Ride the Pink Horse

source: Ride the Pink Horse

When a bus arrives in San Pablo, the mysterious American Lucky Gagin (Robert Montgomery) looks for the La Fonda Hotel and he meets the local Pila (Wanda Hendrix) that offers to take him there. Gagin is a tough man and army veteran and he seeks out a man called Frank Hugo (Fred Clark) and he learns that he will be back to his room only on the next day. Gagin stumbles upon FBI Agent Bill Retz (Art Smith), who is chasing the powerful mobster Frank Hugo, and he warns Gagin to forget his scheme for revenging his friend Shorty that was murdered by Frank. Then Gagin looks for a hotel room and he goes to the Bar Tres Violetas, where he befriends the owner of carousel called Pancho (Thomas Gomez) and he buys drinks for his friends in the bar. Pancho offers a place to Gagin to spend the night. On the next morning, Gagin goes to the hotel and meets Frank Hugo. He blackmails the mobster, asking for 30,000 dollars to give a check that incriminates him. Frank Hugo accepts the deal and tell that the money will be available only at 7:00 PM. Will Gagin succeed in his extortion of money from Frank? "Ride the Pink Horse" is a different film-noir directed by Robert Montgomery, who is also the lead actor. His bitter and unpleasant character is well-developed as a war veteran disillusioned with the post-war life since his lover is unfaithful and his best friend was murdered by a mobster. Wanda Hendrix performs a weird character, maltreated by Gagin but following him like a puppy. But the plot is a good story of friendship. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Do Lodo Brotou Uma Flor" ("From the Mud Sprouted a Flower")

I found myself not wanting this movie to end as it really held my attention. Definitely mysterious, definitely film-noir, Robert Montgomery really did a great job directing and acting in this film. Set at fiesta time in a small Mexican village, there are a variety of interesting and multi-faceted characters; Andrea King as the mysterious and possibly predatory woman, Wanda Hendrix, again, mysterious because one might be fooled by the other women with whom she associates herself, Thomas Gomez, the seemingly happy go lucky, friendly senor who has the horse carousel and of course the policeman from the U.S. and the gangster and his thugs. The darkness of the film and the sillouhetting of various shots add to the mystery surrounding this story. I think the most important thing that makes this story stand out is that you don't know throughout the whole movie which characters are trustworthy or untrustworthy. This movie is also a love story which makes it unique, as I can't remember any film-noirs that are love stories. Alas, the film will probably remain obscure until someone decides that it is time to make it available to the public on video. It is rarely seen on American Movie Classics.

This film is an excellent example of the film noir genre. It is more about atmosphere than it is about a plot. This is not to say there is no plot in the movie, far from it. It is just that it doesn't really take centre stage. Centre stage goes to the actors. Robert Montgomery is excellent as an ex-soldier, who is clearly disillusioned with Uncle Sam. Or so it seems... Because all is definitely not as it seems in this movie! And Wanda Hendrix portrays a mysterious Mexican girl in brilliant mode. Ride The Pink Horse is obviously a strange title for a movie. A ten for originality though, but you will have to watch carefully if you want to discover the pink horse... I can heartily recommend you watch this movie, if you like film noir, because all in all this is sort of a mesmeric movie, which will keep your attention right up until the end...

A thoroughly unpleasant Robert Montgomery (Gagin) arrives in a Mexican town to exact revenge on criminal Fred Clark (Hugo) who is responsible for the killing of his army pal. Also on the tail of Clark is diminutive Government Agent Art Smith (Retz). Local girl Wanda Hendrix (Pila) develops a creepy fascination with Montgomery and follows him around for the duration of the film. God knows why. He is horrible to her. And to everyone else. He needs to be bumped off. Is there hope? This film is boring. The story is a little confusing in relation to the cheque plot line and only the character of Andrea King (Marjorie) convinces. Art Smith is nice enough but no way would he be in such control of a situation as he is when he enters the gangster's hotel room at the end of the film. Thomas Gomez (Pancho) is good enough as the Mexican owner of the roundabout but I was surprised to learn that he was nominated for a best supporting actor award. Why? He was a stereotypical fat, jolly Mexican whose behaviour made no sense at all from the very beginning when he befriended the impossibly unlike-able Montgomery. Montgomery is just plain awful in this and his mouth when he laughs betrays him as slightly retarded looking. He also gets the better hand in a fight against two hardened cut-throat Mexican gangsters – NO WAY! Montgomery wanders around in this film for great long, boring sections and elicits no sympathy whatsoever. This film is not good. And what is the title about? The ending does score the film a point for being different but stronger lead performances could have made this far more effective.

This is a relatively unknown film despite thomas gomaz being nominated for best supporting actor. What a shame, since this is a really great film. Although i do think that this is a pretty stupid title. It was also robert montgomery's second film as star and director after 1946's lady in the lake, in which he played phil marlowe.

From the film's opening scene, which shows the protagonist, Lucky Gagin, emerging from a bus into a dusty Mexican town, the viewer is hooked. There are so many good things about this film, primarily the acting performances -- Robert Montgomery is a standout, as are Wanda Hendrix, Fred Clark, Thomas Gomez, and Art Smith. They each completely occupy their characters and make them come to life. Another highlight is the dialogue -- there are numerous memorable exchanges between Montgomery and Hendrix, and Clark delivers two especially well-written diatribes that serve to solidify his character in the consciousness. The story itself is quite simple, and is driven far more by characterization than by plot, but that is what makes the film so good. The film also contains its share of classically dark noir imagery -- most memorable is the scene in which the Gomez character is savagely beaten by two hoods while a group of neighborhood children sail along on the nearby merry-go-round, at first gaily enjoying the free ride but growing increasingly somber and afraid as they witness the brutal attack. This one is a definite must-see, particularly for film noir buffs, but also for film lovers of all types.

Unpleasant protagonist inspires love and devotion while being nasty and greedy. Montgomery is just so unlikeable that the way he swiftly makes friends seems pretty odd. As for the rest of the movie, there's just not much to it, and while it has the sensibility of film noir it lacks the grit and the black soul, feeling more like a copy of a film noir. I like the FBI agent though.

For me this movie is a fine example of the exotic "Old West" or "Old Mexico" of the '30s-'40s east coast imagination. It has an ambiance similar to a Roy Rogers movie where the gangsters drive cars and fly airplanes, but Roy on Trigger is able to ride over the hill and cut them off. Business suits mix with cowboy outfits and Mexican girls in traditional dresses. To correct some of the other reviewers, the fictitious San Pablo of the movie is actually Santa Fe--the La Fonda Hotel is a historic landmark near the main square of Santa Fe. Cowboys and Indians and lots of Americans in the on screen Fiesta are not that out-of-character after all because it is not actually in Mexico. That said, the movie has an enigmatic, exotic, mysterious feel which is sustained throughout. The fact that you don't know much about the characters contributes to the enigma. I liked all the actors, especially Thomas Gomez, and feel that the film has many glimpses of Mexican-Americans depicted more as actual people and less as comic-book caricatures than in other movies from the same period.

Robert Montgomery directs and stars in this seldom seen piece of Film-Noir. A hard-boiled war vet(Montgomery)arrives in the small town of San Pablo as the community is preparing its annual fiesta. He gets the help of a carousel owner(Thomas Gomez)and an alluring young woman(Wanda Hendrix)to track down a profiteer to blackmail him as revenge for killing his buddy. At times it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad. Well directed and photographed. Hendrix is absolutely beautiful. Also in the cast are: Fred Clark and Art Smith.