L'attaque de la malle-poste

In the film Rawhide things start out like any other day for Tyrone Power who plays the son of the stage line owner spending some time at one of the way stations learning the business from grizzled old timer Edgar Buchanan. A stage stops by and Susan Hayward and toddler are among the passengers.

But when a passing cavalry patrol brings news of a crashout by four very desperate criminals, one of whom was scheduled to be hung the next day, the driver decides he's not taking Sue and the little girl if there's going to be trouble. Even with a cavalry escort which you would think would have been enough to discourage any outlaws from robbing the stage. Sue stays at the station until word of capture or a stage going in another direction arrives.

The four outlaws do arrive and they are four really lousy specimens of humanity. Led by Hugh Marlowe the candidate for the rope, the others include Jack Elam, George Tobias, and Dean Jagger. They kill Buchanan and stay at the station hoping to holdup a stage carrying a gold shipment.

Marlowe is light years away from the nice guy playwright in All About Eve. You can hardly believe this is the same actor. But the guy making his first real mark in the cinema is Jack Elam. One of the most psychotic villains ever put on screen, Elam makes full use of his blind eye for some incredible facial expressions. His unconcealed lust for Hayward is driving Marlowe to his wits end who needs Power alive at least until the robbery is done.

Tyrone Power was 37 when he made Rawhide, a bit too old for the part he was playing, still he does a good job. This is a remake of an earlier 20th Century Fox film Show Them No Mercy which had a modern setting and the Power and Hayward roles were played by Rochelle Hudson and Edward Norris who were barely in their twenties.

But it's the outlaws here who really make this film. As Marlowe is quick to comment this isn't a crew he'd pick, they just happened to be around when he made his break and they went along for the ride. Tobias and Jagger play a pair of amiable duds, Marlowe is bitter and angry, but Elam is psychotic.

Henry Hathaway got good performances in this suspense filled western. Of the outlaws the idiot Jagger in the end has the most sense. See the film to know what I'm talking about.

Rawhide is directed by Henry Hathaway and written by Dudley Nichols. It stars Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe, Jack Elam, George Tobias, Dean Jagger and Edgar Buchanan. Music is by Sol Kaplan and Lionel Newman and cinematography by Milton Krasner.

A stagecoach station employee and a stranded woman traveller and her baby niece find themselves held hostage by four escaped convicts intending to rob the next day's gold shipment.

A Western remake of 1935 crime film Show Them No Mercy, Rawhide is the embodiment of a solid Western production. Beautifully photographed in black and white by Krasner, smoothly performed by a strong cast of actors and seamlessly directed by the astute Hathaway, it builds the hostage plot slowly, tightening the screws of character development a bit at a time, and it unfolds in a blaze of glory come film's end.

Characterisations are always interesting, if a bit conventional to anyone who has watched a lot of Oaters. Power is of course our hero in waiting and Hayward is spunky and feisty, I wonder if they will get together romantically? The four convicts are your typical scuzzy types, with Marlowe dominating the screen as the intelligent leader saddled with cohorts he really doesn't care for, while Elam is wonderfully vile as a lecherous loose cannon.

The thematics of greed, sexual hostility and jeopardy for Hayward and child keep the pot boiling nicely, so suspense is a constant, and some thought has gone into the writing as regards the convict group dynamic. Sadly Kaplan's musical score is quite often cheese laden, even ridiculously jolly and not at one with the noirish thriller conventions of the story. But regardless of irritating musical interludes, this is a very good Oater and comfortably recommended to Western fans who want more than your standard shoot em' up B pictures. 7.5/10

Rawhide is a moderately suspenseful hostage drama with polished direction, great location filming, and a fine cast.

Tyrone Power is a likable if somewhat bland hero.

On the other hand, Susan Hayward's character was kind of annoying in the beginning but softens a bit as the film progresses. I wish the writers would have made her a strong independent woman without making the character look like a brat.

Hugh Marlowe is an excellent actor but I didn't find him a very convincing villain, even an an outlaw banker! Then again, it's probably my own fault in that I can't look at him without thinking of him as the hero in Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers. One scene where he delivered was when he was pretending to be a lawman, talking to the newspaper reporter and he had to fight back his anger at the men who were gossiping about his treacherous personal life.

A young and lanky Jack Elam steals the show as a dangerous (and lecherous) member of Marlowe's gang. He's great in this!

Overall, this is a decent studio western with an entertaining twist filled climax.

Also, I'd advise viewers who haven't watched this to please skip the trailer as it gives away the ending of the picture!

Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward star in "Rawhide," a 1951 western about convicts who take over a stagecoach station and plan to rob a morning stage carrying gold. The film sports an excellent cast, including Edgar Buchanan, Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger, and Jack Elam.

Hayword and her niece are held over at the station because of possible danger ahead. When she and the child go into the canyon to bathe, she takes Power's gun. When the robbers come on the scene, she hides behind the cattle troth, but the baby cries and reveals her position. She drops the gun there.

Back at the station, the criminals assume that Power is her husband. The two now have to figure out how to get out of their situation with no gun.

This is a very suspenseful, sometimes violent, sometimes scary movie with Marlowe in the unusual role of being an educated, cold-blooded killer trying to manage his motley crew.

Elam is menacing as a foolish, oversexed villain, with Dean Jagger and George Travis being appropriately moronic. Edgar Buchanan has a small role, appearing only in the beginning of the film.

Susan Hayward is beautiful and a real firecracker in her role. She and Power worked well together, appearing also in "Untamed" later on. Power is 10 years too old for his part - he's supposed to be a young man learning the business. "When the green wears off and you get a little older..." Hugh Marlowe says to him - Power was 37 and, by old west standards, not young.

The script was not changed to accommodate him. At this point in his career, he was anxious to fulfill his obligations to Fox and probably didn't make a fuss about it. He does an excellent job in the role of a man in a difficult situation nevertheless and looks very handsome. The character is a bit of bumbler at first, and Power carries this off in an amusing manner.

Surprisingly good, and I think non-western fans like myself will enjoy it, and the final scene will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Director Henry Hathaway helms this taut western drama about outlaws holding a group of people captive at a stagecoach station. Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward ignite good chemistry together right through to the climatic shoot-out. There's good support from Jack Elam (wonderfully evil), Dean Jagger, Hugh Marlowe, Jeff Corey and Edgar Buchanan. Seldom shown on TV this 1951 flick is available on video and is a treat for the western buff as well as for fans of the two dynamic stars.