride the pink horse 1947 robert montgomery synopsis. Ride the pink horse has a wild carnival atmosphere set in a small new mexico town, with sailor, one of the greatest greasy gangsters with a heart of gold you will meet.
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