MAGNET contributing writer Jud Cost is sharing some of the wealth of classic films he’s been lucky enough to see over the past 40 years. Trolling the backwaters of cinema, he has worked up a list of more than 500 titles—from the silent era through the ’90s—that you may have missed. A new selection, all currently available on DVD, appears every week.
The Long Riders (1980, 99 minutes)
Seven hardened men, all wearing dusters that hang below their knees, ride through the grassy hills of rural Missouri soon after the end of the Civil War and pull up their horses before a small town’s bank. Two remain mounted while the other five stride inside with pistols drawn, to strip the place of everything of value. “Can’t he go any faster?” says one of them of a nervous teller shoving wads of bills into a saddle bag. “He’s goin’ fast enough,” says another. “All the money’s in the strong box and the cash drawers,” volunteers the teller, shaking.
“I don’t believe you,” says the first robber, grabbing the man by the shirt collar and jamming a pistol into his forehead. “Now, you’ve got a safe in here someplace. Tell me where it is or I’m gonna put a bullet in your brain pan.” The teller recoils in fear, and the robber shoots him in the chest. He staggers backward, triggering a series of reflex actions by the employees of the bank and its customers. A dozen shots ring out, and bodies litter the bank floor as the robbers make their escape with a modest amount of cash.
“How long do you think it’ll take a posse to get here?” asks the baby-faced Younger brother (Robert Carradine). “There won’t be one,” answers Frank James (Stacy Keach). “They’ll go about 10 miles, get tired and call the Pinkertons.” “Then how come we’re standing guard?” asks Robert. “Because every once in a while, I’m wrong,” replies Frank, lighting a hand-rolled cigarette.
“Come here, Ed,” says Jesse James (James Keach) to the outlaw who fired the bungled job’s first shot. As Ed Miller approaches Jesse, he is back-handed to the ground. “Shit! What’d you do that for?” demands Ed (Dennis Quaid). “For panickin’ and shootin’ innocent folks,” replies Jesse, who caught a stray bullet in the bank shoot-out. “And for goddam near gettin’ me killed!” Rubbing his jaw, Ed says, “Shit, I didn’t mean no harm.” Looking down at Ed like he’s a rattlesnake that’s been cut into two pieces by a wagon wheel, Jesse snarls, “You’re through, Ed! You ain’t gonna ride with me no more.”
Ed turns to his younger brother Clell (Randy Quaid). “You gonna take that off him?” Clell shakes his head and says, “I seen what you done. You may be family and everything, but I ain’t sidin’ with ya. You’re on your own.” As he turns to mount his horse, Jesse shouts out, “Cole, give him his cut.” Cole Younger showers a handful of bills over Ed, looks him straight in the eye and says, “Now listen good. Anybody connects the Jameses or the Youngers with that bank job and you’re a dead man,” as the six men ride off into the setting sun.
