750 Ride the Pink Horse

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domino harvey
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750 Ride the Pink Horse

#1 Post by domino harvey » Mon Dec 15, 2014 6:46 pm

Image Image

750 Ride the Pink Horse

Hollywood actor turned idiosyncratic auteur Robert Montgomery directs and stars in this striking crime drama based on a novel by Dorothy B. Hughes. He plays a tough-talking former GI who comes to a small New Mexico town to shake down a gangster who killed his best friend; things quickly turn nasty. Ride the Pink Horse features standout supporting performances from Fred Clark, Wanda Hendrix, and especially Thomas Gomez, who became the first Hispanic actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for his role here. With its relentless pace, expressive cinematography by the great Russell Metty, and punchy, clever script by Charles Lederer and Ben Hecht, this is an overlooked treasure from the heyday of 1940s film noir.

Disc Features

New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
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

mteller
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#2 Post by mteller » Mon Dec 15, 2014 6:54 pm

Great film, one of my favorite noirs! I like Silver/Ursini commentaries too.

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domino harvey
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#3 Post by domino harvey » Mon Dec 15, 2014 7:11 pm

I don't know, I'm not sure this announcement means Ride the Pink Horse is coming from Criterion

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Cold Bishop
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#4 Post by Cold Bishop » Mon Dec 15, 2014 7:34 pm

Solid release but it does have me wondering about the condition of The Hanged Man. Does a copy still exist?

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domino harvey
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#5 Post by domino harvey » Mon Dec 15, 2014 7:39 pm

There's a TV rip up on back channels

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Fred Holywell
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#6 Post by Fred Holywell » Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:45 pm

Yes, a solid release of a film I've seen twice, but have, for some reason, never taken to. Perhaps the commentary will help the next time around. But that cover... It doesn't quite capture the film, at least for me (though it certainly tries hard enough).

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Cold Bishop
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#7 Post by Cold Bishop » Tue Dec 16, 2014 12:26 am

I have to agree. I dig the concept – Gary Sinise's filipino cousin notwithstanding – but it would be better fitting a piece of exotica like The Bribe or Riffraff than this.

To get back to the film, I've cooled on it somewhat after reading the novel, and I don't think it quite sticks the ending, but I dig it for what it is: a Western disguised as a film noir.

Noiradelic
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#8 Post by Noiradelic » Tue Dec 16, 2014 2:35 am

Very fond of this film, though I've only seen it once. Love the conceit of
SpoilerShow
the protagonist being in a woozy semi-conscious state for a good part of the film.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#9 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Feb 16, 2015 7:07 pm

Beaver The caps look sweet.

Self
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#10 Post by Self » Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:06 pm

According to Beaver the essay comes in a booklet.

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Telstar
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#11 Post by Telstar » Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:57 pm

Self wrote:According to Beaver the essay comes in a booklet.
Yeah, but Beaver also claims Criterion's Soft Skin comes with a Booklet, while bluray.com identifies it as a Leaflet. Unfortunately, I'm assuming both are Leaflets.

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RyanGallagher
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#12 Post by RyanGallagher » Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:53 pm

Telstar wrote:
Self wrote:According to Beaver the essay comes in a booklet.
Yeah, but Beaver also claims Criterion's Soft Skin comes with a Booklet, while bluray.com identifies it as a Leaflet. Unfortunately, I'm assuming both are Leaflets.
DVD Beaver and Blu-ray.com are most likely reading the essays as PDFs, due to how early they get their review materials (they're most likely reviewing check discs as well), so it may not be clear whether the layout will be a booklet or a fold-out / insert / leaflet.

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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#13 Post by AnamorphicWidescreen » Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:29 pm

Huge fan of 1940's noir films, so definitely looking forward to seeing RTPH at some point.

However, I have to say it - this is a b&w film, so isn't the whole concept of a "pink" horse lost when viewing this? I don't think this will take away from my enjoyment of the film, but I'm wondering if the film should have been called "Ride the Black Horse", or something like that...

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade here - I'm sure the movie is great.....

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Gregory
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#14 Post by Gregory » Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:44 pm

Every time the horse appears, there is a flash of pink amid the black and white, just like in Schindler's list.

No, but the title comes from Dorothy Hughes's source novel, which is filled with references to various pink objects (inanimate ones, no innuendo intended).

AnamorphicWidescreen
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#15 Post by AnamorphicWidescreen » Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:08 pm

Haven't read Dorthy Hughes' RTPH source novel, but would be interested in doing so - if I could find it, that is. It appears to be OOP these days, which is not surprising...It doesn't look like this will be included with the Criterion Blu, which is a shame - though I know some may find these kinds of extras superfluous, I like them - I thought it was great that Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock Blu came with the original source novel - since that had been OOP for a long time at that point...
Last edited by AnamorphicWidescreen on Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Gregory
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#16 Post by Gregory » Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:11 pm

Sorry, by "no" I meant that I was pulling the proverbial leg without saying "but seriously..."

AnamorphicWidescreen
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#17 Post by AnamorphicWidescreen » Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:23 pm

Gregory wrote:Sorry, by "no" I meant that I was pulling the proverbial leg without saying "but seriously..."
Didn't catch that - no problem, though - without having seen the film, I have no idea what it looks like.

In any case, still want to see this....and read the book.

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cdnchris
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#18 Post by cdnchris » Sat Feb 21, 2015 1:54 am

Self wrote:According to Beaver the essay comes in a booklet.
I just got it and it's a standard Blu-ray sized foldout insert. Not a booklet.

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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#19 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:15 pm


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knives
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#20 Post by knives » Mon Jun 08, 2015 4:01 pm

Could any of the many board fans come forward on the film? It's a lovely travelogue, but the noir components are mostly typical without any evident punchy hook. Gomez and Clark give great performances, but Montgomery is a dead eyed post unlike his usual charming self. He truly is so stiff as to hurt many of the little charms that are present. It seems like a big step down from Lady in the Lake and even that one was standing precariously.

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domino harvey
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#21 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jun 08, 2015 9:35 pm

David, if you haven't already seen it, I strongly recommend Montgomery's screwball comedy, Once More, My Darling, which is my favorite of his directorial efforts and is up you know where (if you know where ever comes back up!)

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swo17
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#22 Post by swo17 » Mon Jun 08, 2015 9:38 pm

Seconded!

AnamorphicWidescreen
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#23 Post by AnamorphicWidescreen » Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:56 pm

Recently saw Ride the Pink Horse on the new Criterion DVD; it was my first time seeing the film. Truly superb noir. The Robert Montgomery character was like a fish out of water in this small border town, but this really fit the setting/story. Also enjoyed the character of young Pila, who effectively combined both naivete & extreme wisdom beyond her years.

From a technical standpoint, the print was stellar; of course, I expect nothing less from Criterion.

Interesting that I had never heard of the film before this Criterion disk; I did some research, and was not able to determine whether it was ever released to R1 DVD before this (probably not).

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domino harvey
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#24 Post by domino harvey » Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:19 pm

To the best of my knowledge it's never had a home video release (DVD, VHS, laserdisc, &c) before Criterion rescued it. There was a circulating copy taped off AMC back when they aired older Hollywood movies in the 90s and that's most of us who've seen it in the last twenty years saw it.

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Lemmy Caution
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Re: 750 Ride the Pink Horse

#25 Post by Lemmy Caution » Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:37 pm

Interesting film. Really liked the supporting roles by Wandra Hendrix and Thomas Gomez
Some great scenes, such as the children trapped on the merry-go-round while the Pancho the operator of the ride gets worked over by two thugs. Or the fiesta parade going by and then we see Pila & the wounded Gagin desperately hiding in an alley. Also some Lady in the Lake flashes when the camera is behind Gagin as he talks with someone.

Pink Horse reminded me a good deal of Odd Man Out, which was released 6 months earlier in 1947. Both feature a criminal, with a somewhat noble purpose, who has his plans go awry as they get seriously wounded while killing another man. Then for the second half of the film, the protag is in bad shape and passively at the mercy of others. They explore different concepts, but use the same unusual device to do so.

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