La belle rousse du Wyoming

Colorful B western directed by a B director: Lee Sholem who was not that brilliant in his career. It is question here of cattle rustling, a topic used ten millions times in western history. It would be forgettable even with the presence of the Duke's best friend, as himself called Maureen O'Hara, the only woman belonging to the John Ford's gang: John Wayne, Ward Bond, Victor Mac Laglen, Harry Carey. Here she doesn't look like a man in her attitude, she is not Barbara Stanwyck in FORTY GUNS, CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA or MAVERICK QUEEN. It is nevertheless a pretty good little entertaining western, among the best films that Lee Sholem made, xanks again to Maureen O'Hara; but Rhonda Fleming - the other redhead from Hollywood with Arlene Dahl - would have been in her place here.

This shaky A western stars Maureen O'Hara in a variety of fancy dresses. With a range war brewing, old flame William Bishop imports her and her wardrobe to serve as a beard for his operations when she isn't running her obligatory saloon. She's caught between Bishop and mild-mannered sheriff Alex Nicol.

Besides a very purple tuille number, Miss O'Hara wears a black lace dancing outfit for the final shootout, in which she handles a shotgun. I found it a striking and discordant image, typical of auteur Lee Sholem. A decent, if rote script, the usual cast that had been filling out B westerns for a quarter of a century, and some nice color photography by Winton Hoch complete the ensemble.

Just your standard western fare. Well acted. All the key elements are here, right down to the silly cover that isn't really in the movie. Oh and well the Redhead gets to show off that hair :O I was in a rash of buy Maureen movies most of the year in 2015 then bang. She was gone. Not cool. Then I didn't watch them for awhile. Got tons of On Demand dvd (r's) Not all of them westerns but why not have fun. Totally for kids too....

Quality: 6/10 Entertainment: 9/10 Re-playable: 6/10

A great movie. It has it all: wonderful acting, an excellent script, great cinematography, and impeccable continuity. But most of all, it has, in great abundance, Maureen O'Hara. This is her movie, and carries the movie well. She is in almost every scene and dominates the movie. She is absolutely beautiful. But her looks are not the whole story. Her acting is superb. She projects both vulnerability and strength. Her character, Kate, is assertive, intelligent, honest and courageous. Kate takes charge in the story. When she has to ride a horse, she rides; when she has to defend herself, she defends herself; and when she is interested in a man, she is forthright yet modest. She is trusting but you can't double cross her and when she is wronged, she lets you know. The other cast are excellent too, especially William Bishop as the bad guy, Averell. Also, the movie effectively dramatizes the economic and social conditions that triggered the range wars in the West in the mid-nineteenth century. If one likes Maureen O'Hara and westerns with strong stories, then this movie is worth watching.

Let me admit off the bat that I know nothing about Director Lee Sholem and, on the strength of THE REDHEAD FROM WYOMING, I doubt I will get to know more. For a less than famous director, he wastes a good cast: O'Hara gets the star treatment, the two Alexes - Scourby and Nicol - go invisible for long stretches, and poor William Bishop is checkmated by a much two-faced character, a would-be gubernatorial candidate involved in cattle rustling, but using as a front O'Hara and the saloon he gives her.

For a wild west plot, there is very little shooting, contradictory behavior, a whole load of supporting faces whom you cannot tell whether they support Scourby or Bishop, with drifter sheriff Nicol taking beatings from both sides but somehow capturing O'Hara's heart (lucky lad!)

The film seems much longer than its 81 minutes, which ain't a good sign. 6/10.