L'ange des maudits

"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.

Chuck-a-Luck is a hole in the wall type ranch where men with prices on their heads hide out and are given protection by Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich) and her lover Frenchy Fairmont (Mel Ferrer) for ten percent of the loot brought in my the outlaws. Chuck-a-Luck is called Rancho Notorious in the film's title, which does sound somewhat better. Unfortunately a terrible narrative theme, "The Legend of Chuck-a-Luck" used throughout the movie becomes very grating to the ears. The ballad singer William Lee (who is he anyway?) doesn't help the situation. Fortunately the songs chosen for the talented Marlene Dietrich to perform are much better (actually one "Gypsy Davey" is an old British ballad that Woody Guthrie turned into a cowboy song). Her renditions are not quite on the level of her "See What The Boys In The Backroom Will Have" from the western classic "Destry Rides Again" but are still captivating. (Interesting that she played a saloon girl named Frenchy in "Destry" whereas this time her lover is named Frenchy.)

This is one of few so-called adult westerns from the 1950's that actually lives up to that label. The flashback barroom scene where the soiled angels are riding their customers in a drunken mock horse race as jockeys would ride horses shows how fun and games in Old West saloons really took place. The whores are not prima donnas as oft times shown in Hollywood films. Pay particular attention to the gross fat showgirl trying to ride a much smaller client. It is funny and repulsive at the same time. Fritz Lang takes away all window dressing. Even Marlene Dietrich looks much more slutty and rough around the edges than she did in "Destry." Being over a decade older gives even more authenticity to Dietrich's character. She looks like a much older Lola Lola from "Blue Angel."

Mel Ferrer is an actor with a somewhat limited range. In the right role he could shine. His best acting was done in a movie that came out just before this one, "The Brave Bulls." But his second best role is as Frenchy in "Rancho Notorious." He fits his part much better than Arthur Kennedy fits his. Kennedy as a gunslinging rancher is fine but Kennedy the lover takes a suspension of belief, especially as Marlene Dietrich's lover. One can just imagine how he would look in the morning after one night with Altar Keane.

Fritz Lang's direction is spectacular. He captures all the nuances of the characters. His flashback technique at the first of the movie to define Altar Keane's persona is reminiscent of Orson Welles' milestone direction of "Citizen Kane." Then he progresses to an almost film noir western in color. The cinematography is much better in some parts of the film. It is not as effective when Frenchy and Vern (Arthur Kennedy) are together in the hills (the background sometimes looks phony) than when interior sets are used. Perhaps this relates to a money problem producing the show.

Another enjoyable facet of the feature is the gallery of colorful character actors who all do superlative jobs. George Reeves (tv's Superman) is lovingly menacing as a womanizing gun toting ambusher. Jack Elam is fine as a distrustful negative thinking thief. Frank Ferguson plays the outlaw called Preacher who prays and reads from the Bible for special guidance in robbing and killing. William Frawley (better known as Fred Mertz) shows a mean side playing a double dealing saloon gambler who fires Altar. Fuzzy Knight is an honest barber who tries to help Vern out of a mess. This time he doesn't stutter. Several other notables such as Tom London, Kermit Maynard, and Harry Woods have interesting bit parts.

If Lang could have borrowed Tex Ritter from High Noon to do an appropriate theme, "Rancho Notorious" would have been a winner all the way.

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?

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

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.