Rage

"Rage" is a highly unusual film for Glenn Ford. Heck, it's a highly unusual film...period. The story is set in rural Mexico and finds Dr. Reuben (Ford) working with the local villagers...and drinking himself half to death. Through the course of the film you realize why he's there and why he's drinking. Years before, his actions resulted in his wife's death...and he seems to be doing pennance for this by working so far from the States. But he's also angry, sullen and altogether unpleasant in many ways.

Into this town comes a truck load of prostitutes bound for someplace nicer and less grubby. One of those women, Perla (Stella Stevens) takes a liking for the doctor...but eventually she moves on to another town.

Dr. Reuben is bitten by his dog...and the dog has rabies. Earlier in the film you see a man going mad with the illness...and the Doc knows he must get treatment soon or he'll die the same way. But there's a dying woman about to give birth to attend to first. And then, it's a long, long way to the nearest large city where he can get treatment. Can he get there in time?

The prostitute plot in the film seemed like filler...though Stevens' character actually became important late in the story when she helps the Doctor get to town. Still, her rowdy friends seemed more like a distraction than anything and a bit of a re-write would have helped. Without that unnecessary plot, I would have given the film a 7.





FYI--I noticed one review says that the movie was set in rural New Mexico, but when I looked at IMDB to see where the movie was filmed it was set in Mexico...not in the United States.

Hard-drinking medico, mourning the death of his family in a small Mexican village inhabited by construction workers and visiting prostitutes, is bitten by a dog he later learns was rabid; his journey to get proper medical help from the next town over is fraught with obstacles and calamities. Though low-budget, "Rage" is one of Glenn Ford's best movies from the mid-'60s, a rugged adventure filmed in Durango by a mostly-Hispanic crew. Ford, together with burnt-out prostie Stella Stevens and faithful amigo David Reynoso, digs deep to give us a full-blooded character, and the insanity surrounding him is aptly filmed by cinematographer Rosalío Solano (who does go all-out with the animated camera angles, yet which provides some needed relief). Stevens, as usual, is catty, sarcastic, but with a heart of gold--she's wonderful--and Reynoso is terrific standing by the doctor through the thickest of troubles. Unusual and gripping, this race-against-time is well-written, with peculiar but effective music from Gustavo César Carrión. **1/2 from ****

This movie is great. Yes, it is a low budget film but the concept is clear. Economy is this movie's middle name. It's shot in a somewhat, unforgiving documentary style. The story is plausible in the real world. You're curious to see how Glenn Ford's character ends his journey. So much could go wrong, how far can he go before he loses all his marbles in a foreign environment? A different culture has the potential to react in ways one doesn't expect. What would you do as a viewer if you were in his shoes with his medical condition? Sure, this small film could be more polished in sound design, cinematography, etc. See it for yourself not for how much the production cost but how well an original story was executed by a great actor. A great movie like "Rage" aka "El Mal" doesn't need excessive millions of dollars. You're taken along for an intense ride at a fraction of the cost to make a "blockbuster." Enjoy.

I really liked this movie. Glenn Ford has been completely believable in every role he's ever done. That is especially amazing when you look at the wide variety of roles that he has played. This role is definitely at one far end of the spectrum. He plays a drunken town doctor who has given up on his own life. He then meets a woman, the beautiful Stella Stevens, who makes him care again. She is attracted to Ford because he doesn't chase her because of her physical beauty like the other men do. When his life is in danger, he finds that he really wants to live but will he get help in time? This movie will put you on the edge of your seat but you'll also enjoy the sweet relationships of the characters. Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens are such a gentle pair here.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

I saw this strange dark film on late night TV when I was a kid and it made an impression on me - certain intense scenes stayed with me - the rickety bridge crossings, the local man getting rabies and being brought in by ropes by the townspeople, Ford's dog mad from rabies, etc. I just saw it again and I really enjoyed it. It is well done, obviously on a low budget as part of an American/Mexican production. Ford is quite good as a depressed, drunk doctor at a rural Mexican mining town who gets bit by a dog and gets rabies - he then has to try and drive through harsh desert to make it into the next town in time to get the serum he needs to survive. Stella Stevens is a "dance hall girl" who is brought in with a troupe of gals to entertain the workers. Stevens is so damn hot in this flick - at the height of her Swinging Sixties sexiness. If you liked this film and the genre - try George Kennedy in the equally good A Cry In The Wilderness - a 1974 TV film about a man with rabies.