After reading Ride the Man Down by Luke Short, I became interested in films adapted from his work. Ride was made into a movie in 1952 with Brian Donlevy. Other films included notable names like Robert Mitchum in Blood on the Moon (1948), and one of my favorites, Veronica Lake, in Ramrod (1947). Has anyone heard of this movie? I love the tagline, "...until the devil put a woman there!" Here's the plot summary to Ramrod from IMDb:
A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results. -- Written by Rod Crawford.
4 comments:
Ramrod is Joel McCrea at his weary best and Veronica Lake is just plain wicked in this one. It's been a couple of years since I've seen this one but I remember it being worth the time to watch. But then, I'm a big Joel McCrea fan. Haven't read the book so I can't compare the two.
As you can see, I've been on a western kick for the past week. I've read where Lake was difficult to work with but she usually heats up the screen in every role. McCrea in Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent is another favorite of mine. Thanks, Sandra, you've made up my mind, I'm looking for a copy of Ramrod.
I'm not much into reading westerns but I love the films. I think Ride the High Country is one of McCrea's best. He's teamed with Randolph Scott and they hit every note that makes a great western. It was also one of Peckinpaugh's (sp?) best films for me. Much more laid back and realistic than most of his work.
Amazingly, I've seen most of the Peckinpah films except Ride the High Country and I've been told it's his best though William Holden in The Wild Bunch would be hard to beat in my mind. Such a great film. I'm very selective in my western reading, but like Bill Crider said in an earlier comment, Luke Short tends to add a little mystery with his westerns and that adds a nice spice. I'm working my way through a second novel of his and so far it's quite impressive.
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