© 2026 The Couch Critic
The Ranown Cycle of Westerns is the designation critics have awarded to a remarkable series of low-budget Westerns from the late Fifties, starring Randolph Scott and directed by Budd Boetticher. The Ranown films have gained in critical popularity over the years and the Criterion Collection has recently (2023) released the Ranown Westerns boxset bringing together five of the films. Each film within the collection boasts a brisk runtime, a breezily melodic score and a rising tension that pays off with an explosive conclusion.
A former sheriff relentlessly pursuing the 7 men who murdered his wife in Arizona crosses paths with a couple heading to California.
An independent former ranch foreman and an heiress are kidnapped by a trio of ruthless outlaws.
A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.
Passing through a border town, a man is caught up in a Mexican's murder of a member of the town's most powerful family.
On the way to pick up the bounty on a wanted murderer, a bounty hunter stops at a staging post where he is forced to continue his journey with two outlaws who want the murderer for their own reasons and a recently-widowed woman, with the murderer's brother and his men in hot pursuit.
As the Civil War spills our nation’s blood, Capt. John Hayes fights on a vital but little-known battlefront. He aims to ship gold to Union banks through a small Colorado town, defying Southern sympathizers who aim to stop him at any cost.
A white man trades with the Comanche for the release of a female stranger and the pair cross paths with three outlaws who have their eyes on the handsome reward for bringing her home and Comanche on the warpath.