Ride the Man Down (1952)

Disputes over a dead man's property escalate into a bloody range war.

Director:

Joseph Kane

Writers:

Mary C. McCall Jr. (screenplay), Luke Short (novel)

Stars:

Brian Donlevy, Rod Cameron, Ella Raines

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brian Donlevy	...	Bide Marriner
Rod Cameron	...	Will Ballard
Ella Raines	...	Celia Evarts
Forrest Tucker	...	Sam Danfelser
Barbara Britton	...	Lottie Priest
Chill Wills	...	Ike Adams
J. Carrol Naish	...	Sheriff Joe Kneen
Jim Davis	...	Red Courteen
Taylor Holmes	...	Lowell Priest
James Bell	...	John Evarts
Paul Fix	...	Ray Cavanaugh
Al Caudebec	...	Mel Young
Roydon Clark	...	Jim Young
Roy Barcroft	...	Russ Schultz
Douglas Kennedy	...	Harve Garrison

Storyline

During the 1892 blizzard, pioneer ranching magnate Phil Evarts dies. His Hatchet Ranch is inherited by brother John and daughter Celia. However, much of the ranch is on free grazing land. Many of the local ranchers and cattlemen try to take advantage of Phil Evarts' death by grazing on this land and using its water for free. Ranchers Harve Garrison, Russ Schultz and Ray Cavanaugh desire the Hatchet Ranch's rich grazing land and take it with impunity. Others, like greedy rancher Bide Marriner, want it all for themselves. Even cattle rustlers, like Red Courteen, get involved by rustling cattle from the Evarts family whose power they resent. Because the old rancher Phil Evarts isn't around to protect the Hatchet Ranch anymore, his trusted foreman, Will Ballard, steps-in to safeguard the interests of Phil Evarts' heirs, especially Celia's whom he adores. Celia's fiance, Sam Danfelser, is the jealous type but Celia assures him that she only loves him and she only considers Will a good ...

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Plot Keywords:

rancher | sheriff | grazing land | ranch foreman | jealousy | 

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Taglines:

Luke Short's Saturday Evening Post Fighting Story!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Tiger von Utah

Filming Locations:

Kanab, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Trucolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Mary C. McCall Jr. said of this film, "From the outset this was as happy a spell of work as occurs but rarely in a screenwriter's life. [Director Joseph Kane] is an admirer of Luke Short's work. I loved the novel. In transferring the story to the visual medium we didn't have any problems."

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Connections

Featured in An American in Rome (1954)

User Reviews

Boundaries are not fixed things

For a B western Ride The Man Down packs a lot of plot in its 90+ minute running time. It's a range war western, but it's complicated by the fact that several of the characters are really working their own agendas. It opens with the death during a blizzard of the death of a man who owned a large cattle spread.

He must have been a most strong and charismatic man holding his range together where boundaries apparently are not fixed things. His daughter and heir Ella Raines has lost a lot of her hands and relies now on foreman Rod Cameron to protect her interests. Cameron himself has ridden roughshod in the past over a lot of people to keep that land for his late employer.

Cameron's chief antagonist is Brian Donlevy, but Cameron has a lot of other enemies that only now are coming out because they think the local Ponderosa can't defend its interests any longer.

Besides those mentioned Ride The Man Down as an impressive cast list of familiar players like Forrest Tucker, Barbara Britton, Chill Wills, Taylor Holmes, Paul Fix, Roy Barcroft, Jim Davis, J. Carrol Naish, and Douglas Kennedy. All perform with the usual professional polish you would expect from this group. They all look western comfortable in their parts. Most have been in lots of westerns before others can adapt anywhere.

Ride The Man Down is a most adult western for a studio that churned out horse operas by the dozens every week for its Saturday afternoon kids. They watched their cowboys on television now and Republic now did its westerns for their parents. This one pretty good.