Rancho Notorious (1952)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Silvia Richards (story)
Daniel Taradash (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 March 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

Where anything goes...for a price!

Plot:

A western based on the story "Gunsight Whitman" by Silvia Richards. Vern Haskell, a nice rancher, seeks...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Chuck A Luck | Ranch | Robbery | Corruption

Cast

Marlene Dietrich	...	Altar Keane
Arthur Kennedy	...	Vern Haskell
Mel Ferrer	...	Frenchy Fairmont
Gloria Henry	...	Beth Forbes
William Frawley	...	Baldy Gunder
Lisa Ferraday	...	Maxine
John Raven	...	Chuck-a-Luck dealer
Jack Elam	...	Mort Geary
George Reeves	...	Wilson
Frank Ferguson	...	Preacher
Francis McDonald	...	Harbin
Dan Seymour	...	Comanche Paul
John Kellogg	...	Jeff Factor
Rodd Redwing	...	Rio (as Rodric Redwing)

Also Known As:

Chuck-a-Luck (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #15331) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986)

Company:

Fidelity Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Lloyd Gough had name was removed from the credits due to his blacklisting that year.

Quotes:

Altar Keane: Go away and come back ten years ago.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Marlene (1984)

Soundtrack:

Legend of Chuck-A-Luck

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.