Rancho Notorious

When his fiancé Beth is raped and murdered during a robbery, peace-loving rancher Vern Haskell sets out to track down the man that did it. Driven by a desire for revenge more than justice, Haskell follows the trail to a casino and bordello called Chuck-A-Luck. Here he follows his leads to Alter Keane and gunslinger French Fairmont; they take him onto their staff at their horse ranch and gang HQ and Haskell hopes to use his cover to get his closer to finding out who it was that raped his girl. However in keeping his cover, Haskell finds himself drawn into their world more and more.

The staples of westerns of the period are all here – revenge, Technicolor, songs and romance; however this film opens with a rape (and it is fairly obvious that it was a violent rape) and a nice man who descents into violent anger. In a way the film makes this its central theme but it doesn't continue in this very strong vein and softens it somewhat with the addition of romance and musical interludes. From here on in it is still enjoyable but never marks itself out as more than a solid genre western; the complexities that I had hoped would consume him were not to be found in Haskell to any great degree. Despite this the plot still works well enough to engage and the gruff pace avoids sentimentality and makes the tough romance easier to swallow in context. The action is roundly enjoyable and Lang directs well within the sets, providing some good shots that stick in the mind.

The cast are mixed but generally meet the standard required of them. Dietrich may have demanded she be made to look as young as possible but her age helps stand her apart from the usual love interest actresses. She is tough and enjoyable in her role but I could have done without the songs. Kennedy is reasonably good but not too comfortable with his character – he is either a white knight or a gurning ball of rage; subtlety is not his key word. Ferrer is lively and fun and makes more of his character than the genre usually allows the "other man" character to do. Support from Elam, Reeves and others is all solid enough to make it work.

So an enjoyable genre western then but a bit disappointing for throttling back after such a tough start. The standard revenge plot is made more interesting by the change in Haskell but it could have been better; meanwhile the usual action, songs and romance all work pretty well and will easily please genre fans.

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?

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.

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 .

With it being directed by the great Fritz Lang (a director with a great and distinctively Expressionistic visual and directing style, with 'M' and 'Metropolis' being two of the finest examples) and starring Marlene Dietrich (especially fond of her work with Josef von Sternberg and in 'Witness for the Prosecution'), 'Rancho Notorious' had a lot of interest value. Likewise with the story idea.

'Rancho Notorious' may not be my idea of a great film, especially for one with such a great director and an actress as talented as Dietrich. This is not to say that 'Rancho Notorious' is bad. It is far from that. While it is problematic and far from being one of Lang's best, in a way it's somewhat of a lesser effort, to me it was quite good and an interesting take on the genre. Strange and over-the-top but on the most part it's not in a bad way.

Its weak point is the main theme/song. It is used far too much, like over-explanatory narration in song form, and the actual theme is grating and heavy-handed. Didn't even think it fitted much stylistically either (sounding too jaunty for a film that started off in a gritty fashion) and the cheesiness of some of the words added to the out of kilter feel. Seeing as it features heavily, it was a big problem and made me not think highly of the music much.

The film is cheap-looking in the sets, which never look authentic and more hastily-made studio-bound settings that look like they were constructed on the remainder of a budget where most of it was blown hiring Lang and Dietrich. Arthur Kennedy's performance is slightly uneven, mostly he's fine but in the more romantic parts he looks uncomfortable and more chemistry (though it's there) with Dietrich would have been welcome.

Dietrich however, even when past prime, looks luminous and brings the right amount of charisma and toughness. Something that Kennedy also displays in his best moments. A relatively cast against type Mel Ferrer is lively support and George Reeves and Jack Elam are just as solid. Lang himself fares very well here, his direction is stylish and moody with some nice creative touches.

Also found 'Rancho Notorious' to boast some ravishingly striking cinematography. The rest of the songs are nicely sung and are placed and used better, even if one questions the necessity. The film gets off to a wonderfully gritty start that one does wish was carried further, though the over-the-top-ness was actually entertaining still and didn't jar as much as it sounds. The tension simmers beautifully and the climax scintillates, the lack of sentimentality was appreciated.

Summing up, intriguing, for Lang completests and to see how a different take on a Western can fare, and well done though Lang did much better. 7/10 Bethany Cox