I liked this film...with some reservations. But let's make it clear, while this is a better than average Western, it is not a Western classic.Let's begin with a few problems. First, why exactly did Susan Hayward come on so strongly defensive and unlikable at the beginning of the film? That was way overboard. Second, while this may be a minor point -- late in the film, a fall is so fake looking it was notable. Third, through the first part of the film, Tyrone Power is treated as if he is a teenager. He was a full grown man (age 37 at the time of filming), and as the film progresses, he pretends to be the husband of Susan Hayward. Come on Henry Hathaway (director), you can't have it both ways. And then there's the digging of the hole through the wall. Power and Hayward are laying on the floor in the dirt while doing the digging, and neither gets a bit dirty. That's just sloppy film making.On the other hand, the film opens and closes with some wonderful footage and narration of a stage coach route in spectacularly scenic country. That helped with a film that otherwise is somewhat claustrophobic since much of it takes place in the stage station. And the digging scenes become a drag in parts of the film; simply too much of it. And, there's enough twists that the film is not as predictable as many Westerns are.Tyrone Power is excellent here; he really was a superb actor. As I mentioned, I found Susan Hayward's acting at the beginning of the film to be over the top, but she calms down and does nicely after a while. Edgar Buchanan has a nice and somewhat subdued role as the station master...at least for a while. Hugh Marlowe is interesting as the chief villain here, which seems to be playing against type. Jack Elam is also over the top as a bad guy/pervert; this should have been toned down a bit. George Tobias is interesting as a Mexican-type outlaw; also against type. Dean Jagger seems totally out of place (and almost unrecognizable) as a soft-hearted (and perhaps slightly soft in the head) outlaw.A great Western? No. Too many flaws. But still a very good Western, which is worth watching. Recommended, with reservations.

Yes, stages were often pulled by mules, rather than by horses, as in most westerns. Although in most westerns, we are interested in the passengers or strong box, as articulated elsewhere, without their mail-carrying function, we would have had to charge passengers more than their $200. from San Francisco to St. Louis or vice versa, for a 25 day bone-rattling journey.This is the first of 2 films I'm familiar with in which Ty Power and Susan Hayward costarred. The second: "Untamed", is also essentially a western, only Zulus replace Native Americans as their adversaries. Both are worth a look and available at You Tube. This film mainly deals with the relationships between 4 escaped prisoners, and the other inhabitants of an Overland relay station at Rawhide Pass. Originally, this included crusty Edgar Buchanan as the regular stationmaster, who is giving the son of the head of the eastern division of Overland a taste of what it's like to be a stationmaster in the West. Unfortunately, during an altercation with the 4 escapees, who had taken over the relay station, he was shot dead. This left Ty(Tom) and Susan(Vinnie)as the only other adults at the station between stage stopovers. In addition, Susan is carrying her deceased sister's baby, Callie, to be deposited with relatives in Missouri. Of the escapees, Zimmerman(Hugh Marlowe)is the self-appointed leader,since he apparently engineered the escape the others only incidentally took advantage of. He has a problem with Jack Elan(Tevis), who is very persistent I his goal of having sex with Susan. Zimmerman figures he needs Ty to help convince the drivers that everything is normal, when they arrive. Since Susan is assumed to be Ty's wife, Zimmerman doesn't want Ty upset by the 4 forcing themselves on Susan. Finally, Elan has had enough of Zimmerman interfering in his plans, and shoots him dead, also killing companion Gratz(George Tobias), for good measure. Since the other escapee, Yancy(Dean Jagger) had wandered off somewhere, that leaves Elan as the only escapee right around the station. Susan is running around looking for Callie, who has wandered off. Meanwhile, Elan and Ty engage in s gun battle. When Callie wanders into view, Elan changes his target to her vicinity, with the warning that he will be more accurate in the future if Ty doesn't come out with his hands up. Ty complies, with the prospect of being shot as he moves toward Elan, as commanded. But, Susan sees the situation and finds Gratz's riffle beside his body, shooting Elan dead just in the nick of time. The ending leaves the fate of Yancy up in the air. Also, any possible future relationship between Ty and Susan is left to the viewer's imagination. At one point, the escapees were very interested in a large gold shipment said to be on the next stage from the West. However, this seems to have been forgotten about in the ruckus surrounding Elan's pursuit of Susan, and Elan's killing of his compatriots..Calli, a toddler, does her parts well, giving us a fright as she wanders around the legs of the mules. She cries appropriately when Elan is shooting slugs in her direction, that kick up dust nearby.I would say that "Hangman's Knot", which has a screen play rather like this one, is more interesting, as is "Untamed", which I previously mentioned. See the latter film, as well as the present one at YouTube.

If this weren't a Western it would be a film noir. Four escaped gangsters of diverse character take over an isolated stage stop and hold Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward hostage while they wait to hold up the next gold-bearing stagecoach. The gangsters include Hugh Marlowe, Zimmerman, a man of good breeding who went bad; Jack Elam, a slob whose mind is less on gold than on Susan Hayward's blouse; Dean Jagger as a scruffy but good-natured horse thief; and poor George Tobias, reduced from prominent supporting parts during the war years to a humble goon of uncertain nationality ("Gratz") whose lines are limited almost exclusively to, "Ya, Zim." It's a hostage movie along the lines of "Dog Day Afternoon", "The Negotiator", or "Split Second." Instead of a stagecoach stop it could be a bank or a post office waiting for the million-dollar payroll shipment to arrive. Much of it is shot at night. Shadows play across the walls. The air reeks of hazard.But there are two magnetic characters among the dust and sagebrush: Jack Elam and the little girl.Elam is unforgettable, no matter what tripe he's in. You'll probably recognize him if you've seen many movies from the 50s. He's skinny, ugly, and looks as if his first bath was his last. His jaw, the angle of his ascending ramus, is so full of right angles that it seems his face was designed by an engineer with a T-square, probably drunk at the time. There are little gaps between each tooth, suggesting a simian ancestry. His grin is both horrible and horrifying.The other character is a little girl, a toddler, with a cute face. But children are always a nuisance and this one is no exception. She's nothing but trouble, waddling about on stumpy, widespread legs where she shouldn't be, scaring the mules, crying at the wrong time so as to alert the miscreants, exposing herself to gun fire when she should be ducking for cover. There is only one way to keep toddlers in check, and that's to beat them senseless when they cry. It certainly worked with my son. He hasn't spoken to me in twenty years. Not even a post card. And I understand he's doing quite well with his mime act.But enough about this noir Western. It's tense, as almost all hostage movies are. The directors and performers turn in seasoned performances, except for that nettlesome little kid. I sort of get a kick out of it when it's on.

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!