Rachel and the Stranger

After the death of his wife, pioneer farmer David Harvey (William Holden) decides to take a new bride. What he's really after is less a wife than a housekeeper who will do chores and take care of his son. He finds that in indentured servant Rachel (Loretta Young), whom he purchases and then marries at the urging of the local parson. David shows no affection towards Rachel, treating her just like a servant. This changes when traveling fur trapper Jim Fairways (Robert Mitchum) shows up. Jim's an old friend of David's and loved his late wife though she chose David over him. When Jim starts paying Rachel attention, it stirs feelings of jealousy in David and he starts to see Rachel in a new light.

Charming western love story with top stars at their best. Holden and Mitchum are superb but Young really shines, carrying most of the picture just through her facial expressions. What a lovely face it was, too. Young and Mitchum both sing in this, as well. I should also mention Gary Gray is good as the son. A simple story but wonderfully told with that old Hollywood magic.

I too became a fan of this movie (thank you American Movie Classics). What at first appeared to be a run-of-the-mill frontier cabin story turned into an absorbing, well-written, well-acted human interest story with four engaging characters, a beautiful locale (the movie would have benefited from color), and a fine score to boot. The concept of a bonded (indentured) servant added an interesting historical facet. The cast, of course, is top notch. Mitchum and Holden work particularly well together. The film should be a lot better known than it is, and is well worth a see.

This is an excellent movie. The 1st time i saw it was in the 70's & i look forward to seeing it & wish that it were on more often,at least once or twice a yr. What a lucky woman to have a potential love interest like Robert Mitchum,that it made her husband sit up & take notice in how he & his son were treating her. The scenery is just a big a part of the movie as the actors are. This movie first showed me that living in the country could fill your soul up,that's 1 reason why i live in wyoming. Not everything has to be in your face blood & gore or stupidity & 4 letter words to get your attention. Too bad AMC doesn't air it more often. Hope its on DVD soon. If you get the chance to see this movie don't pass it up,you won't regret it.

RACHEL AND THE STRANGER has the kind of quiet charm that LORETTA YOUNG always possessed and benefits from the more rugged screen presence of its leading men--WILLIAM HOLDEN and ROBERT MITCHUM. Loretta is an indentured servant who becomes the wife of William Holden and must prove herself worthy of the affections of Holden and his young son.

There really is very little in the story that is original and the outcome can be predicted from scene one. It's clear that Loretta, as Holden's second wife, will have a hard time replacing his winsome wife who was a woman of modest talents and dearly loved by husband and son (GARY GRAY). Not unexpectedly, they both warm to her and so does Holden's "stranger" friend, ROBERT MITCHUM, who does a nice job raising his voice in song accompanied by guitar. Mitchum gives his usual laid back performance, nicely understated. The story may be a little too slow moving for some tastes since it's more of a character study of a widower and his new wife than it is a western.

There's no real excitement to the story until the Indian attack which comes late in the story, but the film depends on the central performances of Young, Holden and Mitchum to hold interest as the three of them have some amusing interactions throughout the story.

Nicely photographed in outdoor settings photographed in crisp B&W, it's a film full of simple charm without anything pretentious about it.

Only drawback: Overuse of the phrase "I reckon" to give the dialog a bucolic flavor. Its use is way overdone and actually becomes irritating when the script has the phrase repeated every few seconds by everyone in the cast.

"Big" Davey Harvey(William Holden) a widower, and his only son Davey live in the mountains of Ohio during the Pioneer days. Big Davey increasingly frustrated at the influence of his fur hunter friend Jim Fairways(Robert Mitchum) decides his son needs a woman's influence around the house and sets off to the local stockade to find a wife much to the protestations of little Davey who doesn't want anyone to replace his recently deceased mother.Big Davey is recommended a bonds girl Rachel(Loretta Young )who is surplus to requirements and he buys her for 18 dollars.Both of the Harveys are cold and distant towards their new family member and treat her as the slave she is, until that is the charismatic Jim Fairways arrives and treats her like a queen,they hit it off straight away much to the jealousy of Big Davey who is just not ready for love yet…. this triggers a battle of wills to win the heart of Rachel…and just to add to their problems the film is set against a backdrop of continuing raids by rogue Shawnee Indians on the local homesteads.This is truly a forgotten western classic that still feels very fresh today,Rachel and the Stranger is very very charming film,that is also very funny and has a simple but intelligent script,on top of that add three truly Epic performances by the three leads and an action packed finale and you have a wonderful film.

PS.Mitchum never ceases to amaze me, a true giant of the Cinema and a really good singer too