Rangle River

Its hard to make a totally boring western, but these guys came as close as anybody! One would think that adapted from an orignal Zane Gray novel and produced by Columbia Pictures with a (medium) big name star like Victor Jory on board - something would have to give! It DID..the storyline!

One tough SOB (Jory) a ranch overseer, somehow manages to persuade the daughter of his boss to pitch-in and help her father through the tough times. I mean, is THAT one inspirational plotline or what? Toss in a touch of them feudin' Hatfields and McCoys and you should have yourself a rootin, tootin, dang-fire hotter'n Hell western! It never happens. Sensing the less than dynamic aspect to their finished product, the makers opted to re-name it MEN WITH WHIPS for overseas distribution. If they had had any brains at all they would have called it "WOMEN with whips!"

Charles and Elsa Chauvel scripted this tepid Aussie western which would be much like asking Orson Welles to write some new material for the Paul Hogan show! Interestingly (the only thing that IS) the cinematography was a collaboration between Errol Hinds and Damien Parer who had picked up Australia's sole Oscar two years earlier for THE KOKODA TRAIL.

Australia and our United States have a lot in common: Both were used as dumping grounds for criminals and cast-offs, and our West and most of Australia had and have lots of room for large herds of cattle, with accompanying horse-mounted heroes.

Victor Jory got one of his rare chances to be one of those heroes, and he made a good cowboy. (Somehow, his non-Aussie speech was never explained, but probably doesn't really matter.)

Most of the rest of the very good cast is probably as unknown to most U.S. viewers as to me, except for Robert Coote. His character here is mostly just silly, and badly done ... until he arrives at the ranch and grows some. Although, come to think of it, I guess it's a "station," not a ranch.

There are more cattle in this movie than I can recall seeing in any other movie, and it's fascinating to see both the similarities and differences in how they are herded.

Supposedly Zane Grey wrote this story after having a long fishing visit Down Under, and I guess he was the appropriate writer. The story could have been placed perhaps in many countries, but especially Australia or these United States.

I found "Rangle River" quite by accident via a new-to-me subscription service called Kanopy, which one joins through one's library. Or through a library. I was able to use an old card from a large-enough system that is connected. I highly recommend Kanopy, even though it also offers more pure garbage than I knew even existed.

But Kanopy has quite a few of these classic and/or fascinating Australian movies, too, and having access to them more than makes up for having to scroll through the garbage.

If you like the history and, for that matter, the geography of movies, I do urge you to watch "Rangle River."

Author/sportsman/traveler Zane Grey conceived this story while spending several months on vacation in Australia. Mostly, his conception was the title and location as the plot was straight b-western pulp fiction. Such as:

Marion Hastings (Margaret Dare), absent from her Australian home, Rangle River Station, for many years while completing her education in Europe, receives a letter from Dick Drake (Victor Jory), her father's ranch foreman, demanding she return home immediately.

Marion, together with her chaperon, Aunt Abbie (Rita Pauncefort), flies home. While making flight connections at the Singapore Airport, they meet Flight-Lieutenant Reginald Mannister (Robert Coote), an Englishman on his way to India. Attracted to Marion, however, he switches his tickets and embarks for Australia, receiving an invitation to stay at Rangle River Station. Whether or not he got permission from the Royal Air Force to switch his location-orders from India to Australia is never made clear. Nor was there a scene featuring his mates in India sipping gin-and-tonics while wondering just when old Reggie was going to pop in.

Upon arrival, Marion discovers Drake fighting with a rival ranch-foreman and, properly disgusted with his improper manners, she gives him a good dressing-down regarding his "brutal exhibition." This "cute meeting" serves to telegraph ahead just which two people are going to be embracing at "The End" for the benefit of those who don't already know by the cast order.

Arriving at the old homestead, it is obvious to Marion why she has been called home; Rangle River Station is being beset by drought. What she was supposed to do about that isn't obvious, as she displays no rain-making skills.

Meanwhile, Lawton (Cecil Perry), a neighbouring/neighboring (there-here) ranch-owner who has designs on the meat-contract held by Dan Hastings (George Bryant), endeavours/endeavors (there-here) to impoverish Rangle River Station further by secretly blocking off on his property, the river from which Hastings' cattle get their water. (Be it in Australia or Texas, those up-river people always made it hard on the down-river folks.) Lawton, true villain that he is, also has designs on Marion. But, thanks to cast order, that isn't going to happen, even though daring Dick is constantly rebuffing Marion for one thing or another.

Meanwhile, A-W-O-L Reggie, garrulous and nosey to a fault, flies over Lawton's property and confirms his suspicions that Lawton has dammed up the river. Lawton, knowing that the jig is up and discovery is imminent, blows up the dam to free the water. But, wouldn't you know it, Marion is galloping up the dry river-bed and is trapped by the torrent of on-rushing water.

Dick rescues Marion, takes her home, gathers up his bull-whips and rides over to Lawton's place to administer a lashing within an inch of his life. This scene is why the title was changed to "Men With Whips" when the re-issue distributor sold the film to television, and didn't want the theatre exhibitors to know he had done so...in the unlikely event some theatre-exhibitor might actually drop by and want to book this 20-year-old turkey.

When last seen, lovable Reggie was happily floating on a log down the now-rapidly flowing Rangle River.

A shockingly well made slapstick comedy/pseudo western about a struggling farming family and their returning daughters as they try to understand the pile of mysterious difficulties they are experiencing. The truth literally blows up to their faces.

Well made and acted. Nothing really to talk about. Its much more of an interesting artifact. Like it shows how early commercial flights in Asia/Australia worked AND Australian Outback during the 30s, given that it was an Australian-American co production. Some of the gender dynamics feels dated but the central romance is sweet enough. Fun fight scene too, the use of whips for one is interesting.

Overall, a bit forgettable but well done.

Margaret Dare has been gallivanting about Europe on checks from her father's station in Australia. But the river that fattens the cattle has been drying up. Manager Victor Jory wants to drill for water, but so long as the checks go to Miss Dare, there's none for the drill, so he write a preemptory letter to the lady, who shows up with smitten Robert Coote in tow. As the water sinks, Jory and Miss Dare wrangle, then start to bond.

Zane Grey thought that Arizona was getting too crowded, so he moved to Australia for a while and wrote the book this is based on. It's definitely an A western in the period when they were not very common. This story could have been transplanted to the American West with nothing but a change in accents.

It's a very entertaining movie, thanks to Clarence Badger's direction, Jory's masculinity in a period when producers thought he could be a leading man instead of an interesting villain, and Coote's what-ho English idiocy tempered with a good nature and actual use to the plot about the drying river.