Two grizzled cowhands reminisce about their lively pasts as they travel across dangerous country with a gold shipment they were hired to protect. This is often considered to be Peckinpah's finest film, and is typical of post-classical westerns in terms of its elegiac tone. AKA: "Guns in the Afternoon."

Western tale about two over-the-hill buddies who have been on both sides of the law during their eventful lives. Now they're guarding a cargo of gold--which one of the men intends to steal. But along the way, the men reminisce about their exciting past, compete with each other for the affections of a comely lass, and confront a band of merciless outlaws out to get the gold for themselves.

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1992.

The laserdisc edition contains the trailer for the film.

Film marks the feature film debut of actress Mariette Hartley and the last screen appearance of Randolph Scott.

Shot in CinemaScope. Color by Metrocolor.

Excerpt: "The line, 'I want to enter my house justified' in [the film] is my father's. We talked about that just before he died, just before the film was released. He never saw it. -- SAM PECKINPAH

Distributor Notes: Ride The High Country

An ex-lawman agrees to escort a shipment of gold cross-country, but runs into trouble when the men hired to help him turn out be not be as moral as their boss, and plot to steal the gold.

Source: Warner Home Video

Randolph Scott: American Actor, 1930s-'40s Westerns
Joel McCrea: American Actor
Mariette Hartley: American Actress
Edgar Buchanan: American Character Actor

Sam Peckinpah: American Director/Screenwriter, THE WILD BUNCH (1969)

"A rich critique of loyalty and betrayal."
4 stars out of 5 -- "It's a story of the Old West, and tips its hat at this very cleverly by using two of the major stars of the old Westerns from the '30s onwards."