This is an absolute gem of a Western I never really hear people talk about but this may now be my favourite film directed by the old master Henry Hathaway. And my favourite Tyrone Power film. AND my favourite Susan Hayward film! All this and I never saw it before now!
I never would've seen this film at all except for mention of it in a Susan Hayward biographical doc I happened to watch. The film looked good so I went and ordered the blu ray. How have I never seen it before now?!? The film takes place basically in one location: a relay station/rest stop of the Overland Mail Company called Rawhide Pass where stagecoaches heading west (or east) put in for a plate of beans. The station is in the middle of nowhere (actually Lone Pine, California -- somewhere between Mt. Whitney and Death Valley) and is manned by two men: Sam Todd (Edgar Buchanan) and young Tom Owens (Tyrone Power). Owens is the son of the Overland Mail Co.'s manager and has been sent there to learn how to "rough it" and how to put in an honest day's work. A stagecoach full of passengers pulls into the outpost; one of which is steely Vinnie Holt (Susan Hayward) along with little baby Callie (Judy Ann Dunn). Some cavalry men arrive with news that a killer named Rafe Zimmerman (Hugh Marlowe) has escaped with a few other prisoners from Huntsville. The cavalrymen will escort the stagecoach but Overland company policy forbids sending a child into danger so Vinnie and Callie must stay behind at Rawhide Station. Vinnie fights like a wildcat to be allowed to go but Sam orders Tom to drag her from the stagecoach and they leave without her.
A fuming Vinnie takes possession of Tom's quarters and takes his gun while she goes to to a nearby hot spring to take a bath. Meanwhile, Zimmerman and his goons ride into Rawhide Pass outpost and take Sam and Tom prisoner. As Vinnie returns to the outpost, she sees Sam make a break for his rifle only to be gunned down by outlaw Tevis (a marvelously slimy Jack Elam). She ducks down behind the horse trough and unknowingly loses Tom's gun and gun belt there. The outlaws see her and take her prisoner. Assuming that Vinnie and Callie are Tom's wife and daughter, all three are locked up in Tom's room while Zimmerman and his motley band of outlaws wait for the gold stage to arrive tomorrow morning.
Almost like a film noir with horses, RAWHIDE gives us the old familiar trope of some people held hostage by killers but Hathaway (and Dudley Nichols superb script) bring a freshness to the proceedings that make for a taut, nail-biter of a western. I'm not one of those people who think Tyrone Power was just a pretty face who couldn't act; but here Power gives probably the best performance I've seen him give. He totally subsumes his "Tyrone Power" persona and gives a performance as Tom Owens that shows the character over-his-head and trying desperately to think of a way to get them out of this dangerous situation. Power depicts the genuine fear and desperation of the character wonderfully.
The entire cast is, without exception, exceptionAL! Edgar Buchanan as the crotchedy old hand Sam Todd is lovable as usual. Hugh Marlowe was known to me for most of my life as a rather stodgy, bland actor of such classic fifties science fiction films as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS but her really shines in westerns like Henry Hathaway's GARDEN OF EVIL (which I only just saw last month) and, even better, here in RAWHIDE. In fact, RAWHIDE is probably the best Hugh Marlowe performance I've seen as the educated killer Zimmerman who is saddled with a random handful of outlaws who are with him only because they happened to escape prison along with him. Marlowe's exasperation at these misfits is always just under the surface as Zimmerman tries his best to both get them to do what he tells them and also keep his prisoners in check. Speaking of the outlaws, we have another handful of stupendously great actors: Jack Elam as the snake-like Tevis, George Tobias (probably best known as TV's Abner Kravitz from BEWITCHED) as the loyal hound dog Gratz, and Dean Jagger as the dim-witted fan of fancy clothes Yancy. These are not your usual bunch of outlaw second bananas but each actor gives a fully rounded performance leaving the outlaw bunch clearly-defined. I can't even believe I'm going to say this but even infant Judy Ann Dunn gives an actual performance as little Callie!
But above all, the film belongs to Susan Hayward who is tough-as-nails while remaining totally feminine and is the true hero of the movie.
Hayward's performance here is actually pretty remarkable as she protects the baby at all costs while refusing to let any man treat her as a doormat. Even while the outlaws have her at gunpoint and she is forced to do what they say, Hayward never appears cowed or resigned to her fate. At one point, she even berates Tyrone Power for meekly going along with them without trying to find an escape route. It is Hayward's character who spurs Power into action; however, at no point does he become "the hero" of the film. At most, he could be called "co-hero" with Susan Hayward as the true backbone of the film. In fact, no romance is remotely possible in the first half of the film because Tom Owens is simply not good enough for Vinnie; it's only after she shows him the way to bravery that he can become worthy of her. So, by the end of the film when Vinnie shows a true affection for Tom, it seems completely believable and organic instead of the usual crammed-in Hollywood romantic angle.
