Riders of the Purple Sage
Read other reviews about this film
Cast: Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Henry Thomas, Robin Tunney, Norbert Weisser, G.D. Spradlin, Lynn Wanlass, Bob L. Harris, Jerry Willis, Rusty Musselman.
Plot reflects Grey's novel more closely than 1925 or '41 versions do. Here, Lassiter (Harris), a mysterious figure with shoulder-length hair and a "Miami Vice" stubble arrives on the scene just in time to save youngish Bern (Henry Thomas) from a beating; apparently it's because the town is an enclave of an unspecified conservative religion (in Grey's novel, they're Mormons), and nonmember Bern has been befriended by Jane Withersteen (Amy Madigan). Even though he's much younger than Jane, Bern has aroused the ire of Deacon Tull (Norbert Weisser), who has his own designs on Jane and her considerable real estate and cattle holdings.
Soon Jane asks Lassiter -- who is in town for his own reasons -- to fill in for her passel of cowboys, who have disappeared on church's orders, and Bern takes up with one of the gang of rustlers who have attempted to run off with Jane's cattle (this all makes more sense in the telling than on paper). Resolution is uncertain, leaving plenty of room for a sequel that could be at least as interesting as the original.
Charles Haid directs efficiently, with occasional moments of artiness -- including filming a falling horse from several angles and cross-editing them, and action in a genuinely spooky thunderstorm.
This is sort of a feminist Western, with Jane especially spunky. "I might be led," she tells one character, "but I won't be driven."
Gill Dennis' script is much scaled-down from Grey's novel, but occasionally excerpts the author's original dialogue. And action here is more luxuriously paced than in the book.
Camera, William Wages; editor, David Holden; sound, Jonathan Stein, Ike Magal; music, Arthur Kempel. 2 HOURS.
Variety is striving to present the most thorough review database. To report inaccuracies in review credits, please click here. We do not currently list below-the-line credits, although we hope to include them in the future. Please note we may not respond to every suggestion. Your assistance is appreciated.
