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Rancho Notorious

  • 1952
  • Approved
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
6K
YOUR RATING
Marlene Dietrich, Mel Ferrer, and Arthur Kennedy in Rancho Notorious (1952)
Classical WesternPsychological DramaWestern

After the murder of his fiancée, a Wyoming ranch hand sets out to find her killer.After the murder of his fiancée, a Wyoming ranch hand sets out to find her killer.After the murder of his fiancée, a Wyoming ranch hand sets out to find her killer.

  • Director
    • Fritz Lang
  • Writers
    • Daniel Taradash
    • Silvia Richards
  • Stars
    • Marlene Dietrich
    • Arthur Kennedy
    • Mel Ferrer
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Fritz Lang
    • Writers
      • Daniel Taradash
      • Silvia Richards
    • Stars
      • Marlene Dietrich
      • Arthur Kennedy
      • Mel Ferrer
    • 60User reviews
    • 39Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos65

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    Top cast81

    Edit
    Marlene Dietrich
    Marlene Dietrich
    • Altar Keane
    Arthur Kennedy
    Arthur Kennedy
    • Vern Haskell
    Mel Ferrer
    Mel Ferrer
    • Frenchy Fairmont
    Gloria Henry
    Gloria Henry
    • Beth Forbes
    William Frawley
    William Frawley
    • Baldy Gunder
    Lisa Ferraday
    Lisa Ferraday
    • Maxine
    John Raven
    • Chuck-a-Luck Dealer
    Jack Elam
    Jack Elam
    • Mort Geary
    George Reeves
    George Reeves
    • Wilson
    Frank Ferguson
    Frank Ferguson
    • Preacher
    Francis McDonald
    Francis McDonald
    • Harbin
    Dan Seymour
    Dan Seymour
    • Comanche Paul
    John Kellogg
    John Kellogg
    • Jeff Factor
    Rodd Redwing
    Rodd Redwing
    • Rio
    • (as Rodric Redwing)
    Victor Adamson
    Victor Adamson
    • Racer with Fat Girl
    • (uncredited)
    Roger Anderson
    • Red
    • (uncredited)
    Al Bain
    Al Bain
    • Race Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    Ray Beltram
    • Barfly
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Fritz Lang
    • Writers
      • Daniel Taradash
      • Silvia Richards
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews60

    6.85.9K
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    Featured reviews

    8Marlburian

    enjoyable and well-paced unconventional western

    I'm not a Marlene Dietrich fan and don't really see Arthur Kennedy as being charismatic enough to interest her, and am not usually keen on background ballads, but I enjoyed this film from beginning to end.

    Director Fritz Lang keeps the pace lively and brightens up the generally sombre mood with a couple of light-hearted sequences - first the "horse-race" with saloon girls riding cowboys and then the crooked politicians awaiting their fate in gaol.

    "Variety" Film Guide calls the plot "corny", but it's no more so than many other films of the 1950s, or indeed of any other decade, and it's different to most Westerns of the period. And for those times it's also relatively direct in its treatment of sex; we are left in no doubt that Kennedy's fiancée has been raped and that the man Kennedy suspects of the assault is obviously out for what he can get from women.

    One is not told how Kennedy acquires his gun-fighting skills - at the beginning a posse member points out his lack of these. The only weakness are a couple of "outdoor" scenes obviously filmed in the studio, where the rock formations are eye-catchingly unrealistic.

    The acting is generally good, with Kennedy doing well as the grief- stricken hero seeking revenge and Mel Ferrer showing screen-presence as the slightly sinister and somewhat sensitive fast gun.
    8whiterabbit06

    Pleasantly surprised

    I've heard RN called underrated and under appreciated and I can see why. It's not the best or perfect but it's different from most. The story is lean but heavy in undertones and gives it weight and moves along well.
    7friedlandea

    It's not what's there but what's not there that is chilling.

    When I was in school not too many years after this film came out, as I recall vividly, we were taught the evils of totalitarianism (notably of the Communist variety). One of the scariest evils, so we were told, was that people could be made not to exist - not just in the sense of being murdered, but in the sense of being erased even in memory. They did not exist. And they had never existed, even if they had. History books were doctored. Names were whited out of the index. The memory of history changed. That was the great difference between us and them. It could never happen here. We all, patriotic little kids, nodded - not here. Watch this movie and you will see it happen, here. All the characters are played by actors. All except one. One is played by a phantom. He doesn't exist. Of course, he does. He's Lloyd Gough. His character, Kinch, is the central pivot of the entire story, from the first scene. But he has been removed from the cast: no mention of his name.

    Lloyd Gough and his wife Karen Morley refused to grovel before HUAC and so were blacklisted. He was also erased, retroactively. They couldn't erase his image, because he was in too many and too important scenes. But they could erase his memory. That they did. They didn't blot out his name from the many other films he had played. But they could have. Why not? It's only a short step from one retroactive erasure to many. Not too hard to reshoot the credits of old films. is it? Didn't happen. But it started. Think about that and be scared. Oh, yes, I forgot. We're past that now, just an aberration of the 1950s. Right?
    7ma-cortes

    Thrilling Western of murder , hate and revenge ; being compellingly directed by the great maestro Fritz Lang

    In Wyoming , when his sweetheart is murdered , then an embittered cowboy (Arthur Kennedy who was playing a young man , he was actually three years older than Mel Ferrer) hunting enemies and on the trail of his fiancee's murderer . First with a posse, then by himself , to an outlaw hideout ranch called Chuck-a-Luck (it means a gambling game commonly played in saloons in the Southwest) . As he arrives in Rancho Notorious and the main question is the following : to guess the killer in the mansion . Then , he falls for a dance girl , Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich who sings some songs in his usual style) , ranch owner that is a refuge for thieves and she posing as an upright rancher and horse seller . In the ranch there is a motley group of bandits (Frank Ferguson , William Frawley , Francis McDonald , Jack Elam and George Reeves with a scar on his cheek) led by Frenchy Fairmont (Mel Ferrer) who scheme to rob a bank in Clay Springs city .

    This traditional Western contains drama , thrills , rousing action , frontier adventure , shootouts , and exuberant outdoors , though including matte painting images . This vintage epic Western turns out to be a throughly entertaining picture that will appeal to Western fans . It is an interesting flick in which an initial murder triggering off a tale of hatred , vengeance and a triangular love . A ¨period¨ sample'of 50s westerns , but different to common themes . Fine acting and a lot of duels , shots and killings . Medium budget Western for all those who love moody , thoughtful westerns . This is a very good Western by Fritz Lang , he made three , there's only one better than this , and that's ¨The return of Frank James¨ . Good performances for all-star-cast . Nice acting by Marlene Dietrich at her slinkiest , in fact Rancho Notorious is a must for Marlene fans . As Arthur Kennedy as a ranch hand called Vern Haskell who pursues the killers his girlfriend, following the trail to an outlaw's roost . Kennedy holds his twisted expression to great effect as the relentless cowboy hunting a hidden killer . Acceptable Mel Ferrer as Frenchy Fairmont , an outlaw really enamored to Altar and who defends his love .

    The film displays a brilliant cinematography in rich Technicolor by expert cameraman Hal Mohr who had previously photographed Marlene Dietrich in Arizona (1939) . In addition , attractive and evocative musical score by Ken Darby , Emil Newman and uncredited Hugo Friedhofer and Arthur Lange ; including some catching western songs . The motion picture produced by Howard Welsch and RKO was tight as well as seethingly directed by Fritz Lang with great enthusiasm and in his particular style . This was Lang's third Western , following his favorite ¨The return of Frank James¨ with Henry Fonda and ¨Western Union¨ , a Darryl F Zanuck's 20th Century Fox production about construction of the glamorous ¨Western Union¨ route from Omaha , Nebraska , to Salt Lake City , Utah with Robert Young and Dean Jagger . The German Fritz showed himself a master of the most American of genres . As Lang directed masterfully all kind of genres as Noir cinema as ¨Big heat¨ , ¨Scarlet Street¨ and ¨Beyond a reasonable doubt¨ , Epic as ¨Nibelungs¨, suspense as ¨Secret beyond the door¨ , ¨Clash by night¨ and Lang's trilogy about Nazi time as ¨Cloak and dagger¨, ¨Man hunt¨ and ¨Hangmen also die¨, and of course , Sci-Fi with the classic ¨Metropolis¨. Rating Rancho Notorious : Better than average . Well worth watching .
    Dr Zaius

    Atmospheric Western Noir

    "Rancho Notorious" is a beautifully atmospheric and suspenseful film. Best known for his expressionist black & white suspense thrillers, director Fritz Lang brings the same qualities to this Technicolor western.

    Although she must have been in her fifties when the film was made, Dietrich looks absolutely gorgeous. She also seems to be having lots of fun with the part, in a sense reprising her character from "Destry Rides Again." It's never explained how this woman with the strange German accent ended up in the Wild West, and we don't really care. By the way, Dietrich's performance in these two films was the basis for Madeline Kahn's great parody in "Blazing Saddles."

    The one thing that really stands out in my mind about this film is how effectively the suspense builds. The tension leading up to Vern's discovery of the killer's identity is almost unbearable, and Lang makes us wait until the film's last five minutes for the inevitable score-settling gunfight.

    In a period of film history when westerns were a dime a dozen, this one really stands out as a true classic.

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    Related interests

    Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
    Classical Western
    Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
    Psychological Drama
    John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr. in The Searchers (1956)
    Western

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Cinematographer Hal Mohr, who had previously photographed Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again (1939), attempted to resign from the film because of 50-year-old Dietrich's insistence that he use lighting to make her look much younger than she actually was, and Mohr didn't think it was possible.
    • Goofs
      When Haskell and Fairmont are in the cell and talking about gambling, one of them refers to a Chuck-a-Luck "Wheel". There is no wheel in Chuck-a-Luck. Chuck-a-Luck is a dice game played with (two or) three dice often contained in an hour-glass shaped rotatable cage. Bets are placed as to what number will come up on gaming table. The game played in the film involves a wheel with pegs in between representations of all the possible 3-dice rolls, which is the wheel that is both talked and sung about. This is a variation on the original game called Big Six Wheel. Because of the distribution of the combinations, the house advantage or edge for this wheel is greater than for Chuck-a-Luck.
    • Quotes

      Altar Keane: [to Vern] I'd wish you go away... and come back ten years ago.

    • Crazy credits
      As the title song plays and Bill Lee sings the lyric "... and a man of steel ..." there are eleven names of supporting actors on screen, and the name in the central position is George Reeves, soon to be cast as The Man of Steel in *The Adventures of Superman* (1952-58).
    • Connections
      Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Fatale beauté (1994)
    • Soundtracks
      Get Away Young Man
      Music and Lyrics by Ken Darby

      Sung by Marlene Dietrich (uncredited)

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    FAQ16

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 12, 1952 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El refugio
    • Filming locations
      • Republic Studios - 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Fidelity Pictures Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $900,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $63
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 29m(89 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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