The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul 2019: Ride in the Whirlwind (1966), directed by Monte Hellman

The Trailer

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The Appropriate Tune: "On the Run", by Blackfoot

       In last year’s Marathon, I wrote a little something on a little known western film called The Shooting, directed by Two Lane Blacktop’s Monte Hellman and starring Warren Oates as well as a young Jack Nicholson. What I probably mentioned then and am reiterating now is that the filming process was something of a double feature, as Hellman decided to get the most bang for his buck and make a second movie while he was on location. That film would eventually become known as Ride in the Whirlwind, despite featuring no whirlwinds (spoilers), and since I’ve already talked about The Shooting, I might as well cover the other side of the coin this time around. 

       Three men, Otis (Tom Filer), Verne (Cameron Mitchell) and Wes (Jack Nicholson) are on their way to Waco when they agree to share a meal and some company with some other men in an old wooden shack. The next day, as they’re getting ready to leave, they’re treated to a rude surprise: Those men that they shared corn whiskey with are bandits hiding out after a simple stagecoach robbery ended with a man dead, and the noose-hungry band of vigilantes that have arrived to mete out some bloody vengeance are firm believers of guilt by association, or in this case guilt by close proximity. The Waco try to make a run for it, with mixed success, as the vigilantes are in hot pursuit. The concepts of law and order are alien things in this wild (wild) west, justice being something the strong impose upon the weak. In this world, what is the recourse for the innocent man who has been denounced as guilty? To what lengths will a man go to ensure his freedom? You’ll have to watch to find out.

       That Ride in the Whirlwind is a counterpart to The Shooting is obvious, even without the knowledge of their shared origin. Both films are of the western genre, both films star MIllie Perkins as well as a young, pre-Easy Rider Jack Nicholson (he also wrote Whirlwind by the by) and both films are built around a pursuit of someone, The Shooting based on the perspective of the hunters and Whirlwind the hunted, with the subtext centered around the act of vigilantism, murder, and the ethical gray areas that these actions are said to inhabit. Where The Shooting takes it in a more ‘artsy’ direction, with an ending taken straight from the Rod Serling playbook, Ride in the Whirlwind feels more in-line with how the genre shifted with the advent of spaghetti westerns. I don’t know if that was intentional on Hellman’s part or simply the fact that the larger cast keeps things from feeling too claustrophobic. The Gunsmoke to Shooting’s Seventh Seal, if you will.

       If I had to choose between the two, I’d have to go with Ride in the Whirlwind. The Shooting is fine, and as the pioneer of the totally-not-real acid western subgenre has the bigger legacy, but Whirlwind is the more well-rounded film. There’s a nice balance of action and suspense, and there’s an easy to follow arc in the friendship between our two main characters Wes and Verne (Cameron Mitchell. I don’t think it’s enough to blow anybody away, I mean it’s like the western is an unproven concept in cinema, but then it wasn’t meant to be. It was a budget movie that was popped out because they had the time and inclination, and the main reason people would even bother to seek it out is because a young Jack Nicholson is in the credits. It’s still a competently made movie however, and if the only reason people would remember it is because Nicholson is in the credits, it’s much better to be a Ride in the Whirlwind then, say, The Terror.

       Ride in the Whirlwind gets the recommendation. While it doesn’t have the gimmicks that I usually use to justify putting non-horror, non-sci-fi in the Marathon, it’s also better than several movies I’ve inducted that did fit the criteria. Slip it into a double feature with The Shooting as it was meant to be, or if you’re feeling especially like a 60 year old man, just watch it straight. Not a bad way to spend a night.