Les Années sauvages

Back in the 1940s and 50s, studios would sign actors and actresses to contracts with no clear intention of how they'd use them. Because of this, some actors were put in strange roles that, in hindsight, made little sense....but since they were under contract they did want to keep the actors busy and have them earn their keep. This is why you can see Rock Hudson starring as an American Indian in one film and Tony Curtis playing a riverboat gambler and cowboy in "The Rawhide Years". So, despite his Brooklyn accent and pretty looks...here he is!

The story begins with Ben Matthews (Curtis) working as a shill for a riverboat gambler. Matthews is sick of the life and quits...at just the perfect time! Soon, his ex-partner is hung and some masked man tossed him overboard into the river! But he IS alive...which is far more than can be said for the partner!

Time passes and Matthews is aboard another riverboat with his less than honest associate, Rick Harper (Arthur Kennedy). But this time Matthews is legitimate and looking to live the straight life...when the boat is boarded by river pirates...all sporting masks like the guy who tossed him overboard some time ago. Afterwards, Matthews swears he's going to find out who is in charge of this gang and bring them to justice.

Apart from the ridiculous and anachronistic songs belted out by Colleen Miller, the film turns out to be pretty good and entertaining. I also was shocked because in some of the fight scenes, it clearly IS Curtis and not a stuntman...so he apparently wasn't just some pretty boy from Brooklyn! Worth your time...and a most unusual western.

Riverboat gambler Ben has to flee town and his girl after he's suspected of killing a leading citizen. Now he's got to clear himself with shaky help from horse thief, Rick Harper.

Going in, I figured the movie would amount to a vehicle for one of Universal's new, young stars, Tony Curtis. Well, the first 20-minutes had me figuring otherwise. First, Curtis's Ben gets caught cheating at cards, then he gets spurned by his girlfriend, and finally does something totally unWestern—loses a fist-fight to a bad guy and ends up tossed unceremoniously into the river. By this point, I wondered whether someone in Hollywood had mixed up the reels.

But no, after this unexpected opening the film settles into the more familiar western heroics, with Ben getting his share, plus the girl. However, there are several more offbeat touches in the works, including a lynching where Ben refrains from intervening after calculating the odds. No heroics here. Then too, there's the great actor Arthur Kennedy as Ben's sometimes buddy and full-time horse thief, Harper. Now Kennedy's usual style is to low-key his parts, which he does effectively, e.g. The Man From Laramie (1955). Here, however, he pulls out all the stops with an over-the-top performance that steals many a scene from the more subdued Curtis. I'm surprised the studio didn't intervene, since its Curtis's career that's presumably being advanced.

Anyhow, it's a kind of offbeat western and not just a showcase for pretty boy Curtis. Nothing special, but still more unpredictable than most oaters.

This is the story of Ben Matthews , a gambling man who followed his Luck...his Love and a killer's trail from the brawling river ports to the golden glitter of Antoines . Ben Matthews gives up the flashy and roguish life of a riverboat gambler, hoping to settle down in Galena with his sweetheart , a luscious entertainer , dancer and singer called Zoe Fontaine (Colleen Miller who sings and dances some wonderful songs) . But Galena's leading citizen is killed on the ¨Montana Queen¨ Riverboat . He flees from the riverboat to clear himself a murder charge . Ben, on arrival, finds a lynch mob after his neck, and flees one again . Ben , then , is wanted : dead or alive , for the murder of Matt Comfort (Minor Watson) . Three years of wandering later, Zoe's letters stop coming , Ben goes back to find her and along the way he meets a rogue gunslinger (Arthur Kennedy) . Both of them join forces against a malicious villain , the Andre Saloon's proprietor called Andre Boucher (Peter van Eyck) . Lusty, Loving, Brawling days when Ben Matthews ruled the river with Rick, the thief to back his play...and a perfumed plaything named "Zoe" danced for love and a living! Down The Wide Missouri They Rolled...The Gamblers...The Gunfighters...The Gals In Satin And Silks! .They Risked Their Luck On A Turn Of A Card...Their Lives On The Draw Of A Gun!

An enjoyable but simple tale is almost rudimentary though full of clichés, as the monotonous script lines too often settle for crude routine ; however containing some surprising twists and turns . Suspense and tension builds over the time in which the rogue gambler Curtis is mercilessly pursued and the starring awaits to clear his name . It is a passable and agreeable Western , but little seen action film . The shootouts and chases are decently made , as the nasties shoot without remission and take on the sympathetic duo : Curtis and Kennedy . The highlights of the film are the facing off between Curtis and his enemies and the climatic showdown on the ending .Tony Curtis gives an acceptable acting -in his usual style- as Ben Matthews , a swindler who is wrongly accused for killing and he must find the real killer before the lynch mob finds him while attempting the hopeless task of clearing himself . His colleague and helper is nicely performed by Arthur Kennedy as a doublé-shaded and genial ruffian, delivering another of his competently done portrayals . Earl Fenton storyline from magnificent novella by Norman A Fox that gives many opportunities to score off one another .There stands out the great Tony Curtis , including his NY acccent . Curtis was hired by the powerful Universal Picture Studios, where Curtis was offered a seven-year contract. After changing his name to what he saw as an elegant, mysterious moniker--"Tony Curtis" (named after the novel Knight Adverse (1936) by Hervey Allen and a cousin of his named Janush Kertiz)--Curtis began making a name for himself by appearing in small, offbeat roles in small-budget productions. His first notable performance was a two-minute role in Criss cross (1949), with Burt Lancaster, in which he makes Lancaster jealous by dancing with Yvonne De Carlo. This offbeat role resulted in Curtis's being typecast as a heavy for the next few years, such as playing a gang member in City across the river (1949).Curtis continued to build up a show reel by accepting any paying job, acting in a number of bit-part roles for the next few years. It wasn't until late 1949 that he finally got the chance to demonstrate his acting flair, when he was cast in an important role in an action western, Sierra (1950). On the strength of his performance in that movie, Curtis was finally cast in a big-budget movie, Winchester 73 (1950). While he appears in that movie only very briefly, it was a chance for him to act alongside a Hollywood legend, James Stewart . As his career developed, Curtis wanted to act in movies that had social relevance, ones that would challenge audiences, so he began to appear in such movies as Espartacus (1960) and Fugitivos (1958). He was advised against appearing as the subordinate sidekick in Espartacus (1960), playing second fiddle to the equally famous Kirk Douglas. However, Curtis saw no problem with this because the two had recently acted together in dual leading roles in The Vikings (1958) . At the time Tony Curtis played a number of swashbucklers and adventure movies as Purple mask , The prince who was a thief , Son of Ali Baba . Tony Curtis is excellently accompanied by a top-notch support cast , such as : Peter van Eyck , William Demarest , William Gargan , Minor Watson and the usual baddie Robert J Wilke .

It displays an atmospheric and moving score by Herman Stein and Frank Skinner . Colorful cinematography in Universal style by director of photography Irving Glassberg . The motion picture was professionally directed by Rudolph Mate , keeping the flick at a lively pace .Polish-born (Cracovia) and passed away Beverly Hills (1964) Mate was an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund , director Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer . Dreyer was so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on The Passion of Joan of Arc . Mate is considered to be one of the best cameramen of cinema story . Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films, cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947 . Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive ,especially his sci-fi ¨When the worlds collide¨ (1951) , his labour as cameraman was excellent . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres as Adventures : ¨The Black Shield of Falworth¨ , ¨Seven Seas to Calais¨ , Western about themes of card players on riverboat as ¨The Mississipi gambler¨(1963) , ¨The rawhide years¨(1956) , about family conflict as ¨Thre violent people¨and about conflicts between Indians and cavalry as ¨In the siege at Red River¨(1954) and Noir films : ¨Union Station¨ , ¨Second chance¨ . He also directed Epic films as ¨The Barbarians¨ and ¨The 300 Spartans¨ . The films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic ¨DOA¨ (1950). ting : Passable , decente and acceptable , almost notable film 6,5/10 . Well worth watching .

Tony Curtis is a riverboat gambler who has a murder pinned on him, so he heads out west to find out who did the deed before he is lynched.

It had been six years since Curtis had last been in a western. In that time he had risen from someone barely on the first cast card to one of Universal's biggest stars, so he is well supported in this movie, with the familiar players including William Demarest, Arthur Kennedy and William Gargan. Under the usually psychologically twisted direction of Rudolph Maté, he gives a competent, although not particularly interesting performance.... except, of course, to the young girls whose appeal lay in his beautiful face and lower-class accent. I suppose it made him seem approachable. The resulis a good if not outstanding star vehicle.

Have a high appreciation for Westerns and 'The Rawhide Years' has some very talented names in front of and behind the camera. 'The Rawhide Years' was yet another film too recommended to me, finding myself on an unexpected but interesting Tony Curtis film completest quest. He may not have been the greatest of actors but there was a great deal of likeability about him.

'The Rawhide Years' turned out to be a fun watch. Not one of the best Western films by any stretch, but does its job well and for a film that didn't try to be one of the greats, try and do more than necessary, knew its target audience and what it wanted to be 'The Rawhide Yeats' is generally successful. It is good fun and there is not an ounce of shame having watched it, would hesitate in calling it a favourite but it is deserving of more attention than the near-obscure one it has as of now.

Admittedly, 'The Rawhide Years' is reasonably formulaic and the script has some campiness and doesn't always flow.

Coleen Miller is pretty bland here, not much to her performance, and her chemistry with Curtis does not convince in the slightest, it doesn't ever have spark or passion.

However, regardless of whether he convinces as the type of character he's playing (not quite), Curtis is very heroic and likeable, his acting was getting more comfortable, with some steel that makes his plight worth rooting for. The supporting cast standouts are a stoic William Demarest, deliciously hissable Peter Van Eyck and particularly humorously roguish Arthur Kennedy, his chemistry with Curtis being the most convincing in terms of character interaction of the film.

Visually, 'The Rawhide Years' is handsomely photographed and designed, and directed with assurance. The story is always exciting and easy to follow, some familiar genre tropes here but handled with enough freshness and charm. The characters and enough of the script are fun and amiable and the music fits nicely. The songs may be anachronistic somewhat and may not add much to the story but are lovely in their own right, "The Gypsy with Fire in His Shoes" especially.

In short, entertaining and an easy watch if not something to be blown away by. 7/10 Bethany Cox