Ride in the Whirlwind
Brief Synopsis
Three cowboys are pursued by a posse because of an unfortunate case of mistaken identity.
Cast & Crew
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Monte Hellman
Director
Cameron Mitchell
Vern
Jack Nicholson
Wes
Tom Filer
Otis
Millie Perkins
Abigail
Katherine Squire
Catherine
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Jan
1972
Premiere Information
San Francisco Film Festival screening: 23 Oct 1966: Los Angeles opening: 12 Jan 1972
Production Company
Proteus Films; Santa Clara Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Favorite Films; Jack H. Harris Enterprises, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 22m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (DeLuxe)
Synopsis
While on their way to Waco, Texas, three saddle tramps, Vern, Wes and Otis, come across a man hanging from a tree, his body gently swaying in the wind. Continuing on, they near a shack in which a gang of outlaws have sought refuge. The gang's one-eyed leader, Blind Dick, decides to welcome the three, although Edgar, another member of the gang, favors killing them. When Blind Dick lies that the wounded Adam "fell on his knife," the cowboys begin to sense something is amiss, but nevertheless, share the whiskey, beans and biscuits that Blind Dick offers them. That night, as the three friends sit around the campfire, Vern, who has grown tired of his itinerant life, contemplates settling down while simultaneously needling Wes to join the outlaws. The next morning, a gunshot announces the arrival of a band of vigilantes bent on hanging the outlaws. After the vigilantes surround the shack and start shooting, the outlaws return their fire, trapping the three friends between the warring factions. After deliberating for a moment, the three decide to ride off, but Otis is hit in the crossfire and dies. Several of the vigilantes break off from the main group to track Wes and Vern as they try to scale the sheer walls of a canyon to escape. When the vigilantes toss burning torches onto the roof of the shack, the stalwart Blind Dick and outlaw Indian Joe brave the fiery rafters as they tumble down upon them until they finally surrender, leaving Adam and the now-wounded Edgar to perish in the flames. The vigilantes quickly constrain Blind Dick and Indian Joe and hang them from the nearest tree. Meanwhile, Vern and Wes, bone-weary from their arduous climb, know that the vigilantes are on their trail. At a homesteaders' cabin nearby, a taciturn family consisting of father Evan, mother Catherine and eighteen-year-old daughter Abigail sit down to eat their dinner in silence. Soon after, two of the vigilantes arrive at the cabin looking for Wes and Vern. After satisfying themselves that the fugitives are not there, they accept a swig of Evan's whiskey, meet Abby and ride off. The next morning after finishing her chores outside, Abby enters the cabin and finds her mother being held at gunpoint by Wes and Vern. The men greedily devour the family's breakfast, then as the day wears on, send Abby to fetch her father for the evening meal. Evan is morally outraged when Wes and Vern announce that they plan to steal the family's horses to escape. After dinner, Vern and Wes send Evan back outside to continue chopping a tree stump while they wait to flee under cover of darkness. Meanwhile, one of the vigilantes, who had visited the cabin the night before, decides to return and get to know Abby better. When the vigilante rides into the yard, Evan tells him that Wes and Vern are inside the house. To lull the fugitives into believing all is well, the vigilante instructs Evan to point off in the distance, then rides out in that direction. Viewing the proceedings through the window, Wes and Vern realize that the vigilante knows they are there and run out the back to the horse corral. When Evan fires his rifle at them, the vigilantes hear the gunshots and ride toward the cabin. After Evan shoots Vern off his horse, Wes pulls his wounded friend onto his animal, shoots Evan and rides off. As the vigilantes pursue them, Vern slips off the horse and urges Wes to go on without him. Once Wes gallops off, Vern crawls onto a ridge overlooking the trail to hold off the vigilantes. As Vern dies with gun in hand, Wes rides into the horizon.
Director
Monte Hellman
Director
Cast
Cameron Mitchell
Vern
Jack Nicholson
Wes
Tom Filer
Otis
Millie Perkins
Abigail
Katherine Squire
Catherine
George Mitchell
Evan
Dean Stanton
Blind Dick
Rupert Crosse
Indian Joe
B. J. Merholz
Edgar
Peter Cannon
Hagerman
Brandon Carroll
Quint Mapes
John Hackett
Winslow
William A. Keller
Roy
Charles Eastman
Drummer
Neil Summer
James Campbell
Walter Phelps
Gary Kent
Crew
James Campbell
Art Director
Roger Corman
Executive Producer
Robert Drasnin
Music
Jack H. Harris
Company
Monte Hellman
Film Editor
Monte Hellman
Producer
Igo Kantor
Music Editor
Joyce King
Script Supervisor
Gary Kurtz
Assistant Director
Paul Lewis
Production Manager
Bill Milton
Wardrobe consultant
Frank Murphy
Sound Mixer
Russ Namarillo
Key grip
Art Names
Sound boom
Jack Nicholson
Producer
Jack Nicholson
Writer
Gregory Sandor
Director of Photography
John Shaner
Assistant to prods
Gary Young
Assistant Camera
Videos
Movie Clip
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Jan
1972
Premiere Information
San Francisco Film Festival screening: 23 Oct 1966: Los Angeles opening: 12 Jan 1972
Production Company
Proteus Films; Santa Clara Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Favorite Films; Jack H. Harris Enterprises, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 22m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (DeLuxe)
Articles
Ride in the Whirlwind -
Shot back-to-back with The Shooting (1966), using most of the same crew and cast members including Jack Nicholson (who also wrote the film) and Millie Perkins, this Western matches the other in bleakness and expert filmmaking. Director Monte Hellman had approached producer Roger Corman to fund The Shooting from a screenplay by Carole Eastman. Corman surprised him by suggesting he film two pictures with the same team, so Nicholson developed a script about three cowboys (Nicholson, Cameron Mitchell and Tom Filer) that accept a night's hospitality from the wrong group. Sunrise brings the arrival of a posse out to apprehend the hosts for robbery and murder, and the innocent cowboys are suddenly the objects of a deadly pursuit. Hellman captured some beautiful shots of the Utah countryside, mostly in Kanab County, before the area was submerged by the creation of an underground lake. He kept the tension going while enveloping the action in a sense of existential despair that earned the two films the label "acid Westerns." Corman sold distribution rights to a company that gave them only a cursory U.S. release before selling them to television. When they played in France, however, the films became big hits, which led to their rediscovery by critics and its elevation to cult status.
Ride in the Whirlwind -
Shot back-to-back with The Shooting (1966), using most of the same crew and cast members including Jack Nicholson (who also wrote the film) and Millie Perkins, this Western matches the other in bleakness and expert filmmaking. Director Monte Hellman had approached producer Roger Corman to fund The Shooting from a screenplay by Carole Eastman. Corman surprised him by suggesting he film two pictures with the same team, so Nicholson developed a script about three cowboys (Nicholson, Cameron Mitchell and Tom Filer) that accept a night's hospitality from the wrong group. Sunrise brings the arrival of a posse out to apprehend the hosts for robbery and murder, and the innocent cowboys are suddenly the objects of a deadly pursuit. Hellman captured some beautiful shots of the Utah countryside, mostly in Kanab County, before the area was submerged by the creation of an underground lake. He kept the tension going while enveloping the action in a sense of existential despair that earned the two films the label "acid Westerns." Corman sold distribution rights to a company that gave them only a cursory U.S. release before selling them to television. When they played in France, however, the films became big hits, which led to their rediscovery by critics and its elevation to cult status.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although there is a 1966 copyright statement on the film for Santa Clara Productions, the film was not registered for copyright at the time of its release. However, the film was registered for copyright by Santa Clara Productions on February 4, 1982 at which time it was assigned the number PA-131-811. Before the opening credits appear, a sequence is shown in which "Blind Dick" and his gang rob a stagecoach. Although Ride in the Whirlwind was screened on October 23, 1966 in the San Francisco Film Festival's New American Director Series, the film was unable to obtain theatrical release in hte U.S. until 1972, when Jack H. Harris acquired distribution rights to Ride in the Whirlwind and its companion film, The Shooting (see below). The Hollywood Reporter review noted that Favorite Films of California was releasing the films in 13 Western states. The films were shot consecutively in Kanab, UT and utlilized many of the same crew members. Monte Hellman directed both films, Gregory Sandor photographed both and Jack Nicholson, who wrote Ride in the Whirlwind, appeared in both films, as did Millie Perkins.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1966
Released in United States on Video November 30, 1989
Released in United States September 1996
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1966
Released in United States on Video November 30, 1989
Released in United States September 1996 (Shown in Los Angeles (American Cinematheque) as part of program "3-Card Monte: A Tribute of Monte Hellman" September 13-21, 1996.)
