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"Ride the man down" is a pleasant fast paced western about a ranch war with lot of characters played by a great casting (Jim Davis, Brian Donlevy, Forrest Tucker, ... and the punchy Ella Raines) with tough Rod Cameron as the defender of the purchased ranch. Always great photography by Jack Marta, especially at night. And Ella Raines character, as tough as a man, is the best (but I love her in every of her movies), don't miss her fight.

This western from Republic has a very good cast. While few A-list names, a lot of familiar and accomplished actors appear in it, including Brian Donlevy, Rod Cameron, Forrest Tucker, Ella Raines, Paul Fix, Chill Wills, and J. Carrol Naish. Sadly, however, the print I found on YouTube was severely yellowed and the color is less than stellar.

When the story begins, the tough boss of the Hatchet Ranch has died unexpectedly. Now there's a new boss, a lady, and the future of the place is in doubt...especially since Bide Marriner (Donlevy) vows to take what he wants! Can the ranchhands of Hatchet Ranch manage to hold onto what they've worked for all these years? Or, is it time for everyone to tear the ranch apart and take the cattle?

This was a difficult movie to watch only because so many people seemed to have their own agenda and figuring out who were the good guys wasn't too easy! Still, with so many good B-list actors (far more than you'd usually expect in a film), you can't go wrong with this one.

In 1892, a foreman of a huge ranch in southern Utah (Rod Cameron) tries to stave off land grabbers (Brian Donlevy) and rustlers (Jim Davis) after the death of the patriarch. Curiously, the fiancé (Forrest Tucker) of the heir of the ranch (Ella Raines) seems to oppose the foreman's efforts.

Based on the Luke Short novel, "Ride the Man Down" (1952) starts out convoluted with a dozen key characters introduced in the first act. They tend to speak in that rat-a-tat-tat way which was in vogue back then. The flick needed another 30 more minutes of runtime to breath. If you pay attention, however, you'll eventually figure out who's who and the details thereof.

More than that, you'll discover a great little old Western that's undeservedly obscure. You can't beat the awesome Southwest locations in living color and Cameron makes for a stalwart, noble protagonist. Raines works well as the heroine and I enjoyed the human interest of the romantic possibilities with quality dialogues/acting.

If you appreciate old Westerns like "Albuquerque," "Whispering Smith," The Sundowners" (1950), "Shane" and "The Hangman," this is just as worthwhile in its unique way.

It runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in Kanab, Utah, which is in the southwest region of the state by the border of Arizona.

GRADE: B+/A-

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 friend.

When Celia's uncle is shot and killed by hired gunmen, sheriff Joe Kneen's help becomes essential to the Evarts. Sensing a difficult situation, the sheriff decides to send a wire message to Santa Fe, asking for federal Marshals' assistance. A panicked Bide Marriner shoots the sheriff in the back at the telegraph office. To make matters worse, Celia Evarts' fiance, Sam Danfelser, betrays her and sides with Bide Marriner's crew. He promises to kill Will Ballard out of jealousy and revenge. He rides in for the final confrontation with Hatchet Ranch's foreman, Will Ballard.

Ride the Man Down is an adult western, in a sense that there's no endless gunfights and colourful heroes or pencil moustache twirling villainy - the heroes and villain come across real, even their dialogues is so, and it comes across conversational, which can be a problem as the story is quite complex. You really have to pay attention. It's a fairly decent western with some good twists here and there, but it lacked that spark and an identifiable villain. It was a little confusing. Some of the characters weren't likeable, even Rod Cameron. He comes across too pushy. The scenery is great and the sense of time is well-etched.

Rod Cameron was for Republic Pictures and Joseph Kane in particular the equivalent of Randolph Scott was for Andre De Toth, Edwin Marin or Budd Boetticher. And here, Rod Cameron has his usual and faithful pal Forrest Tucker. They often played together, with also the usual villain Jim Davis, a long time before he became famous as Ewing family patriarch in DALLAS series. So this Republic western is above many of others because it is not a cabaret western, as was for instance JUBILEE TRAIL and many other of this kind, taking place in San Francisco with many music hall, Burlesque sequences and songs, often starring Vera Ralston, Herbert J Yates' s - Republic Pictures mogul - wife. So this one belongs to the list of westerns over ninety minutes made for Republic during the fifties, in Trucolor and full of excitment.