LakiM9 Just seen this early Nicholson's work. I have to say that visually, this is a very nice B movie, but its' story is absolutely killing it.I found this film to be both traditional and non-traditional at the same time. I watched this film because I am interested in Jack Nicholson's early works, but I was interested by the story of horse thieves and mistaken identities. I fear it is too simple story even for 82 minutes. If you are looking for a romantic Western with traditional good guys battling against the forces of evil, then you have come to the wrong place. There are no heroes and no villains in this movie, just ordinary men struggling against the elements for survival. No one has an easy life, neither homesteader nor outlaw.

gavin6942 A trio of cowboys, Vern (Cameron Mitchell), Wes (Jack Nicholson) and Otis (Tom Filer), stop to rest for the night at the remote hideout of a gang of outlaws led by Blind Dick (Harry Dean Stanton). In the morning, they find themselves surrounded by a vigilante hanging party and are forced to become fugitives due to a case of mistaken identity.Made back to back with "The Shooting", this is the second Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson and Roger Corman collaboration of 1966. With Nicholson writing, starring and producing, fans of his films ought to make a point of seeing this, one of his earlier creative ventures.The point of making a second western back to back was to save money. Corman, always trying to cut costs, figured it would be less money to have the same set for two films, especially if the actors and crew largely overlapped. Hellman has said this plan may not have worked as well as intended. He concedes they saved money on travel expenses, but the film cost itself hardly changed. Of course, when you're dealing with $75,000 for a movie (almost an unthinkably low sum), how much wiggle room can there be? This film expresses a rather bleak, minimalist quality that does not sentimentalize the Wild West. On the other hand, the violence is portrayed less graphically than in the films of Sam Peckinpah like "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (1973). Was Peckinpah inspired by Hellman? Perhaps, considering that Rudy Wurlitzer had written Hellman's "Two Lane Blacktop" just prior to working with Peckinpah.

Spikeopath Ride in the Whirlwind is directed by Monte Hellman and written by Jack Nicholson. It stars Nicholson, Cameron Mitchell, Millie Perkins and Dean Stanton. Music is by Robert Jackson Drasnin and cinematography by Gregory Sandor.Three honest cowboys stop to rest for the night at a cabin occupied by outlaws led by Blind Dick (Stanton). Upon awakening in the morning they find themselves surrounded by a vigilante posse and forced to flee as fugitives…Filmed back to back with The Shooting in Kanab, Utah, Ride in the Whirlwind has something big to say without actually saying that much! It's a sombre Western piece that deals in the tragedy brought about by a miscarriage of justice. It also finds Hellman and Nicholson reaching into the belly of the Western mythos and pulling out its guts to reveal a shallow hole of boredom and dirt covered grafters. This works to a large degree by way of the portrayals of weary cowboys (nice subtle performances by Nicholson and Mitchell really help) and the mundane ranch life of a family who are coerced into harbouring the fugitives. The air of authenticity and rich period detail, as well, is highly commendable. However, the laborious pace will annoy many and some actions and scenarios played out are a little hard to swallow. It's a mixed bag but very much a film that Western fans should see though. 7/10

Howard Schumann After their proposed film about abortion was turned down by the studio in 1965, Jack Nicholson combined with Monte Hellman as writer/director to produce two Westerns for producer Roger Corman, each shot in the space of eighteen days on a minimal budget. The two films, The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind, were never released in American theaters but built an audience from television and European showings. Gradually developing a cult following, they have now been restored and released on DVD in North America. Though filmed in the Western genre, Ride in the Whirlwind might justifiably be called an anti-Western since there are no heroes or villains, no one to love or hate. There are just people going about their life trying to survive as best they can, operating on a rigid code of behavior that does not allow them much flexibility.After a stagecoach is held up by Blind Dick (Harry Dean Stanton) and his gang, the gunmen retreat to an isolated cabin to spend the night. Passing through are three cowboys Vern (Cameron Mitchell), Wes (Jack Nicholson), and Otis (Tom Filer) headed to Waco Texas after the rodeo they were to perform in is canceled. They pass a lynching victim strung up on a pole, and stop at the same cabin where the gang is holed up looking for some rest. Surprisingly, they are welcomed by Blind Dick, ostensibly the one responsible for the lynching but find that they soon have unwelcome visitors. The sheriff and his posse have surrounded the house and begin shooting at the occupants, wrongly assuming that the three travelers are also part of the gang.Inarticulate, the cowhands are unable or unwilling to try and explain to the lawmen the fact that they are innocent. After a protracted shootout, Otis is killed and the gang members are burned out of their cabin and hanged. Vern and Wes escape on foot but are followed and tracked by the lawmen, bound by their code of unthinking frontier justice. The two innocent men stumble upon a farmhouse that had already been visited by the posse and are looked after by a farmer Evan (George Mitchell) and his daughter Abigail (Millie Perkins).Eating and passing the time playing checkers, they know that sooner or later the posse will come back, if only to court Abigail. When they do return, Evan's inability to see that Vern and Wes have no choice but to steal two horses is very costly. In debunking the Western myth of good guys and bad guys, Hellman has directed a film in which the ordinariness of the life overshadows the mythos of the exciting frontier. Yet while Ride in the Whirlwind may be one of the most authentic and haunting Westerns ever made, it is also one of the saddest, a film in which the operative word is not justice or camaraderie but loneliness and lost opportunity.