Wanted to like it, but it's average at best

I found this movie for about $3 brand new on Amazon, so I bought it. I'm a big fan of William Conrad's work on Gunsmoke, and since this is essentially an 80-minute episode of Gunsmoke, I figured it would be pretty interesting.

I wanted to like it, but it has a lot working against it. The title theme alone is awful enough to make you want to shut it off. It spells out in no uncertain terms that Conrad's character is a big scaredy-cat and doesn't want to have to pursue Quinn's character at all.

From there, the first third of the movie is primarily in Spanish, including inexcusably long scenes where a Mexican policeman rambles on and on while Conrad looks confused and repeatedly tries to explain that he doesn't speak Spanish. Then Quinn and his Mexican girlfriend carry on extended conversations in Spanish that have no bearing on the plot, or even the scene at hand.

After they make it across the border, things begin to look up for the film. They have a few skirmishes with Indians, Quinn tries to escape a few times, etc. I won't spoil the ending, but it's fitting if not a little soft.

I gave it a 7, because it deserves a grade in the low C range, but I still have complaints about it. There are practically no scenes showing off any sort of Old West architecture, it all pretty much takes place in nondescript valleys and hillsides. I wish Conrad's character was a little tougher, and they could have put in some voiceover narration from him...otherwise it's a lot of crossfades of them riding across the country and Quinn seems to dominate the conversations whenever they stop somewhere.

I may watch it again in the future, but I really can't get over how much Spanish dominates the first third of the film. Sometimes it's corny, but in really long scenes like in 'The Ride Back,' a simple Spanish accent would have sufficed. And the musical score is exactly the same as a Saturday Night Live sketch called 'Red Ships of Spain' with Will Ferrell as Robert Goulet.